---
title: What to put behind the paywall (drawing the free/paid line)
slug: what-to-gate-behind-the-paywall
summary: How to decide which features are free vs paid — keep the core promise free, gate new self-explanatory features, start things behind the paywall (moving out is easy, moving in is painful), meter usage visibly, and watch for "disgust" reactions, not just A/B lifts.
domain: mobile-apps
tags: [monetization, freemium, paywall, packaging, product]
related: [freemium-vs-hard-paywall-free-tier, reverse-trial-freemium-conversion, tiered-pricing-and-consumables, subscription-price-increase, paywall-placements-and-transaction-abandonment]
sources: [yt:AilakPuHdf4, yt:-5zgc14t2gc, yt:L-W6tm-Yk5E, yt:AWI3rofh0BA]
updated: 2026-10-24
---

# What to put behind the paywall

## TL;DR
- **Never gate the thing people came for.** Skylight: getting photos to grandma's frame and organising events on the calendar stay free; video, meal planning, recipes and AI go in the subscription.
- **Gate new features that users grok instantly** ("meal planning") — not settings they stumble into ("ah, I have to pay for this view").
- **Start new features behind the paywall**; moving something out later is easy, moving it in is painful.
- Judge the line by **emotion**, not only A/B numbers: a gate that lifts subscriptions but makes people feel ripped off ("disgust and anger") is a long-term loss.
- Lines drift: a feature that felt fair paid in 2018 (Skylight's photo screensaver on the calendar) may need to become free years later.
- Metering works when it's visible: a card-scanner app shows "35 scans left… 34…" so the paywall never surprises.

## Details
**Core-promise test.** Mark Ungerer (Skylight CPO): whatever the customer bought the $300 device for must work without a subscription, or they'll feel "tricked and duped". Natural upsells sit beside the core — video on a photo frame; recipes, meals and an AI assistant on the calendar.[^1] The tension: marketing wants to advertise the exciting paid AI features, which risks buyers feeling misled after purchase.[^2]

**Emotion over quant.** Michael Segal: nobody wants to pay a subscription, but there's a spectrum from "I get why you charge" to "ripped off" — the latter happens when users feel something should be free on a values basis. Skylight has put features behind the paywall that raised numbers but drew begrudging or angry reviews and interviews, and backed off.[^3]

**Grok-ability and direction of travel.** Anything in the bundle must make sense to a user quickly. New, clearly-scoped modules (meal planning) go straight behind the paywall, often without a test. Starting behind the paywall and moving out is far easier than the reverse.[^4]

**Merchandising rarely moves attach.** Skylight tried several ways of presenting what's in the bundle; attach rate (share subscribing) barely changed — excited buyers want "the whole thing".[^4] They also **don't label premium features inside the app for subscribers**, so at renewal people judge overall value, not an itemised list; renewal is high whether or not people use bundle features.[^5]

**Lines drift with the market.** In 2018/19 Skylight put photos-on-the-calendar behind a $39/year sub with no rigour and it worked; eight years on, more customers say the photo screensaver should be free, and kids loving the photos drives word of mouth — so they're discussing making it fully or partly free.[^6][^7]

**Limited free value instead of a free tier.** BoldVoice users who close the paywall get the speech assessment (something people pay coaches for), the day-one practice set and coach video; a trial is required from day two.[^8] David Barnard's example: trading-card scanner apps give the full product but count down remaining scans, prepping users for the paywall moment.[^9] Kenneth Schlenker's rule for freemium apps: if free users wouldn't recommend you, give away more.[^10]

**Gate by what scales value.** Ravi Mehta: Tinder's paid features "break the game's rules" — see who liked you (Gold), message before matching (Platinum). Gate the things that deliver more of the core outcome (matches).[^11]

## Disagreements / caveats
- Skylight is hardware: buyers already paid $300–700, so their "free tier" users are highly committed; software-only freemium users are more tenuous (Mark says so himself).[^5]
- Skylight admits it has never had a subscription growth PM; these are instincts with light testing.[^12]

## See also
- [[freemium-vs-hard-paywall-free-tier]]
- [[reverse-trial-freemium-conversion]]
- [[tiered-pricing-and-consumables]]

[^1]: yt:AilakPuHdf4 @ 11:30 — Mark Ungerer
[^2]: yt:AilakPuHdf4 @ 13:05 — Mark Ungerer
[^3]: yt:AilakPuHdf4 @ 13:05 — Michael Segal
[^4]: yt:AilakPuHdf4 @ 15:31 — Mark Ungerer
[^5]: yt:AilakPuHdf4 @ 22:31 — Mark Ungerer
[^6]: yt:AilakPuHdf4 @ 17:44 — Michael Segal
[^7]: yt:AilakPuHdf4 @ 18:39 — Mark Ungerer
[^8]: yt:-5zgc14t2gc @ 24:10 — Anada Lakra
[^9]: yt:-5zgc14t2gc @ 25:41 — David Barnard
[^10]: yt:L-W6tm-Yk5E @ 04:29 — David Barnard
[^11]: yt:AWI3rofh0BA @ 13:47 — Ravi Mehta
[^12]: yt:AilakPuHdf4 @ 16:46 — Michael Segal