How to Make a Paywall for an App

A paywall is a decision screen. Build the decision, not a brand video.

Trigger it after one success

They finished the useful action once. The paywall offers to keep going, to save history, or to add a person. A wall on the first open is a price list. Some tools can be that. Most apps cannot.

Put four things on the screen

The outcome in one sentence. The price. The period. What happens when a trial ends, if there is a trial. A restore button. A close button. Take the rest off.

Match it to the post that brought them

If Alma's slideshow promised a weekly plan, the paywall sells the weekly plan. Edit the draft so the last slide and this screen use the same nouns. $29/month for 500 slides, or $199/month with no cap.

Say how to cancel

In the product and in the listing. People who cannot find cancel do not stay quietly. They review you.

Read it out loud

If you would not say the line to someone in front of you, it does not belong on the button. "Continue" with the price hidden is how a paywall becomes a complaint.