'Continue with Ads' option on a VPN paywall: +158% revenue
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsRyn VPN replaced its freemium paywall with three tiers plus a "Continue with Ads" option, and revenue rose 158% in the 28 days after launch versus the same period a year earlier.
This was a before-and-after comparison, not a split test.
Ryn VPN made the change, and the result was published as a Superwall case study.
- Revenue: up 158% in the 28 days after launch, versus the same period a year earlier.
- Conversion rate: rose from 0.08% to 1.2%.
- ARPPU: up 98%.
- Paying users: up 30%.
The change
New paywall with three tiers and a 'Continue with Ads' option
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
A standard freemium paywall. Paid conversion was 0.08%.
Variant
A new paywall with three access tiers and a "Continue with Ads" option, which gave 30 minutes of free VPN after watching an ad.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- The ad option gave free users a way in, so the paywall felt like a choice rather than a wall.
- Seeing paid tiers next to an ad option may have made paying look better for users who use the VPN often.
- A new design, new tiers and the ad option shipped together, so the lift can't be tied to the ad option alone.
Caveats: This compares 28 days after launch with the same period a year earlier, not a split test, so seasonality, traffic and other changes may explain part of the gain. Several changes shipped together. Superwall sells the paywall testing tool used here and published this result, so it may lean positive.
Who ran it
Ryn VPN 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 add a rewarded ad option next to our paid tiers, then revenue per user will rise because free users get a path to value while heavy users see the paid tiers as better.
- Primary metric
- Revenue per user, including ad revenue
- Guardrails
- Paid conversion rate
- Retention of ad-supported users
- Ad revenue per user
- Who should test it
- Freemium utility apps with very low paid conversion and a product you can meter in time, like a VPN. Run it as a split test, not a before-and-after, to know the real effect.
Questions
Does a free ad option cannibalize subscriptions?
Not in this case: paying users rose 30%.
But this was a before-and-after comparison, so run a split test to check for your app.
How much free time should a rewarded ad give?
Ryn VPN gave 30 minutes per ad. Too much free time can remove the reason to pay, so test the amount.
Why compare with the previous year?
That's how Ryn VPN reported it. A same-time split test is more reliable because it rules out seasonality and other changes.