Trial-to-Paid Conversion Rate Calculator
Enter how many free trials started and how many became paying customers. You get your trial-to-paid conversion rate, and what a few more points would add in MRR at your own price.
Free trials that began in the period you are measuring.
Count only the trials above whose first payment went through.
What an average new customer pays a month.
Slide to see what a higher rate would be worth on the same trials.
- Paying today
- Extra customers at 20.0%
- 60 ÷ 400 × 100= 15.0%
- 60 × $49= $2,940 MRR
- 400 × 20.0%= 80 customers
- 20 more × $49= $980 more MRR
- $980 × 12= $11,760 more ARR
Trial-to-paid conversion rate is paying customers divided by trials started.
Take the free trials that started in a period and count how many of those same trials went on to pay. Divide the second number by the first and multiply by 100.
conversion rate = trials that paid ÷ trials started × 100
The calculator starts with 400 trials and 60 that paid. 60 divided by 400 is 0.15, so the rate is 15.0%. At $49 a month each, those 60 customers bring $2,940 of new MRR.
One more point of conversion is worth one percent of your trials, times your price.
A percentage point is one trial in every hundred. On 400 trials, one more point is 4 more paying customers, which at $49 a month is $196 of MRR and $2,352 of ARR.
extra MRR = trials started × extra points ÷ 100 × monthly price
extra ARR = extra MRR × 12
Adding 5 points takes the example from 15.0% to 20.0%: 80 paying customers in place of 60. That is 20 more customers, $980 more MRR and $11,760 more ARR from the same 400 trials, with nothing more spent on bringing them in.
| Extra points | New rate | More customers | More MRR | More ARR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| +1 | 16.0% | 4 | $196 | $2,352 |
| +2 | 17.0% | 8 | $392 | $4,704 |
| +5 | 20.0% | 20 | $980 | $11,760 |
| +10 | 25.0% | 40 | $1,960 | $23,520 |
Points and percent are not the same thing. Going from 15.0% to 20.0% is 5 points, and it is 33% more paying customers.
Count each trial in the period it started, and read the rate only after those trials have ended.
- Follow one group of trials. Dividing this month's new customers by this month's trial starts mixes two groups. With a 14-day trial, some of this month's payers started last month. Match each paying customer to the trial that produced it.
- Let the trials finish. A group measured before its last trial has ended always looks worse than it is.
- Fix what paid means. The usual line is a first successful charge. A trial with a card on file that has not been charged has not converted yet.
- Compare like with like. A trial that asks for a payment method at signup draws different people from one that does not. Your own earlier groups of trials are the comparison that holds.
If you run trials on Stripe, 1Capture verifies a payment method when each trial starts, on your own Stripe account. To see where the new customers land in your monthly numbers, use the MRR and ARR calculator.
People also ask these questions about trial conversion rate.
What is the trial to paid conversion rate formula?
Trial-to-paid conversion rate is the number of trials that became paying customers, divided by the number of trials that started, times 100. If 400 trials started and 60 of them paid, the rate is 60 divided by 400, times 100, which is 15.0%.
What does trial-to-paid conversion mean?
It is the share of free trial signups that go on to pay. A trial counts as converted when its first payment goes through, not when the person signs up or adds a card.
How do I calculate free trial conversion rate for one month?
Take the trials that started in that month, wait until all of them have ended, then count how many paid. Dividing the month's new customers by the month's trial starts gives a different and less steady number, because some of those customers started their trial the month before.
What is a good free trial conversion rate?
There is no single number that fits every product. A trial that asks for a payment method at signup attracts different people from one that does not, so the two rates cannot be compared directly. The comparison that holds is your own rate from one group of trials to the next, measured the same way each time.
How much is one more point of trial conversion worth?
One point is one more paying customer for every 100 trials. Multiply trials started by your monthly price and divide by 100. On 400 trials at $49 a month, one point is 4 more customers and $196 of MRR, which is $2,352 of ARR.
Is a 5 point increase the same as a 5% increase?
No. Points are added to the rate, and a percent increase multiplies it. Going from 15.0% to 20.0% is 5 points, and it is 33% more paying customers.
These free calculators cover the rest of your subscription numbers.
- Churn rate calculatorCustomer churn, MRR churn and net revenue retention, by month and year.
- Customer lifetime value calculatorLTV from ARPA, margin and churn, with the LTV to CAC ratio.
- MRR and ARR calculatorNet new MRR, ending MRR and ARR, drawn as a waterfall.
- Failed payment recovery calculatorWhat failed payments cost a month and a year, and what recovery saves.
- Stripe fee calculatorThe Stripe fee on any charge, and what you keep.