Glossary · SaaS metrics
What is trial conversion rate?
Trial conversion rate is the percentage of users who start a free trial and go on to become paying customers, measured over trials that have ended.
Also called: Trial-to-paid conversion, Free trial conversion rate
Updated
How is trial conversion rate calculated?
Trial conversion rate = trials that converted to paid ÷ trials that ended in the period × 100
Use trials that have ended (or reached their end date) as the denominator, not trials started this month — many recent trials haven't had a chance to convert yet. Track by sign-up cohort for a clean comparison.
Trial conversion example
In August, 420 trials reached the end of their 14-day period. 63 became paying customers: a 15% trial conversion rate. Splitting by activation, users who installed the product in the first three days converted at 31%; those who didn't, at 3%. The fastest lever isn't the paywall — it's getting more trial users to install early.
Card-required vs no-card trials
Trials that require a credit card up front usually start far fewer trials but convert a much higher share, because the card filters out low intent and payment happens by default. No-card trials start more trials and convert a smaller share, but can produce more paying customers in total. Compare total paying customers per visitor, not the trial conversion rate alone.
Common trial conversion pitfalls
- Using trials started this month as the denominator.
- Comparing card and no-card trials on the rate alone.
- Ignoring the acquisition channel — trials from a launch or a giveaway convert very differently from search.
- Counting refunds within days of payment as conversions.
How to track trial conversion with VisitTrack
Send trial_started (or signup) when the trial begins and let attributed payments write payment_completed automatically; a funnel from trial start to payment shows the rate, and filtering the Overview by a trial-start goal shows which channels bring trials. Because payments are attributed to the visitor's first touch, the Revenue tab shows which sources produce trials that pay. For reference, VisitTrack's own trial is 14 days with no card required. See custom events and revenue attribution.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good free trial conversion rate?
It depends mostly on whether a card is required up front: card-required trials convert a much higher share than no-card trials. Measure against your own history by cohort and channel rather than a single benchmark.
How long should a free trial be?
Long enough for a typical user to reach the product's first real value. Many SaaS products use 7 or 14 days; complex products that need setup or data often use longer trials.
Related terms
- Activation rateActivation rate is the percentage of new sign-ups who reach a defined "activation" milestone — the first moment they get real value from the product, such as creating a first project or seeing their first data.
- Conversion rateConversion rate is the percentage of visitors (or sessions) that complete a desired action — a sign-up, purchase, demo request or any other goal — out of all visitors (or sessions) in the same period.
- Conversion funnelA conversion funnel is an ordered sequence of steps a visitor takes toward a goal — for example landing page, pricing, sign-up, payment — measured as how many visitors reach each step and how many drop off between them.
- Customer acquisition cost (CAC)Customer acquisition cost (CAC) is the total sales and marketing spend required to acquire one new paying customer over a period — total acquisition costs divided by new customers acquired.
- Monthly recurring revenue (MRR)Monthly recurring revenue (MRR) is the predictable subscription revenue a business expects to earn every month, normalized to a monthly amount and excluding one-time payments.
Tools and guides
See which channels actually bring paying customers
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