Your paywall is your real pricing page
Most people decide on the first paywall view. What to show, what to cut, and why the yearly plan usually comes first.
On the web, people compare pricing pages, read FAQs and come back next week. In a mobile app they see one screen, often once, usually with their thumb already moving. That screen is your pricing page. Treat it like one.
One job per paywall
A paywall has one job: help the right person say yes now. Everything on it should either show the value, remove a doubt, or make the choice easy. If an element does none of those, it’s noise.
What to show
- The outcome, not the features. “Sleep better in 7 nights” beats a list of twelve features.
- The plans, with one marked. Two or three plans is plenty. Mark the one you want most people to choose.
- The price in a form people can compare. Show yearly plans as a monthly or weekly equivalent, and the actual billed amount right under it.
- What happens next. “7 days free, then $39.99 a year. Cancel anytime in Settings.” Clear terms lower anxiety and refund requests.
What to cut
- Long feature tables. Nobody reads them on a phone.
- Tiny close buttons that feel like a trick. Store reviewers notice, and so do users.
- More than one call to action. A second button competes with the first.
Why yearly often goes first
A yearly plan gives you cash up front and a full year for the product to earn a renewal. Showing it first, with its monthly equivalent, often makes it the easy choice. It isn’t right for every app. If your app solves a short-term need, a monthly plan can be more honest and convert better.
Price is a sentence on your paywall. Write it as carefully as your headline.
How to improve it
Change one thing at a time and measure trial starts per paywall view for a full week, so weekday and weekend users are both counted. Start with the headline, then the default plan, then the layout.
Try this week: screenshot your paywall and send it to three people who don’t use your app. Ask what they would get and what it would cost. If they can’t answer in five seconds, start there.