'No credit card required' on trial sign-up: +12.5% sign-ups
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsAdding a 'No credit card required' message to Teamleader's free trial sign-up page lifted conversions by 12.5% on the Dutch site, from 48.7% to 54.8%.
Teamleader, a Belgian CRM and invoicing platform for small businesses, ran the test itself, published as a VWO case study.
The Belgian site improved too, from 33% to 38.6%.
- Netherlands: sign-up conversion rose from 48.7% to 54.8%, about +12.5% relative.
- Belgium: conversion rose from 33% to 38.6%, about +17% relative.
- The same direction in two markets makes the result more believable.
- Sample size, duration and confidence were not shared.
The change
Variant adds a 'No credit card required' note to the sign-up page
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
The free trial sign-up page did not say whether a credit card was needed.
Variant
The sign-up page added a message saying 'No credit card required', on both the Netherlands and Belgium sites.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- Many SaaS trials ask for a card, so visitors may assume they'll be charged. Saying otherwise removes that worry.
- It answers a question right at the point of commitment, without adding any steps.
- Fewer people hesitate over a possible surprise bill, so more finish signing up.
Caveats: Sample size, test length and statistical confidence were not shared. The 12.5% headline is the Dutch result.
Who ran it
Teamleader ran this test and published the results (VWO case study). The numbers are theirs; the summary and commentary on this page are ours.
Read the original case study on Teamleader →
How to run this test on your site
- Hypothesis
- If we state 'No credit card required' on our trial sign-up page, then more visitors will sign up because they no longer fear being charged.
- Primary metric
- Trial sign-ups per sign-up page visitor
- Guardrails
- Trial-to-paid conversion
- Trial activation rate
- Spam or junk sign-ups
- Who should test it
- SaaS companies whose free trial genuinely needs no card but don't say so. It doesn't apply if you require a card, and watch trial quality since easier sign-ups can bring less committed users.
Questions
Does 'No credit card required' increase trial sign-ups?
It did for Teamleader, in both markets tested.
Dutch sign-ups rose from 48.7% to 54.8% and Belgian ones from 33% to 38.6%.
Where should I place the no-credit-card message?
Close to the sign-up form or button, where the worry about being charged comes up.
The case study doesn't say exactly where Teamleader placed it.
Will a no-card trial lower trial quality?
It can bring in less committed users. Track trial-to-paid conversion alongside sign-ups.