The rule: longer trials convert better. The market is shortening trials anyway, which means there is conversion sitting on the table for anyone who resists the trend.

What the data says

Going from a 4-day trial to a 17-to-32-day trial nearly doubles trial-to-paid conversion, about 1.7 times. And yet trials of 4 days or less rose to 46.5 percent of apps this year, up from 42.1 percent, while the longest trials fell to 5 percent. Most teams are moving the wrong way.

The nuance

• 5 to 9 days is the practical sweet spot, balancing strong conversion with faster experiment cycles. One team that cut its trial from 14 to 7 days doubled its experimentation velocity, which is a legitimate reason to shorten, but conversion rate is not.
• Day 0 cancellations dominate. 55 percent of 3-day trial cancellations happen on Day 0, versus 31 percent for 30-day trials. Short trials front-load churn before value lands.
• Lead with clarity, not persuasion. Showing a timeline of what happens during the trial, when the charge occurs, and how refunds work converts better than selling harder.

Do this in RevenueCat

1. Configure the free trial as an introductory offer on the product, and test a longer duration against your current one.
2. Show a clear trial timeline on the paywall, including the charge date.
3. Send a trial-expiration reminder, and let the user pick when they receive it. The transparency builds trust.

Benchmark yourself

Find your trial-to-paid rate and trial length in the table. If you run a trial of 4 days or less and sit near the 25.5 percent median, a longer-trial experiment is one of the highest-leverage tests you can run.