Metric
Paying customers per visitor
New paying customers divided by the visitors (or installs) of the same acquisition cohort. The fair way to compare paywall and trial designs that trade sign-up volume for conversion rate.
Plain label: buyers per visitor or installAlso known as: install to paid, visitor to paid
Hard paywalls convert more installs by day 35 but also refund more (5.8% vs 3.4% of payers; benchmark confidence B); read refunds and 30-day cancels next to this metric before declaring a winner.
Benchmarks
Every benchmark carries its year and a confidence grade for its source. Use them to calibrate, not as targets.
| Context | Median | Top 25% | Top 10% | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| install to paid by day 35, hard-paywall appsConsumer subscription | 12% | — | — | RevenueCat State of Subscription Apps 2025, 2025Benchmark confidence B. A reputable dataset. |
| install to paid by day 35, freemium appsConsumer subscription | 2.2% | — | — | RevenueCat State of Subscription Apps 2025, 2025Benchmark confidence B. A reputable dataset. |
Sources
State of Subscription Apps 2025 · RevenueCat, 2025
Benchmark confidence B. A reputable dataset.A new look at free-to-paid conversion · Growth Unhinged (Kyle Poyar), 2026
Benchmark confidence B. A reputable dataset.
Book content is paraphrased, never quoted at length. Last verified October 24, 2026.
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