Freemium dropped for paid plans with free trials: +90% revenue
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsV1 Sports, a golf swing analysis app, replaced its freemium model with paid subscriptions that start with a free trial, and revenue rose 90% within 12 months.
This was a before-and-after change, not a split test.
It was described by CEO Alex Prasad on the Sub Club podcast and published on the RevenueCat blog.
- Revenue: up 90% within 12 months of the switch.
- Reviews: a wave of negative reviews from long-time free users. This is a real cost of the change.
- Trial start rate, trial-to-paid and churn figures were not shared.
Control
A freemium model: golfers had used the app for free for years, with paid features on top.
Variant
No free tier. Access requires a paid subscription, which new users can start with a free trial.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- Removing the free tier means every engaged user has to make a pay decision, instead of staying free forever.
- The CEO expected that for every few users who complained, more would subscribe, and the revenue numbers matched that bet.
- The team also used customer conversations to find a coach segment and tailor the offer, which may have helped revenue too.
Caveats: Before-and-after over 12 months, not a split test, so market changes and other product work (such as the new focus on coaches) may explain part of the lift. Reported on the RevenueCat blog, a vendor that sells subscription tools.
Who ran it
V1 Sports ran this test. Source: RevenueCat blog (Sub Club podcast write-up). The numbers are theirs; the summary and commentary on this page are ours.
How to run this test on your app
- Hypothesis
- If we replace the free tier with paid plans that start with a free trial, then revenue per install will rise because every active user meets a paywall, even if some free users leave.
- Primary metric
- Revenue per install (or proceeds per user) over at least 6 to 12 months
- Guardrails
- App Store rating and review volume
- Install-to-trial rate
- Trial-to-paid conversion
- Who should test it
- Apps with a loyal, high-intent user base whose free tier gives away most of the value. It is risky for apps that rely on free users for network effects, word of mouth or ad revenue. A clean split test is hard here, so plan for a staged rollout by new users or by region.
Questions
Will ending freemium cause bad reviews?
It did for V1 Sports, with a wave of negative reviews from users who had used the app free for years.
The team used that feedback to improve its messaging.
Can I A/B test removing a free tier?
It is hard, because existing users talk to each other and see reviews.
Many apps test it on new installs only, or roll it out by region, and compare cohorts.
How long should I measure?
V1 Sports reported its result over 12 months.
Measure for long enough to see renewals, not just first purchases.