Hard Vs Soft Paywall: Which Do Photo & Video Apps Use?

Photo & Video runs the hardest paywalls of the four spec verticals: only 41 of 218 screens (18.8%) show a visible exit, versus the 26.2% corpus average ^[1]^[2]. Exits break down to 20 X/close, 11 text-link, and 10 restore-only; 177 screens are hard ^[1]. The cut covers 16 companies and 218 screens ^[1].

Only 18.8% of Photo & Video paywall screens (41 of 218) show a visible exit — the hardest spec vertical, Lazyweb Research, July 2026.

Lazyweb Research · n=218 · Published 2026-07-07

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The finding

Across 218 Photo & Video paywall screens from 16 companies, just 41 (18.8%) expose a visible exit — the lowest of the four verticals with enough sample ^[1]^[2]. 177 screens (81.2%) are hard ^[1]. Photo & Video apps lean hardest into the hard-gate default.

Breakdown

Exit type	Screens
Visible X / close	20
'Maybe later' text link	11
Restore-only	10
No visible exit (hard)	177

Total 218 screens, 16 companies; 41 soft (18.8%) ^[1]. The three visible-exit types are more evenly split here than in other verticals ^[1].

How to apply it and caveats

If you ship a photo/video app, a hard gate is the vertical norm — four in five paywalls have no visible exit ^[1]. This likely reflects instant-value editing tools where a locked export is the paywall trigger. Caveats: 16 companies is the smallest company sample of the four verticals, so read the 18.8% as directional; figures are lower bounds and what-shipped, not lift ^[1].

The numbers

Stat	Computed from
41 of 218 P&V screens (18.8%); X 20, text 11, restore 10, hard 177; 16 companies	exit_share_photo_video
corpus average 26.2%	screens_with_any_visible_exit: 710/2,708

Methodology. Photo & Video cut is 218 screens across 16 companies from the exit taxonomy. Read as directional given the modest company sample; lower-bound, what-shipped prevalence. July 2026.

Sources & citations

[1] Lazyweb Research analysis of 218 Photo & Video paywall screens (mobile app corpus, 16 companies), July 2026. Exit taxonomy filtered to Photo & Video; extraction-based lower bounds; 16 companies is a modest sample. ↩
[2] Lazyweb Research analysis of 2,708 paywall screens (mobile app corpus), July 2026. All-corpus visible-exit rate for comparison. ↩

Source: Lazyweb Research — proprietary analysis of real, in-market app screens. Cite as Lazyweb Research, 2026-07-07.