RevenueCat just published one of the richest datasets on free trials out there. They have the data, at least for mobile subscriptions apps, where they power 60%+ of the subscription management.
SaaStr Fund made the very first investment in RevenueCat back in 2018, so I’ve watched this dataset grow from a few hundred apps to the default subscription layer for mobile. A big chunk of RevenueCat’s base is B2C: fitness apps, photo editors, streaming, games, language learning. But RevenueCat powers around 60% of all mobile subscription apps, B2C and B2B, including productivity and workflow tools that look a lot like what many of you sell. The study covers 17,000+ mobile apps over a full year (August 2025 through July 2026), which makes it the largest look at trial behavior I know of. The consumer skew matters less than you’d expect, especially on annual plans, where the purchase starts to look a lot like a B2B contract.
The full RevenueCat post is here. What follows are the parts that apply to B2B + AI.
On annual plans, 17 to 32 day trials converted 44.6% of users vs. 24% for trials of 4 days or less
On Annual plans, the data is clear: go with a 30-day trial, absent evidence otherwise.
On annual subscriptions, conversion rose with every step up in trial length: 24% for trials of 4 days or less, 33% at 5 to 9 days, 43% at 10 to 16 days, and 44.6% at 17 to 32 days. First renewal moved even more, from 18.3% to 47.5%.
Combine the two and look at the share of trial users who paid and then renewed a year later. It went from 3.5% on the shortest trials to 18.5% on the longest. Same number of trial starts, more than 5x the retained customers.
RevenueCat’s explanation will make sense to anyone who has sold an annual contract. Paying for a year up front is a bigger commitment and harder to undo, so buyers want more time before they sign. The ones who get that time and still buy tend to stay.
In B2B, most of us run 14-day trials because Salesforce and HubSpot did it 15 years ago, and then push the annual plan hard on day 14. If you want a 12-month commitment, this data says to give buyers closer to 30 days to decide.
81 to 100 of the top 100 mobile apps per category run weekly trials of 4 days or less
RevenueCat looked at the 100 apps with the most trial starts in each category. On weekly plans, between 81 and 100 of them run trials of 4 days or less, depending on category. On monthly and annual plans, most run 9 days or less.
So the highest-volume apps mostly run short trials, while the performance data often favors longer ones. Short trials do have real benefits: cash arrives sooner, paid campaigns get faster feedback, and free usage costs less. A lot of it is also teams copying the category leader.
B2B does the same thing. We copy the 14-day trial from whoever we benchmark against, or cut it to 7 days because the CFO wants faster payback. In both cases the number came from somewhere other than our own time to value.
Monthly conversion peaked at 46.6% on 10 to 16 day trials
Monthly is closer to how most PLG B2B products sell, and the results are more mixed.
- 4 days or less: 39.6% conversion, 54.2% first renewal
- 5 to 9 days: 45.9% conversion, 62.8% first renewal
- 10 to 16 days: 46.6% conversion, 72.0% first renewal
- 17 to 32 days: 43.7% conversion, 77.5% first renewal
Conversion peaks at 10 to 16 days. Past that, renewal keeps rising while fewer people convert. On the combined measure, 30.6% of 10 to 16 day trial users paid and renewed once, and the longer group did no better.
For a monthly self-serve B2B product, the standard 14-day trial lands in the right range. Moving to 30 days gets you somewhat better retention and somewhat worse conversion. Which one you should favor depends on whether churn or conversion is the bigger leak in your funnel.
Monthly buyers with no trial renewed at 49.5% vs. 77.5% after 17 to 32 day trials
Some founders drop the trial entirely to force commitment. RevenueCat’s renewal data shows the cost:
- Weekly: 35.9% first renewal with no trial vs. 65.9% after 5 to 9 day trials
- Monthly: 49.5% with no trial vs. 77.5% after 17 to 32 day trials
Annual works differently. Buyers who paid for a year with no trial renewed at 26.6%, ahead of buyers who came through short trials (18.3% at 4 days or less, 25.3% at 5 to 9 days). Only 10+ day trials beat them, at 36.4% and 47.5%.
In B2B terms, the no-trial annual buyer already knew what they wanted. That’s your sales-assisted or referral customer. The customer pushed into annual after a 3-day trial is the weakest cohort in the whole dataset. On annual plans, a short trial did worse than offering no trial.
