# 'Continue with Ads' option on a VPN paywall: +158% revenue

- Outcome: Won
- Page type: Paywall (App)
- Elements: Freemium limits, Plans
- Date shared: 2025-12
- Test run by: [Ryn VPN](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/ryn-vpn/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://superwall.com/case-studies/ryn-vpn
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/ryn-vpn-rewarded-ad-option/

Ryn 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.

## Result

**+158% revenue; conversion 0.08% → 1.2%; ARPPU +98%**

- 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%.

## 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)

- 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.

## How to run this test

- 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
- Guardrail: Paid conversion rate
- Guardrail: Retention of ad-supported users
- Guardrail: 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.

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Credit: Ryn VPN ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/ryn-vpn-rewarded-ad-option/).
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.