---
title: Paid intro offers ($1.99 first month that renews yearly)
slug: paid-intro-offers
summary: Next to the free-trial plan, offer a cheap paid first period (e.g. $1.99 for month one, then $59.99/year) — a tripwire that lifted conversion 19% → 25% and proceeds +21% in one test.
domain: mobile-apps
tags: [monetization, pricing, intro-offer, free-trial, ltv]
related: [weekly-vs-yearly-plans-and-trial-placement, paywall-price-display-and-plan-count, trial-to-discount-offer, subscription-conversion-benchmarks, web2app-tripwire-pricing]
sources: [yt:2soA7LyyQ64, yt:bg0_DavI-DE, yt:FWF_AbsR0qc]
updated: 2026-10-23
---

# Paid intro offers

## TL;DR
- Two yearly options side by side: "7 days free, then $59.99/yr" and "$1.99 for the first month, then $59.99/yr" (Rest of Me/"Resemmee" pattern).
- ~75–80% pick the free trial; 20–30% pick $1.99 — but those **convert/renew at 60–70%** vs 30–40% for free trials.
- Use it to **replace a plain monthly plan** (monthly LTV ≈ $3–3.5).
- Community test (Sebastian): conversion 19% → 25%, proceeds +21% over 1.5 months.
- Best when trial activation is already >10%.

## Details
**Mechanics.** Both options are the same yearly subscription; the paid one uses an introductory pay-up-front price for the first month. Steve likens it to an online-marketing tripwire: a tiny first purchase, then upsell.[^1][^2] Resemmee was A/B testing a straight free-week paywall against the $1.99 version when Steve captured it.[^3]

**Who picks what.** Roughly 75–80% choose the 7-day free trial and 20–30% the $1.99 month, but those paying up front tend to stay and renew into yearly.[^4] Steve's numbers: free-trial trial-to-paid ≈ 30–40%; $1.99 intro "paid-to-paid" ≈ 60–70%.[^5] They've shown willingness to pay, and upselling an existing customer is easier than finding a new one.[^6]

**Why replace monthly.** For most apps monthly LTV is ~$3–3.5; an intro offer that rolls into yearly captures yearly LTV from people who wanted a low commitment.[^6] Why $1.99: premium enough to feel real, low enough to try.[^6]

**Results.** Sebastian (App Founders community) replaced his monthly plan with a $1.99 intro that renews yearly; over ~1.5 months conversion went from 19% to 25% and proceeds rose 21%.[^7][^2][^8] Steve's own app test was early and the numbers were initially weak, though renewals were starting to come through.[^4]

**When.** If trial activation is already above ~10%, add paid intro offers.[^5]

## Disagreements / caveats
- Steve calls this "the future of monetization" — an opinion; his own test was inconclusive at recording.
- Make the renewal price unmistakable to avoid refund requests and review complaints.

## See also
- [[weekly-vs-yearly-plans-and-trial-placement]]
- [[trial-to-discount-offer]]

[^1]: yt:2soA7LyyQ64 @ 06:12 — Steve P. Young
[^2]: yt:bg0_DavI-DE @ 02:54 — Steve P. Young
[^3]: yt:FWF_AbsR0qc @ 07:03 — Steve P. Young
[^4]: yt:2soA7LyyQ64 @ 06:12 — Steve P. Young
[^5]: yt:bg0_DavI-DE @ 08:02 — Steve P. Young
[^6]: yt:FWF_AbsR0qc @ 05:45 — Steve P. Young
[^7]: yt:2soA7LyyQ64 @ 07:17 — Steve P. Young
[^8]: yt:FWF_AbsR0qc @ 07:03 — Steve P. Young