Two onboarding paywalls with a trial toggle: +10% conversion
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsShowing two paywalls during onboarding, with the free trial toggle off by default, raised onboarding conversion by 10% and trial conversion by 10%.
Rizz App, an AI pickup line app, ran this test against its original onboarding paywall.
The result was published as a Superwall case study.
- Onboarding conversion: up 10% versus the original paywall.
- Trial conversion rate: up 10%.
- Early churn: reported as lower, but no number was shared.
The change
Variant adds an early paywall and an off-by-default trial toggle
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
The original onboarding paywall, shown once.
Variant
A first paywall came right after the landing screen with the trial toggle off, so tapping "Continue" skipped the trial. A second paywall at the end of onboarding had a delayed X, and offered a direct subscription if the user turned the trial off.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- With the toggle off, people who started a trial chose it on purpose. That likely made trials more likely to convert.
- Two chances to subscribe catch users at the start and again once they've seen what the app does.
- Several things changed at once (placement, toggle default, delayed X), so the lift can't be tied to one of them.
Caveats: Several changes shipped together, and sample size, test length and confidence were not shared. Apple has since begun rejecting trial toggles on iOS, so this setup may not pass review today. Superwall sells the paywall testing tool used here and published this result, so it may lean positive.
Who ran it
Rizz App 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 show a paywall early with the trial off by default and a second one at the end of onboarding, then trial conversion will rise because users who start a trial choose it on purpose.
- Primary metric
- Onboarding conversion (users who subscribe or start a trial during onboarding)
- Guardrails
- Trial-to-paid conversion
- Onboarding completion rate
- Early churn
- Who should test it
- Apps with many passive trial starts that cancel early. On iOS, check current App Store rules first, since Apple has been rejecting trial toggles.
Questions
Are trial toggles still allowed on iOS?
Apple has begun rejecting them, so check current App Store guidelines before copying this. Android rules may differ.
Won't fewer people start trials if the toggle is off?
Maybe, but the trials you get are more intentional.
Rizz App saw onboarding and trial conversion both rise 10%.
Why show two paywalls?
The first one tells users a trial exists without forcing it.
The second catches them after they've seen more of the app.