Higher price tier on Planner 5D's paywall: +83% ARPU
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsPlanner 5D tested its current price against two higher price tiers, and the highest tier lifted ARPU by 83% over the control.
Planner 5D, an interior design app, ran this A/B/C test on its paywall, and the result was published as a Superwall case study. The actual price levels were not shared.
- ARPU: the highest price tier earned 83% more per user than the control.
- Middle tier: its result was not shared.
- Conversion rate and trial-to-paid at each tier were not shared, so we can't tell how many fewer people bought at the top price.
The change
Same paywall design; only the price shown changes
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
The existing paywall at the current price. The design stressed access to a large library of customizable furniture items.
Variant
Two variants used the same paywall design but showed higher prices. Each group of users saw only one of the three price tiers.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- The app was likely underpriced for what it offers. Fewer buyers at a higher price can still bring in more money per user.
- People planning a home project may care less about price than people buying a casual app.
- Only the price changed, so the gap in ARPU points to price alone.
Caveats: The price levels, sample size, test length and confidence were not shared. Superwall sells the paywall testing tool used here and published this result, so it may lean positive.
Who ran it
Planner 5D ran this test. Source: Superwall case study. The numbers are theirs; the summary and commentary on this page are ours.
How to run this test on your app
- Hypothesis
- If we raise our subscription price on the same paywall design, then ARPU will rise because our users value the product more than the current price suggests.
- Primary metric
- ARPU (or proceeds per user) per test group
- Guardrails
- Trial start rate
- Trial-to-paid conversion
- Refunds and early churn
- Who should test it
- Apps with a clear, high-value use case and steady paywall traffic. It's riskier for apps in crowded, price-sensitive categories, or with too little traffic to split into three groups.
Questions
How many price points should we test at once?
Planner 5D tested three. More groups need more traffic to reach a clear answer, so apps with lower volume may be better off testing two.
Is ARPU enough to judge a price test?
It's a good main metric, but check renewals and refunds too.
A higher price can look strong early and then churn faster.
Does a higher price always win?
No. This result shows Planner 5D's users would pay more.
Apps with cheaper rivals may lose more buyers than they gain in price.