---
title: Moving an app to subscriptions — existing users, segmentation and who should subscribe
slug: adopting-subscriptions-and-who-should-subscribe
summary: Dan Burcaw's (Nami ML, Feb 2022) advice for switching to subscriptions — grandfather existing buyers with lifetime access, target the model at new users, accept that subscription isn't for every cohort (lifetime, one-time "appetizers", ads), and tie behaviour cohorts to acquisition channels; plus Visualizee's one-time → monthly switch.
domain: mobile-apps
tags: [monetization, subscriptions, business-model, lifetime-purchase, segmentation]
related: [freemium-vs-hard-paywall-free-tier, tiered-pricing-and-consumables, subscription-price-increase, hard-vs-soft-paywalls, removing-product-friction-pivot, hard-paywall-by-traffic-source]
sources: [yt:_KilixPWX-c, yt:TUN8Y8__QGU]
updated: 2026-10-24
---

# Moving an app to subscriptions

> Main source is from **February 2022** (Storemaven podcast). The principles are durable; the platform
> context (custom product pages "launched a month ago", IDFA loss) is dated.

## TL;DR
- **Already in market? Be generous to existing users**: give one-time buyers what they think they bought (lifetime access), let others keep going, and **sell subscriptions to new users only** — otherwise you spend brand currency on customer service and backlash.[^1]
- **New app? Just start** with a price and plan mix and treat it as the beginning of learning, not the end.[^2]
- Why subscriptions: consumers are used to them, Apple/Google encourage them (editorial matters), and outside games one-time IAP doesn't recur — subscriptions fund ongoing development and reveal dissatisfaction early via churn.[^3][^4]
- **Subscription isn't for everyone**: offer lifetime to people who want to pay once, small one-time "appetizers" as a step up, or ad-supported access for cohorts you want but won't monetise — it's market segmentation, not tricking users.[^5][^6]
- Visualizee's switch from one-time payments to monthly subscriptions, together with a simpler UI, took it from ~$150 to ~$10K/month; Piotr's lesson: charge subscriptions from day one.[^7][^8]

## Details
**Find who fits ([[people/dan-burcaw]]).** Combine behavioural cohorts (e.g. a casual user who opens once a month — decide whether to serve them at all) with the channels that bring each cohort. You may welcome casual users organically but not pay to acquire them.[^9][^10]

**Optimising for the wrong group.** Host [[people/esther-schatz]]: in slots games, "free coins" messaging always lifts conversion, but those users leave when the coins run out — an A/B winner that loses money later. Define who you're testing for before testing.[^11]

**Hard trial fits motivated categories.** In fitness, a download implies internal drive to change, so a trial wall right away aligns with the user (8fit's early paywall filtered for committed users); a weather or food app lacks that motivation.[^12][^13]

**Ask, don't only track.** Without IDFA, ask subscribers how they found you (common in SaaS sign-ups); right after purchase users are willing to share.[^14]

## Disagreements / caveats
- 2026 sources lean harder on no-free-tier/hard paywalls ([[freemium-vs-hard-paywall-free-tier]]); Dan's segmentation view (lifetime, ads, appetizers) is closer to [[tiered-pricing-and-consumables]].
- Grandfathering also appears in [[subscription-price-increase]] (Skylight) — consistent advice across sources.
- Visualizee is a B2B web SaaS, and its UI pivot shipped at the same time.

## See also
- [[hard-paywall-by-traffic-source]] — the attribution-question screen in practice

[^1]: yt:_KilixPWX-c @ 34:56 — Dan Burcaw
[^2]: yt:_KilixPWX-c @ 36:13 — Dan Burcaw
[^3]: yt:_KilixPWX-c @ 12:51 — Dan Burcaw
[^4]: yt:_KilixPWX-c @ 14:23 — Dan Burcaw
[^5]: yt:_KilixPWX-c @ 15:44 — Dan Burcaw
[^6]: yt:_KilixPWX-c @ 17:09 — Dan Burcaw
[^7]: yt:TUN8Y8__QGU @ 07:12 — Piotr (Visualizee)
[^8]: yt:TUN8Y8__QGU @ 08:03 — Piotr (Visualizee)
[^9]: yt:_KilixPWX-c @ 17:59 — Dan Burcaw
[^10]: yt:_KilixPWX-c @ 18:53 — Dan Burcaw
[^11]: yt:_KilixPWX-c @ 20:24 — Esther Schatz
[^12]: yt:_KilixPWX-c @ 27:37 — Esther Schatz
[^13]: yt:_KilixPWX-c @ 29:09 — Dan Burcaw
[^14]: yt:_KilixPWX-c @ 23:18 — Dan Burcaw