How trial-to-paid conversion is calculated
Trial-to-paid conversion is the share of finished trials that turn into a first payment:
trial-to-paid rate = (converted trials / trials ended) x 100
A worked example: in one weekly cohort, 2,000 users start a 7-day trial. After the trial window closes, 640 of them are billed successfully. Trial-to-paid conversion is 640 / 2,000 x 100 = 32%.
Use trials that have ended as the denominator. If you divide by all trials started, including those still running, the rate will look low until the cohort matures.
What moves the rate
- Opt-out versus opt-in. Trials that collect a payment method at the start convert at much higher rates than trials that ask for payment at the end.
- Trial length. Longer trials give users time to build a habit, but delay revenue and give more time to forget.
- Onboarding. Users who reach the core value moment during the trial convert more.
- Reminders and paywall design. Clear pricing and an honest renewal reminder reduce refunds and complaints.
- Traffic source. Intent differs widely between channels and creatives.
From trial cost to subscriber cost
Trial starts are a cheap, early signal, but the real cost is per paid subscriber:
cost per paid subscriber = cost per trial / trial-to-paid rate
If campaign A gets trials at $4 with 20% conversion, each subscriber costs $20. Campaign B gets trials at $7 with 45% conversion, so each subscriber costs about $15.56. Campaign B looks more expensive on trials and is cheaper on subscribers. Optimizing ad networks for trial starts alone can push them toward campaign A's kind of traffic, which is why many teams send the conversion event back to the network as well.
Tracking trials by campaign in Linkrunner
Linkrunner receives trial starts, conversions, renewals, refunds and billing issues from RevenueCat and attributes them to the campaign, ad set and creative that drove each install. You can also send trial and purchase events from your own backend. Map the trial and conversion events to network postbacks so Meta and Google can optimize toward subscribers, and read cost per event and revenue per campaign in Linkrunner analytics.