Onboarding, paywall and pricing for subscription apps Onboarding, Paywall and Monetization
Turn more of the installs you already have into paying users.
A monthly engagement on the part of the funnel where installs become revenue. We map your onboarding screen by screen, find where users drop before they see value, redesign the trial and paywall, and test pricing and plan structure with real users. Then we keep testing, because the first paywall you ship is rarely the best one.
- iOS and Android subscription apps
- SaaS trials
- RevenueCat
- Adapty
- Superwall
- Stripe
What we hear before we start.
Installs are up, but trial starts and paid conversions have not moved.
Reviews keep saying people were charged after the trial without a reminder.
We changed the price last quarter and still do not know if it worked.
What is paywall and onboarding optimization?
It is the work of improving the screens between install and payment: the onboarding that shows a new user why the app matters, the trial offer, the paywall itself and the price. Small changes in these few screens often move revenue more than a large increase in installs.
Why it matters now.
Every install you paid for or earned organically has to pass through onboarding and a paywall before it becomes revenue. If those screens leak, more acquisition just pours more users into the same hole.
The leaks are usually specific and fixable: too many screens before the first win, a trial that ends without warning, a paywall that hides the plan people actually want, or a price nobody tested. Store reviews and funnel data point straight at them.
The work, piece by piece.
Onboarding map
Every screen from first open to first value, with drop-off at each step and the moments users quit.
Trial design
Trial length, reminders before renewal and a clear trial screen, so users start trials knowingly and stay past them.
Paywall tests
Layout, plan order, copy and timing tested properly, one change at a time, with enough users to trust the result.
Pricing and plans
Price points, annual vs monthly, regional pricing and plan structure, set from data rather than from a competitor’s page.
Review mining
Store reviews and support tickets sorted by theme, so the complaints about billing and value become the fix list.
Billing and churn hygiene
Failed payment recovery, grace periods and cancellation flows that save the users you can save.
What the engagement includes.
- Screen-by-screen onboarding and paywall audit with drop-off data
- Trial and renewal reminder redesign
- Paywall test plan and test results, one change at a time
- Pricing and plan structure recommendations, regional where it matters
- Review and support ticket themes tied to fixes
- Monthly report on trial starts, conversion and early churn
- A test account or a screen recording of your onboarding and paywall
- Read access to your subscription data (RevenueCat, Adapty, App Store Connect or Stripe)
- Someone who can ship paywall and onboarding changes, or access to your paywall tool
Don’t have everything to hand? Share what you can; we’ll guide you on the rest when we kick off.
We work alongside you month to month, with meetings as you and we agree, for as long as it adds value. Scope and fees are agreed with you before we start.
“The team took the time to really understand our games and came back with clear, practical recommendations across ASO, UI/UX, monetization and marketing.”Bernie Kassar, CEO, OneDegree LabsSee the source →
How the engagement runs.
Map
We go through your onboarding and paywall as a new user, pull funnel data and sort reviews by complaint.
Prioritise
Every leak ranked by revenue impact and effort. You see the order we will fix them in before anything ships.
Ship and test
Onboarding, trial and paywall changes shipped as tests, with a clear success metric for each.
Keep what wins
Winners rolled out, losers documented, and the next test queued every month.
See what we’d fix before you commit.
Signs it’s time:
- Store reviews about surprise trial charges, price or the paywall
- A long onboarding before users reach the core feature
- A recent pricing or plan change with no visible test behind it
The teardown covers:
- Your onboarding as a new user sees it, with the screens we would cut
- Your paywall and trial offer, and the first test we would run
- The billing and pricing complaints in your recent reviews
Check it yourself, free.
Play Store CTR & conversion calculator
Google Play replaced listing conversion rate with click-through rate in 2026. Calculate both, see why they don't compare, and size the install upside.
Google Play rating calculator
How many 5-star ratings do you need to reach your target? The only calculator that models Play's recency-weighted rating.
AI agent pricing checker
Paste your pricing page source and see what an AI agent can extract: plans, prices, billing periods and structured data, and where they disagree. Runs in your browser.
Paywall and monetization FAQ.
Do you build the paywall or only advise on it?
Both, depending on your setup. If you use a paywall tool such as RevenueCat, Adapty or Superwall, we can build and launch paywall variants directly. If paywalls live in your code, we design them and work with your developers to ship them.
Is this only for mobile apps?
No. The same work applies to SaaS free trials and web checkouts: the onboarding before the first value moment, the trial offer and the pricing page.
How long until we see results?
Onboarding fixes can show up in conversion within weeks. Paywall and pricing tests need enough users to reach a reliable answer, so the timeline depends on your traffic. We tell you up front how long each test needs to run.
Will you change our prices?
Only through tests you approve. Pricing is a business decision, so we bring the data, the options and the test design, and you decide what goes live.
Go deeper.
The feature-shop trap: why post-PMF startups stall.
You shipped 17 features last quarter. Revenue did not move. Here is why, and the one thing to do about it.
Your Google Play rating isn't an average. Here is how it really moves.
Most rating calculators assume a lifetime average. Google Play weights recent ratings, which makes recovery far faster than the maths you were shown.
How to reply to Google Play reviews, and why it moves your rating.
A reply is the only marketing message a user asked for. On one client app, reviews that got a reply were revised up +1.62★ on average. Here is how to write them.
Works well alongside.
Website, landing pages and CRO
More signups from the traffic you already get.
Lifecycle and retention
Keep the users you already won, and bring back the ones drifting away.
Full Growth Engagement
Any three or more services, plus strategy, run as one plan by one team.
Ready when you are.
Tell us about your product and what you want from Onboarding, Paywall and Monetization. A founder replies within one business day.