# $1.99 paid 30-day trial instead of monthly: +30% D90 ARPU

- Outcome: Won
- Page type: Paywall (App)
- Elements: Free trials, Plans
- Date shared: 2026-07
- Test run by: [Vahe Baghdasaryan](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/vahebagdasar/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://x.com/vahebagdasar/status/2081138329391931452
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/paid-30-day-trial-vs-monthly-no-trial/

Replacing a no-trial monthly plan with a $1.99 paid trial for the first 30 days raised day-90 ARPU from $2.23 to $2.89 (+30%). Vahe Baghdasaryan's agency Tangent pooled the data from 10 health and fitness apps doing at least $500K MRR and shared it on X.

## Result

**D90 ARPU $2.23 → $2.89 (+30%)**

- Day-90 ARPU: $2.23 to $2.89 (+$0.66, +30%).
- Conversion to paying: 10.2% to 12.7% (+2.5 points, +24%).
- What the paid trial renews at was not shared.

## Control

Two plans: an annual plan with a 7-day free trial, and a monthly plan with no trial.

## Variant

Two plans: the same annual plan with a 7-day free trial, plus a $1.99 paid trial for the first 30 days.

## Why it likely won (our reading)

- $1.99 is a low barrier, so more people make a first payment than with a full monthly price.
- A full month gives health and fitness users time to build a habit before the full price kicks in.
- Payment details are captured up front, so renewals happen without another decision.

## Caveats

Pooled data from 10 apps with similar price points; the post doesn't say how users were split or give sample sizes. Results are at day 90, so long-term retention after the paid trial is unknown.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we replace our no-trial monthly plan with a low-price 30-day paid trial, then day-90 ARPU will rise because more users make a first payment and stay past the first month.
- Primary metric: Day-90 ARPU
- Guardrail: Annual plan share
- Guardrail: Month-2 renewal rate
- Guardrail: Refund rate
- Who should test it: Health and fitness apps (or similar habit apps) that offer a monthly plan next to an annual trial. It may not fit apps whose value shows up in a few days, where a free trial already does the job.

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Credit: Vahe Baghdasaryan ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/paid-30-day-trial-vs-monthly-no-trial/).
Usage: Free to use, quote and build on, with credit and a link: name the practitioner or organization that ran the test and link to its LiftArchive page. The results belong to the practitioners who ran and shared them; the summaries and commentary are LiftArchive's.