The onboarding examples worth copying get new users to one real result fast.
The best tested ones in our archive do it three ways: a short checklist of the few actions that predict a paid account (Astrea, +187% activation; VWO, +127% trial-to-paid), one or two personalization questions that change what users see next (Trello, MYOB, Hotjar), and, in subscription apps, a paywall placed early enough that people actually see it.
How we picked: every example below is a test result from the LiftArchive database, taken from the public case study each company or its vendor published.
We didn't run these tests. Where a result is bundled or before/after rather than a clean A/B split, we say so.
What makes a good onboarding example
A good example shows a measured change in activation, setup, trial starts or revenue, not just a nice-looking screen.
It also tells you what the team changed, so you can copy the idea and test it.
For more on the principles behind these, see our SaaS onboarding best practices and the app onboarding tests hub.
Every example at a glance
| # | Example (brand or page) | What they did | Result | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Trello | A use-case picker at sign-up | +36% activation (bundled) | SaaS |
| 2 | VWO | A central 'Get Started' checklist | +127% trial-to-paid | SaaS |
| 3 | Astrea | A floating next-steps checklist | +187% activation | SaaS |
| 4 | MYOB | A two-question welcome survey that picks the checklist | +21% setup rate | SaaS |
| 5 | Hotjar | Checklists by experience level | 26% likelier to install | SaaS |
| 6 | GoToWebinar | An in-product guided walkthrough | 2x conversions | SaaS |
| 7 | Blip | A guided first-bot flow | 28.4% to 63.7% funnel completion | SaaS |
| 8 | Zywave | A small pin instead of a slideout | 49% to 88% workflow completion | SaaS |
| 9 | Hotjar | A hotspot beats a tooltip | 6.5% to 8.16% feature use | SaaS |
| 10 | Astrea | Real data on day one | +16 points engagement | SaaS |
| 11 | DashThis | Fixing one hard integration step | +50% funnel completion | SaaS |
| 12 | Printify | Nudges to connect a store | +10% flow conversion | SaaS |
| 13 | ProfitWell | Flows that look native | +20% first-week retention | SaaS |
| 14 | Grammarly | An upgrade screen that plays back your answers | +10% upgrades | SaaS |
| 15 | Lose It! | A longer onboarding | Trial starts up double digits | App |
| 16 | ASL Bloom | Goal-led onboarding and a two-step paywall | +15% trial conversion | App |
| 17 | Five Minute Journal | Onboarding rebuilt on user research | +20% ARPU | App |
| 18 | A subscription app | Paywall before onboarding, plus a carousel | 2% vs 8% vs 15% trial opt-in | App |
| 19 | Rootd | Paywall at the very start | Revenue 5x | App |
| 20 | Teaching.com | Onboarding on the web before download | About +50% to trial | App |
| 21 | Rizz | Two onboarding paywalls with a trial toggle | +10% onboarding conversion | App |
| 22 | LED Light Controller | Six onboarding flows head to head | 0.8% to 1.29% conversion | App |
The 22 onboarding examples
The first 14 are SaaS products, mostly free trials.
The last eight are subscription apps, where onboarding and the paywall are one flow.
1. Trello: a use-case picker at sign-up
What they did: Asked new users what they would use Trello for and tailored the first board to the answer, as one of several personalization experiments.
Why it works: A blank board makes people guess.
One question lets the product show a relevant starting point, so users reach value sooner.
Result: Activation rose 36% across the set of personalization experiments, run by Trello and published in a Growth.Design case study.
Bundled, so the question alone can't take the credit.
Copy this: Ask one use-case question on the first screen, keep it to a handful of options (Growth.Design flagged Trello's 15 as too many), and change the starting template based on the answer.
2. VWO: a central 'Get Started' checklist
What they did: Replaced setup tasks scattered across the dashboard with one 'Get Started' tab: account settings, installing the tracking code, then advanced features.
Why it works: Trial users of a technical product don't know the order of setup.
A checklist gives them the order and shows progress.
Result: Free-trial-to-paid conversion rose 127% in a 25-day split test VWO ran on its own product.
Other UX changes shipped with it, and fewer users went back to their heatmap and recording reports.
Copy this: Put every setup step in one checklist, in the order that unblocks the next step, and track whether users come back to the reports after setup, not just whether they finish it.
