---
title: Pay-what-you-want discount slider
slug: pay-what-you-want-discount-slider
summary: Instead of a fixed discount, let users slide between the default offer and the max discount; it converts better and drove ~10% of one app's sales, though users drift to the lowest price.
domain: mobile-apps
tags: [monetization, discount, pricing, retention-offer]
related: [paywall-exit-offers, reverse-trial-freemium-conversion, trial-to-discount-offer]
sources: [yt:bg0_DavI-DE, yt:FWF_AbsR0qc]
updated: 2026-10-23
---

# Pay-what-you-want discount slider

## TL;DR
- Shown to existing free users (e.g. "A free gift for you"), not as the first paywall.
- Slider: far left = the default onboarding offer (e.g. 7-day trial plan), far right = 50% off (e.g. $29.99/yr).
- Letting users choose beats showing the 50% offer alone.
- One small client: ~10% of total sales, close to $1,000/month, mostly from this screen after onboarding.
- Expect drift: early on revenue split evenly between middle and end; later almost everyone picks the lowest price.

## Details
Steve "loves discounting" because most people say no to the first offer; his preferred format lets them slide into the 50% offer rather than presenting it outright.[^1][^2] In one of his apps the slider sits behind a "free gift for you" entry point; the left end is the 7-day default offer from onboarding.[^2]

Results at one client: most revenue still comes from the onboarding paywall, but the pay-what-you-want screen contributes ~10% of sales (~$1k/month for a relatively small app).[^3] When first launched, revenue split evenly between the middle and the lowest option; by the time of recording nearly everyone chose the lowest price.[^1][^3]

Stacks well with a reverse trial: "Pay what you want and unlock your discount" at the end of the free Pro week.[^3]

## Disagreements / caveats
- If everyone ends up at the floor, it's effectively a 50% discount with extra steps — compare against a fixed-discount control on revenue, not conversion.
- Apple requires offer codes / promotional offers or separate products for each price point; implementation is non-trivial.

## See also
- [[paywall-exit-offers]]
- [[reverse-trial-freemium-conversion]]

[^1]: yt:bg0_DavI-DE @ 07:09 — Steve P. Young
[^2]: yt:FWF_AbsR0qc @ 10:55 — Steve P. Young
[^3]: yt:FWF_AbsR0qc @ 12:27 — Steve P. Young