# Paywall before onboarding, plus a carousel: 2% to 15% trial opt-in

- Outcome: Won
- Page type: Onboarding (App)
- Elements: Paywall timing
- Date shared: 2025-10
- Test run by: [Rosie Hoggmascall](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/rosie-hoggmascall/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://www.revenuecat.com/blog/growth/paywalls-unexpected-uses/
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/paywall-before-onboarding-plus-carousel/

Moving the paywall from after the home screen to right after the welcome screen lifted trial opt-in from 2% to 8%, and adding a three-slide carousel before that paywall pushed it to 15%. Rosie Hoggmascall ran this three-way test at a subscription app they worked on. It was retold on the RevenueCat blog.

## Result

**2% (A) vs 8% (B) vs 15% (C) trial opt-in**

- Flow A (paywall after home): 2% trial opt-in.
- Flow B (paywall before onboarding): 8% trial opt-in, four times the control.
- Flow C (carousel, then paywall before onboarding): 15% trial opt-in, the best of the three.
- Trial-to-paid, refunds and revenue were not shared, so the downstream effect is unknown.

## Control

Flow A: welcome screen, then onboarding, then the home screen, and only then the paywall.

## Variant

Flow B put the paywall straight after the welcome screen, before onboarding. Flow C added a new three-slide carousel between the welcome screen and that early paywall.

## Why it likely won (our reading)

- Users who reach the home screen first may start using the free app and never see a reason to pay. An early paywall catches them while intent from the install is highest.
- The carousel gives a short value pitch, so the paywall lands with context instead of out of nowhere.
- Flow C changes two things versus A (placement and the carousel), so the jump from 8% to 15% is the cleanest read on the carousel alone.

## Caveats

Sample size, duration and significance were not shared, and the app is not named. The result is retold secondhand on the RevenueCat blog, a vendor that sells paywall tools, and only trial opt-in was reported.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we show a short value carousel and then the paywall before onboarding, then more new users will start a trial because they see the offer at peak intent with enough context to judge it.
- Primary metric: Trial start rate (install to trial)
- Guardrail: Trial-to-paid conversion
- Guardrail: Day-7 retention of non-trial users
- Guardrail: Refund rate
- Who should test it: Apps that put the paywall late or deep in the product and have a clear value story that fits in three slides. It may fit less well where users need to try the core feature before they believe in it.

---

Credit: Rosie Hoggmascall ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/paywall-before-onboarding-plus-carousel/).
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.