3. Astrea: a floating next-steps checklist
What they did: Added a floating checklist in the corner of the trial dashboard that guided users to add a task, process a clipping and add a fee, with the progress indicator tied to those actions.
Why it works: The old dashboard gave no next step after the first screens.
A visible list of three actions turns an open product into a short path.
Result: Activation rose 187%, and two key setup events rose 21% and 25%, in a controlled rollout by AURUM on its legal software. Not a strict A/B split.
Copy this: Pick the three actions that predict a paid account and make them the whole checklist. Show a confirmation when they're done.
4. MYOB: a two-question welcome survey that picks the checklist
What they did: Swapped static home-screen tiles for a two-question survey (used accounting software before? what will you use MYOB for?) that routed users to a product-specific setup checklist with tooltips.
Why it works: Different product lines need different setup.
Asking first means each user only sees the steps that apply to them.
Result: The global setup rate rose 21%, before and after, by MYOB. The survey, checklists and tooltips launched together.
Copy this: If your product has more than one main job, ask which one in two questions or fewer and branch the checklist from there.
5. Hotjar: checklists by experience level
What they did: Asked "Have you used Hotjar before?" and showed a Beginner, Intermediate or Advanced checklist.
All three started with the same step: install Hotjar.
Why it works: Experienced users skip the basics and beginners get more help, while the one step everyone needs stays first.
Result: Users who answered were 26% more likely to install, per Hotjar.
A before/after style result with no stated comparison group.
Copy this: Branch on experience, not just role, and keep your single most important setup action as step one on every branch.
6. GoToWebinar: an in-product guided walkthrough
What they did: Added step-by-step pop-ups, notes on key selling points such as included audio, and a progress toolbar to the 30-day trial.
Welcome email links opened the walkthrough for each feature.
Why it works: Trial users who never set up the core feature never see why it's worth paying for. Guidance walks them to it.
Result: Conversion doubled (+100%) and product usage rose 40% in an A/B test by Citrix.
Users reached the audio setup page 61% more often.
Copy this: Link your welcome email straight into the guided step for each key feature, so the email and the product tell the same story.
7. Blip: a guided first-bot flow
What they did: Added a welcome step, then tooltips through creating, naming, building, publishing and testing the first chatbot, with a closing slideout.
Why it works: The builder showed every feature at once.
A single guided path gets users to a working result before they explore.
Result: Funnel completion went from 28.4% to 63.7% (+124%), and median time to finish fell from 1.1 hours to 6.8 minutes, before and after, at Blip.
Copy this: Find the step with the worst drop-off (Blip's was publish) and build the guided flow to carry users through it.
8. Zywave: a small pin instead of a slideout
What they did: Replaced a slideout that guided insurance agents through connecting carriers with a persistent pin next to the feature that opened a tooltip on hover.
Why it works: A slideout interrupts and gets closed.
A pin waits beside the thing it explains until the user is ready.
Result: Workflow completion went from 49% to 88%, before and after, at Zywave.
Copy this: If an onboarding modal or slideout gets dismissed, try the same copy as a hotspot on the exact control it describes.
9. Hotjar: a hotspot beats a tooltip
What they did: Announced a new feature to half of users with a tooltip and to the other half with a small pulsing hotspot carrying the same copy.
Why it works: Same lesson as Zywave, in a cleaner A/B test: a subtle cue lets users choose when to look.
Result: Feature use went from 6.5% to 8.16% (+26%) in an A/B test by Hotjar. Highlighting recordings rose 99%.
Copy this: For feature announcements after the first session, test a hotspot against your default tooltip.
10. Astrea: real data on day one
What they did: Pulled in legal clippings from just before sign-up through an external API, so they were ready at first login instead of arriving up to 48 hours later.
Why it works: Users can't see value in an empty product.
Filling it with their own real data removes the wait.
Result: Engagement with clippings rose 16 percentage points (+125% relative) in a feature-flag rollout by AURUM.
Copy this: List what a new account is missing on first login and backfill anything you can fetch: imports, sample data, or recent history.
11. DashThis: fixing one hard integration step
What they did: Made the add-integration buttons bigger and higher on the page, added search to a list of 30+ integrations, and added pop-ups and videos for each step.
Why it works: About 60% of users struggled on this first step.
Fixing the one blocking step lifts everything after it.
