Weekly plan with a free trial vs monthly: 2.29% vs 1.21% conversion
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsA weekly subscription with a free trial converted 2.29% of users, against 1.21% for a monthly plan and 1.63% for a weekly plan without a trial.
AEZAKMI Group ran this three-way test on its new PDF scanner app, and says the winner doubled app revenue.
The case study was published on the Apphud blog.
- Conversion to subscription: monthly 1.21%, weekly 1.63%, weekly with trial 2.29%. The trial option nearly doubled monthly.
- ARPU: the source says the weekly-trial group's ARPU was about twice the monthly group's. Exact figures are in an image, not the text.
- Revenue: AEZAKMI Group says the winning option doubled app revenue.
- Significance: Apphud says it uses a p = 0.05 threshold. Sample sizes were not shared.
The change
Monthly plan (control) vs the winning weekly plan with a free trial (variant C).
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
The paywall offered a regular monthly subscription.
Variant
Two variants ran at the same time: a weekly subscription (B), and a weekly subscription with a free trial (C). Prices and trial length were not given in the text.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- A free trial removes the upfront payment, which matters in a crowded utility niche where users can try a rival app instead.
- A weekly price is a smaller number to commit to than a monthly one.
- Weekly billing collects more renewals per month from users who stay, which can lift ARPU even at a lower price.
Caveats: Published on the blog of Apphud, which sells the experiments tool used, so it may lean positive. Sample size, duration, prices and trial length were not shared, and only one app in one niche was tested.
Who ran it
AEZAKMI Group ran this test. Source: Apphud blog. The numbers are theirs; the summary and commentary on this page are ours.
How to run this test on your app
- Hypothesis
- If we replace a monthly plan with a weekly plan that starts with a free trial, then more users will subscribe and ARPU will rise, because the first commitment is free and the recurring price is smaller.
- Primary metric
- ARPU per new user (including renewals), not just conversion to subscription
- Guardrails
- Trial-to-paid conversion
- Refund rate
- Week-4 and week-8 renewal rate
- Who should test it
- Utility apps with short, task-driven use, such as scanners or converters, where users decide fast. It fits less well for apps people use for months, where an annual plan may earn more per user.
Questions
Why judge on ARPU and not conversion rate?
A plan can convert well but get cancelled fast.
ARPU counts each group's renewals, so it shows which plan earns more over time.
Are weekly plans a good fit for every app?
AEZAKMI Group says the best subscription type differs by niche.
Some niches do better with trials, others with long or monthly plans, so test in your own category.
Can I test plan types without a third-party tool?
It is possible, but you have to split traffic and analyse results yourself.
Whatever you use, run the options at the same time rather than one after another.