Trial-to-paid conversion
A trial is a promise; a converted trial is revenue. Trial-to-paid conversion measures how often that promise is kept, and it is where many Apple Ads keywords that look cheap per trial turn out to be expensive per subscriber.
Updated
Not every trial becomes a paying subscription: some users cancel before the first charge. How many do depends on the product, the offer and the audience, and it can differ sharply between keywords in the same Apple Ads account. Tracking trial-to-paid conversion per keyword shows which traffic produces paying subscribers.
Trials converted, Trial converted CR and cost
- Trials converted. The number of trial subscriptions that converted into paid subscriptions within the reporting period.
- Trial converted CR. The percentage of trials that converted into paid subscriptions.
- Cost per Trial converted. Total spend divided by the number of converted trials in the same period.
Cost per Trial converted is effectively the cost of a paying subscriber acquired through a trial. In the example, a $20 cost per trial becomes $50 once only 40% of trials pay.
Timing: why recent numbers look low
A trial converts only when it ends, so conversions lag trial starts by the length of the trial. For a recent period, many trials are still running and have not had the chance to convert. Trial converted CR for the last few days will almost always look worse than it will end up.
A measured paywall effect
Adapty’s Apple Ads for subscription apps 2026 report measured what happened when apps showed paywalls matched to the intent of the Apple Ads keyword instead of a default paywall. Within the same apps, keyword-intent-matched paywalls showed a 24.2% relative lift in trial-to-paid conversion over default paywalls, in 2025 campaigns.
Source: Adapty, Apple Ads for subscription apps 2026. The 2026 edition covers January to December 2025 campaigns across 8,000+ apps and 1,000,000+ ad groups; per-row app counts were not published. This is a relative effect measured in the study population, not an absolute trial-to-paid benchmark and not a guaranteed result.
How to improve trial-to-paid conversion
- Match the paywall to intent. A user who searched for a specific use case should see a paywall that speaks to it.
- Bid on keywords that convert, not just ones that start trials. Rank keywords by Cost per Trial converted.
- Deliver value during the trial. Onboarding that gets users to the core feature early gives them a reason to stay.
- Be clear about the terms. Users who understand when they will be charged and how much are less likely to cancel in surprise or request refunds.
- Test the offer. Trial length and plan mix change both how many trials start and how many convert; judge tests on revenue, not trial count alone.
Related metrics
Trial-to-paid conversion sits between Trials and Cost per Trial upstream and revenue, ROAS and ROI downstream. Together they show the whole path from a tap to a paying subscriber.