# What % of Paywall CTAs Mention 'Free' or a Trial?

Source: Lazyweb Research
Published: 2026-07-07
Sample size: n=1886
Tags: paywall, trials, monetization, mobile, ux-patterns
HTML: https://www.lazyweb.com/research/what-percent-paywall-ctas-mention-free-trial
Markdown: https://www.lazyweb.com/research/what-percent-paywall-ctas-mention-free-trial.md

**Answer.** Across 1,886 primary paywall CTAs from ~800 tracked apps, 33.7% (635) contain the word 'free' or 'trial', spanning 118 of 222 companies [1]. Roughly half of those — 16.8% of all primary CTAs (317) — go further and name an explicit free duration like '3 days free' or 'free week' [2]. So a trial mention is common but not the majority pattern; two-thirds of primary buttons say nothing about free.

> 33.7% of primary paywall CTAs (635 of 1,886) mention 'free' or 'trial', across 118 of 222 companies — Lazyweb Research, July 2026.

## The finding

Of 1,886 primary paywall CTAs, 635 (33.7%) contain 'free' or 'trial', used by 118 of the 222 companies with a labeled primary CTA [1]. That is a large minority, not a majority — most primary buttons ('Continue', 'Subscribe', 'Upgrade') never mention free. If you loosen the denominator to all 4,406 CTAs including role-unknown and secondary rows, the free/trial share drops to 19.6% (862) [3]; the primary-only figure is the honest one for button copy decisions.

## How specific do the mentions get?

| Mention type | Primary CTAs | Share of 1,886 |
|---|---|---|
| Contains 'free' or 'trial' | 635 | 33.7% |
| Names an explicit free duration ('3 days free', 'free week', '1 month free') | 317 | 16.8% |

About half of the trial-mentioning buttons name a concrete duration [1][2]. The duration framing is a distinct choice: it swaps the abstract 'trial' for a specific, easier-to-picture window.

## How to apply it

If a free trial is your primary acquisition offer, putting 'free' in the button is a well-worn pattern (a third of apps do it) — and naming the exact duration is the more concrete half of that group [2]. If your offer is a straight subscription with no trial, don't force 'free' into the button; two-thirds of primary CTAs succeed without it. Use the 33.7% as a sanity check that a free-mentioning button is normal, not as pressure to add one.

## Caveats

Matching is a text regex on lowercased CTA text; 'free' inside a longer phrase ('try premium for free') counts. Denominator is 1,886 primary CTAs; role-unknown rows (39% of the 4,406 corpus) are excluded from the primary figure [4]. The 19.6% all-CTA companion stat uses the full 4,406 and is a looser, lower bound — cite the 33.7% for primary-button decisions.

## The numbers

| Stat | Computed from |
| --- | --- |
| 635 of 1,886 primary CTAs mention free/trial (33.7%), 118 of 222 companies | statpack free_or_trial_mention_primary |
| 317 of 1,886 primary CTAs name an explicit free duration (16.8%) | statpack explicit_trial_duration_primary |
| 862 of 4,406 all CTAs mention free/trial (19.6%) | statpack free_or_trial_mention_all_ctas |
| 1,727 of 4,406 CTAs role-unknown (39%) | statpack role_distribution |

## Methodology

Universe: 1,886 role-labeled primary paywall CTAs from ~800 tracked mobile apps, July 2026. Mentions matched by regex on lowercased text; explicit-duration matched by [0-9]+ (day|week|month) free or free (week|month|trial). Caveat: 39% of CTAs are role-unknown.

## Sources & citations

- [1] Lazyweb Research analysis of 1,886 primary paywall CTAs (from ~800 tracked mobile apps), July 2026. Regex match for (free|trial) on lower(cta_text); company count via COUNT(DISTINCT).
- [2] Lazyweb Research analysis of 4,406 paywall CTAs (from ~800 tracked mobile apps), July 2026. Loose companion denominator including role-unknown and secondary CTAs.

## Related questions

- ['Continue' vs 'Start Free Trial': Which Paywall CTA Do Top Apps Actually Use?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/continue-vs-start-free-trial-paywall-cta)
- [What Is the Most Common Paywall CTA Button Text?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/most-common-paywall-cta-button-text)
- [How Often Do Paywall Buttons Name the Trial Length?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/how-often-paywall-buttons-name-trial-length)