# What trial lengths do paywalls advertise most — 3, 7, 14, or 30 days?

Source: Lazyweb Research
Published: 2026-07-07
Sample size: n=258
Tags: paywall, trials, monetization, saas, experiments
HTML: https://www.lazyweb.com/research/what-trial-lengths-do-paywalls-advertise
Markdown: https://www.lazyweb.com/research/what-trial-lengths-do-paywalls-advertise.md

**Answer.** Among the 258 primary CTAs that name a trial length, 7-day is the clear leader at 57.4% (148 mentions, 42 companies), followed by 3-day at 20.9% (54 mentions, 9 companies).[1][2] 14-day trails at 31 mentions (12 companies) and 30-day at 65 mentions (7 companies, an upper bound).[3] If you only advertise one length, 7 days is the market default.

> 7-day is the most-advertised trial length — 57.4% of the 258 length-naming primary CTAs (148 mentions, 42 companies) — Lazyweb Research, July 2026.

## The finding

13.7% of primary CTAs (258 of 1,886) name an N-day trial in the button or its adjacent copy.[1] Within that set, the length distribution is:

| Length | Mentions | Share of 258 | Distinct companies |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7-day / 1-week | 148 | 57.4% | 42 |
| 3-day | 54 | 20.9% | 9 |
| 30-day | 65 | — | 7 (upper bound) |
| 14-day | 31 | — | 12 |

Company-deduped, of the 63 companies that advertise any length, 42 use 7-day, 12 use 14-day, 9 use 3-day, and 7 use 30-day.[2] Named 7-day examples: PictureThis ('Try 7 days free, then $39.99/year'), Yousician, Calm.[1]

## How to apply it

7-day is the safe default: two-thirds of length-advertising companies use it, and it is the only length that clears a meaningful sample in most verticals. Choose **3-day** when you want to force a fast decision and your value is immediately obvious (utility and some education apps do this). Choose **14-day** when the product needs setup time to show value — the 12 companies here include Termius, Canva, Adobe Express, and Zoom, all tools with a learning curve.[3]

30-day should be treated skeptically: the regex also catches '30-day money-back guarantee' copy, so 65 mentions / 7 companies is an upper bound on genuine 30-day trials, not a reliable count.

## Caveats

Length is detected with a `\d+[- ]day` regex over button text plus adjacent copy, so lengths shown only on plan cards elsewhere are missed. 3-day counts are concentrated: of 54 mentions, 34 come from a single company (plantin's 'Try 3 days free'), so cite the 9-company figure, not the row count, as prevalence.[2] 14-day (31) and 30-day (65) are small samples — treat sub-length percentages cautiously. July 2026 pull.

## The numbers

| Stat | Computed from |
| --- | --- |
| 258/1,886 name a length (13.7%); 7-day 148 (57.4%) | trial_length_any_day_share, trial_length_7day |
| company-deduped: 63 any, 42 7-day, 12 14-day, 9 3-day, 7 30-day | trial_length_companies, trial_length_3day, trial_length_14day, trial_length_30day |
| 14-day 31 mentions/12 companies; 30-day 65/7 (upper bound) | trial_length_14day, trial_length_30day |

## Methodology

Universe: 258 length-naming primary CTAs (of 1,886) across ~800 tracked apps, July 2026. Lengths detected by regex over button plus adjacent copy; report company-deduped counts because some lengths are concentrated in single companies. 30-day is an upper bound.

## Sources & citations

- [1] Lazyweb Research analysis of 1,886 primary paywall CTAs (~800 tracked apps), July 2026. Trial length via \d+[- ]day regex over button text plus adjacent copy; named examples from extracted copy.
- [2] Lazyweb Research analysis of 63 length-advertising companies (~800 tracked apps), July 2026. Company-deduped length counts; 3-day rows concentrated in one company (plantin).
- [3] Lazyweb Research analysis of trial-length mentions in primary CTAs (~800 tracked apps), July 2026. 30-day regex also catches money-back-guarantee copy; treat as upper bound.

## Related questions

- [Is a 3-day free trial too short — how many apps actually use it?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/is-a-3-day-free-trial-too-short-paywall)
- [Is a 7-day free trial the default for mobile paywalls?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/is-a-7-day-free-trial-the-default)
- [Should you offer a 14-day free trial, and which apps do?](https://www.lazyweb.com/research/should-you-offer-a-14-day-free-trial)