Result: Onboarding funnel completion rose 50% and first-step completion rose 25%, before and after, at DashThis.
Copy this: Watch session recordings of the first onboarding step on small screens.
Check that the main button is visible without scrolling.
12. Printify: nudges to connect a store
What they did: Added a tooltip for users who hadn't connected a sales channel, plus four contextual flows nudging them at relevant moments.
Why it works: Data showed connecting a store was the key activation step, so every nudge pointed there.
Result: Flow conversion rose 10% in a 50/50 test by Printify.
Store connections also rose, but no number was shared.
Copy this: Find the single action your retained users share, and aim every onboarding nudge at it.
13. ProfitWell: flows that look native
What they did: Built multi-step in-app onboarding flows themed to look like part of the product, where before there were none.
Why it works: Guidance that looks like the product reads as help, not as an ad.
Result: First-week retention rose 20% within two months, before and after, at ProfitWell.
The source doesn't say whether that's relative or points.
Copy this: Style your onboarding tool's flows with your product's fonts, colors and spacing before you launch them.
14. Grammarly: an upgrade screen that plays back your answers
What they did: The upgrade screen at the end of onboarding repeated the goals users chose in the survey, listed the features that serve them, and suggested the matching plan.
Why it works: The survey answers already say what the user wants.
Echoing them on the upgrade screen makes the offer feel chosen for them.
Result: Upgrades rose 10% or more in an A/B test by Grammarly, published in a Growth.Design case study. No exact figure or sample.
Copy this: If you ask onboarding questions, reuse the answers on your upgrade screen: their goal, the features for it, the plan that fits.
15. Lose It!: a longer onboarding
What they did: Added more onboarding questions in rounds, testing each time, until more length stopped helping.
Why it works: Questions about goals build investment and make the plan feel personal.
Past a point, the extra length stops paying off.
Result: Trial start rate rose by double digits, per Lose It!. The exact figure wasn't shared.
Copy this: Don't assume shorter is better. Add questions one round at a time and stop when trial starts flatten.
16. ASL Bloom: goal-led onboarding and a two-step paywall
What they did: Introduced the Deaf educators behind the lessons, asked what users wanted to learn, set a realistic outcome (400 signs at 15 minutes a day), and split the paywall into an outcome screen and a trial-timeline screen.
Why it works: Users see who teaches them and what they'll achieve before they see a price.
Result: Trial conversion rose 15%, ARPU 12% and 30-day retention 18%. Run by Applica; bundled.
Copy this: Before the paywall, add one screen that states a concrete outcome and the daily effort it takes.
17. Five Minute Journal: onboarding rebuilt on user research
What they did: Rebuilt the flow on Jobs-to-be-Done research: content tailored to the user's goals, testimonials early, benefits framed from the user's side.
Why it works: Research says why people hire the app.
The flow then sells that job instead of a feature list.
Result: ARPU rose 20% (p = 0.04), with trial starts up about 10% and trial conversions up about 14%, in an A/B test by Applica.
Copy this: Interview five recent subscribers about why they started, then rewrite your first three onboarding screens in their words.
18. A subscription app: paywall before onboarding, plus a carousel
What they did: Tested three flows: paywall after the home screen (A), paywall straight after the welcome screen (B), and a three-slide carousel before that early paywall (C).
Why it works: Most users never reach a paywall placed late.
Moving it up gets it seen, and a short carousel gives context first.
Result: Trial opt-in was 2% (A), 8% (B) and 15% (C) in a three-way test by Rosie Hoggmascall. Trial-to-paid and refunds weren't shared.
Copy this: Test an early paywall with a three-slide value carousel before it, and judge it on paid conversions and refunds, not opt-in alone.
19. Rootd: paywall at the very start
What they did: Moved the paywall from later in the app to the start of onboarding, so every new user saw the offer.
Why it works: The founder feared it would put off users seeking quick relief, but app users are used to early paywalls.
Result: Revenue grew 5x, before and after, at Rootd. Almost no negative feedback was reported.
Copy this: If your paywall sits behind onboarding, check what share of installs ever see it. If it's low, test moving it up.
20. Teaching.com: onboarding on the web before download
What they did: Ran the exact same onboarding flow on the web, before users downloaded the app, instead of inside the app.
