# Paywall that previews premium features: +50% conversion, +64% ARPU

- Outcome: Won
- Page type: Paywall (App)
- Elements: Paywall design
- Date shared: 2025-12
- Test run by: [Unchaind](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/unchaind/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://superwall.com/case-studies/unchaind
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/unchaind-app-preview-paywall/

Replacing a text paywall with a visual one that previews premium features lifted conversion by over 50% and estimated ARPU by 64%. Unchaind, a faith-based recovery app, ran this A/B test. It was published as a Superwall case study.

## Result

**Over +50% conversion; +64% estimated ARPU**

- Conversion rate: up over 50% for the feature-preview paywall.
- Estimated ARPU: up 64%. The source calls this an estimate, so it may not reflect final renewals.
- The winner became the new baseline for later tests, which the team says kept raising conversion and ARPU. Those later results were not broken out.

## Control

A text-based paywall with a headline and a bulleted list of benefits.

## Variant

A visual paywall that used rich media to preview the look and feel of the premium features.

## Why it likely won (our reading)

- Seeing the app in action makes the value concrete, while bullet points ask users to imagine it.
- Previews can reduce doubt about what premium actually includes.
- Users who see the product may be more willing to pick a higher-value plan, which would lift ARPU on top of conversion.

## Caveats

Sample size, duration and confidence were not shared, and the ARPU gain is an estimate. The case study was published by Superwall, which sells the paywall testing tool used.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we preview premium features with screenshots or video on the paywall instead of a text list, then more users will subscribe because they can see what they are paying for.
- Primary metric: Paywall conversion rate
- Guardrail: ARPU or proceeds per user
- Guardrail: Trial-to-paid conversion
- Guardrail: Paywall load time
- Who should test it: Apps whose premium features are visual or easy to show on screen. It may help less when the premium value is abstract, like removing ads or limits.

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Credit: Unchaind ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/unchaind-app-preview-paywall/).
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.