# What Percent of Sign-Up Flows Include a Paywall?

Source: Lazyweb Research
Published: 2026-07-07
Sample size: n=146
Tags: paywall, signup, monetization, saas, web
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**Answer.** Across 146 sign-up flows tracked by Lazyweb Research, only 9.6% (14 of 146) contain a paywall step [1]. Paywalls rarely interrupt account creation itself; when they do appear, the average relative position is 0.66 [1]. Compared with onboarding flows (31% carry a paywall), sign-up flows are far less likely to monetize in-flow.

> Only 14 of 146 sign-up flows (9.6%) contain a paywall step, Lazyweb Research, July 2026 (N=146).

## The finding

Of 146 sign-up flows (flow names matching sign up, signup, create account, or register), 14 contain a paywall step — 9.6% [1]. Among those 14, the average paywall relative position is 0.664 [1], later than mid-flow but earlier than the 0.85 seen across onboarding paywalls.

## Sign-up vs onboarding paywall rates

| Flow type | Flows | With paywall | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sign-up flows | 146 | 14 | 9.6% |
| Onboarding flows | 129 | 40 | 31% |

An onboarding flow is roughly three times as likely to carry an in-flow paywall as a sign-up flow [1][2]. The account-creation moment is mostly kept free of purchase friction.

## How to apply it

Treat sign-up and onboarding as different monetization surfaces. The corpus suggests keeping the registration flow paywall-light and reserving the offer for onboarding, where it is both more common and placed later. If you are considering a paywall inside sign-up, know that fewer than 1 in 10 tracked flows do this [1].

## Caveats

The 14-flow paywalling subset is small; the 0.664 average position is directional. Detection is a floor because the paywall flag is sparse [3].

## The numbers

| Stat | Computed from |
| --- | --- |
| 9.6% (14 of 146) sign-up flows with paywall; avg relative position 0.664 | signup_flows_with_paywall |
| 31% (40 of 129) onboarding flows with paywall | onboarding_flows_with_paywall |
| is_paywall NULL on 21,824 of 23,407 screens | universe |

## Methodology

Universe: 146 sign-up flows across ~800 tracked apps, July 2026; paywall via sc_canonical.is_paywall, position via ROW_NUMBER. Caveat: 14-flow paywalling subset is small and detection is a floor.

## Sources & citations

- [1] Lazyweb Research analysis of 146 sign-up flows (~800 tracked apps), July 2026. Sign-up flows = flow_name matching sign up/signup/create account/register; 14 carry a paywall.
- [2] Lazyweb Research analysis of 129 onboarding flows (~800 tracked apps), July 2026. 40 of 129 onboarding flows carry a paywall, for the comparison.
- [3] Lazyweb Research analysis of 23,407 canonical screens (~800 tracked apps), July 2026. is_paywall is sparse, so all rates are floors.

## Related questions

- [Do Apps Paywall Before or After Account Creation?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/do-apps-paywall-before-or-after-account-creation)
- [What Percent of Onboarding Flows Include a Paywall Step?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/what-percent-of-onboarding-flows-include-a-paywall)
- [How Far Into Onboarding Do Apps Place the Paywall?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/how-far-into-onboarding-do-apps-place-the-paywall)