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The three-screen pre-paywall sequence (explain the free trial)

A 2–3 screen sequence before the paywall ("try free", "we'll remind you before it ends", trial timeline) that raised trial starts 56% in one app; Blinkist, Rest of Me, Cal AI variants.

Updated 2026-10-23·4 sources·monetizationpaywallfree-trialonboardingcopy

The three-screen pre-paywall sequence

TL;DR

  • Right before the paywall, spend 2–3 screens explaining how the free trial works and removing the “I’ll forget to cancel” fear.
  • Typical sequence: (1) “We want you to try X for free” (+ video or feature screenshot), (2) “We’ll send you a reminder 2 days before your trial ends” + push-permission prompt, (3) paywall with a trial timeline.
  • Results: +56% trial activations in one of Steve’s apps; triple-digit lifts for some clients; Blinkist reported +23% (2021).
  • Not universal — one variant failed for a client; the copy before each screen must fit the app.
  • Works best when the main plan is yearly with a trial.

Details

Origin. Blinkist’s 2021 case study: solving their top complaint by showing users how the trial works (a timeline paywall) increased conversions 23% and reduced refund requests from people who forgot to cancel.1

Variants seen in the wild:

  • Rest of Me / “Resemmee” (recipe app): onboarding questions → video (“are you ready?”) → “We offer 7 days for free” → “We’ll remind you 2 days before your trial ends” → push-notification prompt → paywall.23
  • Cal AI: video → “We want you to try Cal AI for free” → “We’ll send you a reminder” → timeline paywall.1
  • Client version (shown with App Masters dummy content): “Try free” with feature screenshots → a social-proof screen instead of the reminder → timeline paywall. This one produced the 56% increase in trial activations.45
  • Momingo combined value-based onboarding with the “reminder 2 days before” screen.6

In a conference talk Steve said the two pre-paywall screens drove +56% trial activations and that some clients saw triple-digit increases — doubling trial activations, trial-to-paid and LTV.7 He calls it one of the best-performing monetization tests his team has A/B tested, especially for yearly-plan apps.3

Caveat from the same tests: a résumé-styled variant underperformed in the very app where the other variant won, and a client test did not work. Steve’s hypothesis: the format works, but what you say on each screen must be tuned per app.85 The job of these screens is purely objection handling right before the price.5

Disagreements / caveats

  • Lift sizes are from Steve’s portfolio and clients, not controlled public studies.
  • The reminder promise must be honoured (actually send the push), or refunds/reviews suffer.

See also

Footnotes

  1. We’ve Tested 100s of Paywalls. Here’s What Actually Converts. @ 05:15 — Steve P. Young ↩ ↩2

  2. The Paywall Strategy That Increased Conversions by 56% @ 04:29 — Steve P. Young ↩

  3. App Monetization Tactics No One Is Talking About @ 00:55 — Steve P. Young ↩ ↩2

  4. We’ve Tested 100s of Paywalls. Here’s What Actually Converts. @ 06:03 — Steve P. Young ↩

  5. The Paywall Strategy That Increased Conversions by 56% @ 05:18 — Steve P. Young ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  6. App Monetization Tactics No One Is Talking About @ 08:31 — Steve P. Young ↩

  7. 56% More Trials With This One Change @ 01:59 — Steve P. Young ↩

  8. We’ve Tested 100s of Paywalls. Here’s What Actually Converts. @ 06:50 — Steve P. Young ↩