How do you calculate trial-to-paid conversion rate?

Trial-to-paid conversion rate = (trial-to-paid conversions ÷ trial starts) × 100. Track it by cohorts and use a consistent conversion window such as 30/60/90 days.

Should I measure conversion by user or by account?

For B2B, account-level measurement is often more meaningful because multiple users influence the upgrade decision. Track both: user activation to improve onboarding and account conversion to understand revenue outcomes.

Do I need engineering to guide trial users in-product?

EngageKit’s embeddable Task List is designed to be added with no coding. You can guide users through activation steps and optionally let them claim rewards or credits.

What’s the fastest way to improve trial-to-paid conversion?

Identify the activation milestone that predicts upgrades, segment trials (persona/channel/company size), and trigger next best actions when users stall—like in-product guidance, targeted emails, and internal tasks.

Improve your trial-to-paid conversion rate with next-best actions

EngageKit shows you which trials are losing momentum, why they’re stuck, and what to do next — then runs the follow-up for you with playbooks, in-product guidance, emails, and tasks.

See who's fading

Engagement dashboard + energy decay reveal trials losing momentum.

Run playbooks

Auto + manual tasks generated as soon as a trial starts.

Guide in-product

Task List, Discover page, rewards/credits, and optional badges.

Calculate your trial-to-paid conversion rate — then improve it

The calculator gives you the number. EngageKit helps you lift it by showing who is stuck, what they’re missing, and which next best action will move them toward activation.

Inputs

Current MRR

Current customers

Used to project customer count over time.

ARPA (monthly)

Average monthly revenue per new paying account.

Trial starts / month

Monthly churn (%)

Used for MRR (revenue churn). Customer churn can be set below.

Conversion rate

Converted to paid (per month)

Used to compute your baseline conversion rate.

Target conversion rate (%)

Baseline conversion rate (calculated): 9.00%

Advanced assumptions (optional)

Monthly expansion (%)

Applied to total MRR each month (simple expansion).

Monthly trial growth (%)

Increases trials per month over time.

Monthly customer churn (%)

If you don’t know, set it equal to revenue churn as a rough approximation.

What this projection assumes

Each month you add new customers from trials × conversion rate.
New MRR = new customers × ARPA.
Churn and expansion apply to total MRR monthly (simple model).
Customer churn applies to customer count monthly (simple model).

12-month impact

Baseline rate9.00%

Target rate12.00%

MRR after 12 months (baseline)$108,734

MRR after 12 months (target)$139,197

MRR change after 12 months$30,463

Customers after 12 months (baseline)584

Customers after 12 months (target)737

Customer change after 12 months153

New customers / month

Baseline45

Target60

Delta15

MRR projection (next 12 months)

Baseline vs. target conversion rate.

Baseline

Target

Customers projection (next 12 months)

Baseline vs. target conversion rate.

Month 0: 180 customers

Month 12 delta: 153 customers

Customer churn: 3.0%

Trial growth: 0.0%

Monthly breakdown

Month	Trials	New customers (baseline)	New customers (target)	Customers (baseline)	Customers (target)	New MRR (baseline)	New MRR (target)	MRR (baseline)	MRR (target)	MRR delta
1	500	45	60	220	235	$8,955	$11,940	$33,205	$36,190	$2,985
2	500	45	60	258	288	$8,955	$11,940	$41,164	$47,044	$5,880
3	500	45	60	295	339	$8,955	$11,940	$48,884	$57,573	$8,689
4	500	45	60	331	389	$8,955	$11,940	$56,372	$67,786	$11,413
5	500	45	60	366	437	$8,955	$11,940	$63,636	$77,692	$14,056
6	500	45	60	400	484	$8,955	$11,940	$70,682	$87,301	$16,619
7	500	45	60	433	529	$8,955	$11,940	$77,517	$96,622	$19,106
8	500	45	60	465	574	$8,955	$11,940	$84,146	$105,664	$21,518
9	500	45	60	496	616	$8,955	$11,940	$90,577	$114,434	$23,857
10	500	45	60	527	658	$8,955	$11,940	$96,815	$122,941	$26,126
11	500	45	60	556	698	$8,955	$11,940	$102,865	$131,193	$28,328
12	500	45	60	584	737	$8,955	$11,940	$108,734	$139,197	$30,463

Note: Simplified model. Real SaaS outcomes depend on conversion lag, annual billing, upgrades/downgrades, and seasonality.

Activation checklist: define the milestones that predict upgrades

Pick your product motion and generate a copyable tracking plan: activation events, account signals, and the nudges/tasks to trigger when trials stall.

Product motion

Event naming (recommended)

Use Title Case and past tense.
Start with a noun, then a verb: “Report Exported”.
One event = one action. Avoid overloading (“Settings Updated And Shared”).
Prefer consistent objects: “Project”, “Workspace”, “Invite”, “Report”, “Integration”.

Include these milestones

Setup / onboarding First value (aha moment) Collaboration / sharing Repeat usage (habit) Outcome (export/report/result) Upgrade intent signals

Suggested events (human-readable)

Start with these, then validate which ones best predict upgrade. Keep names consistent and action-based.