Why it works: Users who finish onboarding and buy on the web arrive in the app already committed.
Result: Conversion to trial was about 50% better and conversion to paid about 30% better on the web, per Teaching.com. Approximate figures from a podcast.
Copy this: If most installs come from paid social, test a web onboarding funnel that ends in checkout and a download link.
21. Rizz: two onboarding paywalls with a trial toggle
What they did: Showed one paywall after the landing screen with the trial toggle off, and a second at the end of onboarding with a delayed close button.
Why it works: Two chances to convert, with the trial framed as an option rather than the default.
Result: Onboarding conversion and trial conversion each rose 10%, in an A/B test by Rizz App.
Apple has since begun rejecting trial toggles on iOS.
Copy this: Test a second paywall at the end of onboarding, but skip the trial toggle on iOS.
22. LED Light Controller: six onboarding flows head to head
What they did: Tested six onboarding flows in two phases, because the tool ran at most five variants at once, and shipped the best.
Why it works: Testing many flows at once finds a winner faster than tweaking one screen at a time.
Result: Conversion to subscription went from 0.8% to 1.29% (+61%) and ARPU from $0.12 to $0.14 (+16%) in a multivariate test by AEZAKMI Group.
One unchanged flow converted 1.12% in phase one and 1.29% in phase two.
Copy this: Rerun your control in each phase of a multi-round test. Results drift even when nothing changes.
Patterns across the winners
Checklists work when they are short and ordered
VWO and Astrea both won with a checklist, but the checklists listed only the setup that leads to a paid account.
Hotjar kept the same first step on every branch.
One or two questions, then a different path
Trello, MYOB, Hotjar and Grammarly asked short questions and then changed the checklist, the template or the upgrade screen.
The question only pays if the answer changes what users see.
In apps, Lose It! found longer question flows lifted trial starts up to a ceiling; see our onboarding quiz tests.
Fix the blocking step before polishing the rest
DashThis, Blip and Printify each found one step where users stalled (integration, publish, store connect) and aimed every change at it.
Subtle beats loud for in-app guidance
Two separate results point the same way: a pin beat a slideout at Zywave, and a hotspot beat a tooltip at Hotjar.
In apps, paywall placement is part of onboarding
Rootd, the three-way carousel test and Rizz all gained by showing the offer earlier or more than once.
ASL Bloom and Five Minute Journal show the other half: the screens before the paywall set the value. More in our app paywall examples.
Examples that lost (what not to copy)
These tests in our archive lost.
- Locking free content to force a return. OnSwitch locked popular free scenes for three days, then unlocked them with a push. Users came back slightly more but bought less.
- A hard paywall with no close button. BoldVoice got more trial starts, but refunds rose by more than the gain, so it lost on net revenue.
- A longer free trial. Daphne Tideman tested a 14-day trial against 7 days for a wellness app: slightly more trial starts, fewer paid conversions. Users put off the content instead of watching more.
- A multi-page paywall walkthrough. At Stompers, a single-page paywall converted over 16% better than a multi-screen flow that explained features before showing prices. Prices also varied across the test.
The common thread: each change raised the first number (returns, trial starts) and hurt the one that pays.
Judge onboarding tests on paid conversion or revenue after refunds.
How to test this on your own site
- Define activation as one action that predicts retention or payment, such as installing a snippet or connecting a store.
- Find the step where most new users stop, using your funnel report or session recordings.
- Pick one pattern above that targets that step: a checklist, a question, a pin, prefilled data, or an earlier paywall.
- Split new sign-ups 50/50 rather than comparing before and after, since many results here are before/after and could be skewed by seasonality.
- Use paid conversion, retention or revenue after refunds as the deciding metric, with activation as a secondary one.
For the full list of steps to check, use the app onboarding checklist, and see free trial conversion for what comes after onboarding. Browse more in our examples library.
Real results
Watch out for
- Bundled results. Many wins here shipped several changes at once. Copy the idea, then test it on your own product.
- Vendor-published numbers. Appcues, VWO, Superwall, Apphud and RevenueCat published many of these stories about their own customers or products, and those may lean positive.
- Trial starts that don't pay. Forced or early paywalls can lift opt-in while refunds and churn rise. Track both.
- App store rules. Apple has begun rejecting trial toggles on iOS, so check current review guidelines before copying a paywall pattern.