Annual plan shown as a monthly price: up to +45% revenue/view
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsShowing the annual plan as a per-month price, billed annually, raised Mojo's new revenue per paywall impression by 45% in Brazil, 26% in Mexico and 8% in the USA.
Mojo, a video editing app, ran this A/B test, and Michal Parizek wrote it up on the RevenueCat blog.
The gain came from more paywall-to-trial conversions and more users picking the annual plan.
- New revenue per paywall impression, Brazil: up 45%.
- New revenue per paywall impression, Mexico: up 26%.
- New revenue per paywall impression, USA: up 8%. The effect was much smaller in this higher-income market.
- Drivers: more paywall-to-trial conversions and a larger share of annual plans.
The change
The annual price is shown as a monthly amount, with the yearly billing stated.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
The annual plan was shown as one yearly price.
Variant
The annual plan was shown as a monthly figure with the yearly billing stated, in the format "$X/month, billed annually".
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- A monthly figure looks much smaller than a full yearly price, so the plan feels more affordable at first glance.
- The effect was strongest in lower-income markets, where a large yearly total is more likely to put people off.
- Seeing the annual plan as a monthly amount makes it easy to compare with the monthly plan, which pushes users toward annual.
Caveats: Sample size, duration and confidence were not shared. Apple has rules on how prices can be shown, so check what's allowed before testing this format.
Who ran it
Mojo ran this test. Source: RevenueCat 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 show the annual plan as a per-month price, billed annually, then new revenue per paywall view will rise because the plan looks more affordable and easier to compare.
- Primary metric
- New revenue per paywall impression
- Guardrails
- Share of annual plans
- Cancellation rate in the first 7 days
- Refund requests
- Who should test it
- Apps selling annual plans, especially in price-sensitive markets. Expect a smaller lift in high-income markets, as Mojo saw in the USA, and always show the full billed amount clearly.
Questions
Why did the lift vary so much by country?
Mojo saw the biggest gains in Brazil and Mexico and a smaller one in the USA.
A large yearly total is a bigger barrier where incomes are lower.
Is showing a monthly price for an annual plan allowed?
Apple has guidelines on price display, and the billed amount must be clear.
Mojo noted you have to balance what you want to test with what's allowed.
Should I segment this test by country?
Yes, if you have enough traffic. Mojo's results ranged from 8% to 45% by country, so a pooled number would hide most of the story.