Trial Started
A trial begins for a user or account.
Onboarding Started
User enters the onboarding flow.
Onboarding Setup Completed
User completes required setup (integration, workspace, settings).
First Value Created
User reaches the first ‘aha’ moment (first meaningful output).
Core Feature Used
User uses a core feature tied to value.
Project Created
User creates the first project/workspace/item.
Collaboration Invite Sent
User invites another person to collaborate.
Teammate Joined
An invited teammate accepts and becomes active.
Workspace Shared
User shares a workspace, project, or output.
User Returned Within 24 Hours
User returns the next day (early habit signal).
User Returned Within 7 Days
User returns within a week (retention signal).
Report Generated
User generates an output/report inside the product.
Report Exported
User exports or shares an output (strong value signal).
Outcome Achieved
User completes a meaningful outcome (result produced).
Pricing Page Viewed
User views pricing/plan page (intent signal).
Upgrade Prompt Viewed
User sees an upgrade CTA in the product.
Checkout Started
User begins checkout flow.
Integration Connected
A key integration is connected.
Data Source Connected
A data source is connected or imported.
Team Workspace Created
A shared workspace is created for the team.
Account Reached PQL Threshold
Account crosses your product-qualified lead threshold.

Account / PQL signals (what to watch)

Account has 2+ active users in the last 7 days
Onboarding Setup Completed + First Value Created
Collaboration Invite Sent (adoption spreading)
Core Feature Used on 2+ days
Report Exported or Outcome Achieved

Next best actions to trigger (what to do)

If Onboarding Setup Completed is missing → show in-product setup checklist + send help email
If First Value Created is missing → guide to a ‘first win’ template / walkthrough
If Collaboration Invite Sent is missing → prompt ‘Invite a teammate’ + explain why it matters
If Account Reached PQL Threshold → create internal task to follow up and offer onboarding call
If Pricing Page Viewed or Checkout Started → send upgrade CTA tied to achieved value

Suggested segments (don’t average everything)

Channel: organic / paid / partner

Persona: admin / end-user / manager

Company Size: 1 / 2–10 / 11–50 / 50+

Plan: free trial / freemium / assisted

Implementation tip

Define 1–2 activation milestones (e.g. “First Value Created” + “Collaboration Invite Sent”), then trigger EngageKit playbooks when users/accounts miss them by a specific day in the trial.

Find trials that are losing energy before they disappear
Most teams notice a trial is in trouble when it’s already too late. EngageKit’s engagement dashboard gives you a clear overview of trials and their engagement — including how their energy decays over time — so you can focus your attention on the accounts most likely to convert with a timely nudge.
- At-a-glance view of active, trending, and at-risk trials
- Energy decay highlights momentum loss early
- Drill into activity to see what changed and where users got stuck
Practical outcome
Save the “almost converted” trials before they go cold — and do it consistently.
Automatically run a playbook the moment a trial starts
Turn your best trial-conversion process into a repeatable workflow. EngageKit can automatically apply playbooks at trial start to generate automated tasks and manual tasks for the trial manager — so nothing falls through the cracks.
- Auto tasks triggered by time, events, or progress
- Manual tasks for high-touch follow up (with context)
- Clear ownership: assign the contact/account to yourself
- Consistent follow-ups across every trial
Example
Day 1 no setup → in-app guidance + email • Aha reached → “invite teammate” prompt • High intent → create internal task.
Account-based trials: see account activity and the users within
In B2B, upgrades are rarely a single-user decision. EngageKit supports account-based trials by showing account activity and the users inside each account — so you can tell if adoption is spreading (a strong upgrade signal) or stuck with one champion.
- Account engagement overview
- User activity inside the account (champions vs. silent stakeholders)
- Playbooks triggered by account-level signals (not just individual clicks)
Guide users to activation with an embeddable Task List (no coding)
Trials don’t convert when users don’t know what to do next. EngageKit’s Task List is an embeddable checklist that guides users through the steps that matter — from setup to the “aha” moment and beyond — without needing engineering work.
- No-code embeddable task list
- Tasks aligned to activation milestones
- Works for both PLG and sales-assisted motions
Make it even stronger with rewards
Let users claim rewards during trials — like credits or trial extensions — to create momentum and keep engagement high.
Reduce “I didn’t know you had that” drop-off with Discover + Badges
Many trials stall because users can’t find the right feature for their goal. Add a Discover page to make feature discovery effortless (think Google Workspace-style discovery). If it fits your audience, layer in badges as lightweight motivation and progress feedback.
- Discover page: easy feature discovery and next-step prompts
- Badges (optional): celebrate milestones without discounting
- Pairs naturally with Task List: discover → try → complete
The conversion loop: detect → guide → follow up → convert
EngageKit connects analytics to action. Use engagement signals to detect stalls, guide users in-product, and run consistent playbooks so more trials reach activation and convert to paid.
1) Detect
Engagement dashboard + energy decay.
2) Diagnose
Identify the missing activation step.
3) Guide
Task List, Discover page, rewards/credits.
4) Follow up
Playbooks: emails + internal tasks + ownership.
FAQ
How do you calculate trial-to-paid conversion rate?
Trial-to-paid conversion rate = (trial-to-paid conversions ÷ trial starts) × 100. Track by cohorts and use consistent windows (30/60/90 days).
Should I measure by user or by account?
For B2B, account-level measurement maps best to revenue. Track both: user activation to fix onboarding and account conversion to understand outcomes.
Do I need engineering to guide users in-product?
The Task List is designed to be embedded with no coding. You define the activation path, and users follow it in-product. You can optionally add rewards/credits to keep momentum high.
What is a good trial-to-paid conversion rate?
It depends on your motion (PLG vs. sales-assisted), trial length, and audience. The best move is to benchmark yourself, then improve via segmentation + activation milestones + next best actions.