7-day free trial instead of 14 days: +8% install-to-paid
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsCutting the free trial from 14 days to 7 days raised install-to-paid conversion by 8%.
Zumba ran this A/B test on the trial offer in its dance fitness app, and the result was published as a RevenueCat customer story.
- Install-to-paid conversion rose 8% with the 7-day trial.
- Sample size, test length and confidence level were not shared.
- Effects on retention and LTV after the first payment were not reported for this test.
The change
Same paywall; the free trial drops from 14 days to 7.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
New users were offered a 14-day free trial before the subscription started.
Variant
New users were offered a 7-day free trial instead. Nothing else about the offer was described as changing.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- Zumba credits the lift to users engaging with the app sooner, since the trial clock is shorter.
- A shorter trial means less time for users to forget about the app before the first charge.
- Fitness habits often form or fail in the first few days, so a second trial week may add little value.
Caveats: Sample size, duration and significance were not shared. The result was published by RevenueCat, which sells the experiments tool Zumba used, so it may lean positive.
Who ran it
Zumba ran this test. Source: RevenueCat customer story. The numbers are theirs; the summary and commentary on this page are ours.
How to run this test on your app
- Hypothesis
- If we shorten the free trial from 14 days to 7 days, then more installs will turn into paying subscribers because users start using the app sooner and decide while they are still engaged.
- Primary metric
- Install-to-paid conversion
- Guardrails
- Trial start rate
- Refund rate in the first billing period
- Month-2 retention of paid users
- Who should test it
- Apps where users can feel the core value within a few days, such as fitness, habit or content apps. It is a weaker fit for apps whose value takes weeks to show, like long learning plans.
Questions
Will a shorter trial lower my trial start rate?
It can, so track trial starts next to install-to-paid.
Zumba reported only the install-to-paid lift, so their trial start figure is not known.
How long should a trial-length test run?
At least long enough for both groups to pass the end of the longer trial and the first charge.
Here that means more than 14 days after the last user enters.
Should I go even shorter than 7 days?
Possibly, but test it rather than assume. This test only compared 14 days with 7 days.