Been experimenting with various paywall strategies for our web app.
Getting inconsistent results between hard and soft paywalls. Currently, we show pricing upfront, but I’m curious if gating content first could yield better results.
What approaches have you found effective for web subscriptions?
Hard paywall works better if your product is actually good.
Conversion rate hinges on user intent more than paywall type. Hard paywalls are effective for users seeking specific content. Soft gates suit random traffic better.
Evaluate your funnel’s metrics. Focus on trial-to-paid conversion rates alongside paywall conversions. Soft paywalls may generate more trials but can result in lower-quality paying customers.
Run both types for two weeks and track revenue per visitor instead of just conversion rates.
My tests show that traffic quality matters a lot.
Hard paywalls work well for users who know what they want. For wider audiences, soft paywalls usually perform better if you choose carefully what to hide.
I suggest testing different points to see what resonates and looking at the total revenue per visitor over some time.
We tried hard paywalls but got way too many bounces. Soft works better for most apps.
Ran both approaches on a content app about 8 months ago. Soft paywall definitely won for us.
We let users read 3 articles before hitting the gate. Conversion was roughly 40% higher than showing pricing immediately. People needed to taste the value first.
The key was picking the right content to gate. We blocked premium guides but kept basic articles free. Users who hit the paywall were already engaged.
Timing the gate matters too. We tested after 2 articles vs 5 articles. Sweet spot was 3 - enough to hook them but not enough to satisfy their need.
Found this breakdown really helpful when I was testing different approaches:
One thing that surprised me - the messaging on the paywall screen made a huge difference. “Continue reading” converted way better than “Subscribe now”.