A/B Testing Your Paywalls: A Beginner's Guide

A/B testing your paywall is the highest-leverage experiment you can run in a subscription app. A 10% improvement in paywall conversion can mean millions in additional annual revenue for a mid-sized app.

But most developers either skip A/B testing entirely or do it wrong. Here's how to get it right from the start.

What is paywall A/B testing? It's showing different versions of your paywall to different groups of users and measuring which version converts better. User A sees Paywall Variant 1, User B sees Variant 2. After enough data, you pick the winner.

Step 1: Define your metric. Before you change anything, decide what 'better' means. Is it higher trial start rate? Higher paid conversion? More revenue per user? Pick one primary metric and optimize for it.

Step 2: Change one thing at a time. If you change the headline, the price, and the layout all at once, you won't know which change made the difference. Start with single-variable tests. Change the headline and keep everything else identical.

Step 3: Wait for statistical significance. This is where most people fail. They see Variant B at 5.2% vs. Variant A at 4.8% after 200 users and declare a winner. That's not enough data. You need at least 95% statistical confidence before making decisions. For most apps, this means running tests for 1-2 weeks minimum.

Step 4: Don't test random things. Prioritize tests with the highest expected impact. Headline copy, pricing structure, and CTA button text typically move the needle more than changing a background color.

Step 5: Keep iterating. Your first test probably won't be a massive win. That's normal. The teams that see 2-3x improvements run dozens of experiments over months. Each small win compounds.

With Experiwall, the entire process is handled for you — from random user assignment to statistical significance calculation. You focus on ideas, we handle the infrastructure.