RevenueCat also points out that lower renewal doesn’t automatically mean lower profit. One case study they cite dropped the trial along with pricing and packaging changes, and the app earned enough per customer to fund paid acquisition. Removing the trial can work if you’ve priced for the renewal hit.
AI app conversion fell from 38.5% to 31.8% once monthly trials went past 16 days
For B2B + AI, this is the most important finding in the report.
AI products carry a cost traditional software doesn’t: every free session burns inference. A longer trial delays revenue and also adds spend on users who may never pay.
The data shows longer trials stop paying off sooner for AI apps. On monthly plans, 5 to 9 day and 10 to 16 day trials converted about the same (38.2% and 38.5%), and 10 to 16 days renewed better (64.2% vs. 57.4%). At 17 to 32 days, conversion dropped to 31.8% and renewal held flat at 64.1%. Two extra weeks of free inference produced fewer customers and no retention gain.
On annual AI plans, 10 to 16 day trials converted 33.8% vs. 23.3% at 5 to 9 days, with first renewal at 29.4% vs. 19.6%.
AI apps also converted and renewed below non-AI apps at every monthly trial length, so the margin for a bad trial setting is thinner.
For B2B + AI products, about two weeks looks like the ceiling on time-based trials. If annual buyers need longer to evaluate, extend with a usage cap (credits, runs, seats) instead of more days. They get more calendar time and you don’t pay for more tokens.
Utilities apps renewed at 77.9% after the longest trials vs. 55% after the shortest
RevenueCat broke monthly results out by category. Utilities is the closest analog to a lot of B2B productivity software.
Conversion peaked at 10 to 16 days (47.4%) and dipped at 17 to 32 days (44.0%). First renewal kept rising the whole way, reaching 77.9% for the longest trials vs. 55% for trials of 4 days or less.
A user can see a tool’s value after one task, which is enough to convert. Renewal depends on whether they came back and used it again and again. In B2B, a short trial can prove the product works. A longer one gives it time to get into a weekly workflow and pick up a second or third seat, and that’s what shows up in renewal.
North America and Western Europe converted better at every longer annual trial length
On annual plans, North America and Western Europe showed higher conversion at each step up in trial length, all the way to 17 to 32 days. Asia-Pacific followed the same curve through 10 to 16 days, then dropped.
On monthly plans, the Middle East and Africa, India and Southeast Asia, and Latin America converted best at 5 to 9 days and worst on the longest trials. The widest gap was Middle East and Africa: 38.3% at 5 to 9 days vs. 27.4% at 17 to 32.
If most of your revenue is US and Europe, the longer annual trial holds up. If you’re expanding into other regions, test a shorter trial there.
Users still active on day 25 of a trial were always more likely to pay
RevenueCat flags this caveat in their own post. These results are correlational. Someone still in a 30-day trial on day 25 was more likely to buy than someone who left on day two, regardless of trial length. Part of the lift from longer trials comes from who sticks around, and trial length alone may not explain all of the retention gain.
The benchmarks are still useful as a starting point. Run the test on your own funnel before you change pricing pages across the board.
Top Takeaways:
- Annual plan offers get a 30-day trial, not 14. On annual, 4-day trials converted 24% and renewed 18.3%. Trials of 17 to 32 days converted 44.6% and renewed 47.5%.
- Monthly self-serve stays around 14 days. Conversion peaked at 46.6% in the 10 to 16 day range. Go longer only if churn costs you more than conversion does.
- B2B + AI products cap time-based trials at about 2 weeks and extend with usage limits. AI conversion fell from 38.5% to 31.8% past 16 days with no renewal gain.
- Keep the trial on monthly plans. No-trial monthly buyers renewed at 49.5% vs. 72% to 77.5% after 10+ day trials.
- Stop pairing a short trial with an annual push. Short-trial annual buyers renewed at 18.3%. No-trial annual buyers renewed at 26.6%.
- Run 14 vs. 30 days on your annual offer for one quarter. Measure conversion and 12-month renewal together.
Most B2B teams set their trial length years ago and never went back to it. On annual plans especially, 17,000+ apps’ worth of data says that old default is losing you customers.
