Free tool
ROI Calculator for Trial Conversion
The value of lifting your trial conversion: at the defaults, 25 more customers is $2,475 extra MRR a month.
- Paying customers now
- 60
- Paying customers at your what-if rate
- 85
- Extra customers
- 25
- Current MRR
- $5,940
- Extra MRR
- $2,475
- Extra ARR
- $29,700
- Plan fee per month (launch price)
- $29
- Return on the plan fee
- 8,534%
- Extra ARR after the plan fee
- $29,352
How this was worked out
- Paying customers now: 12.0% of 500 trials is 60 subscribers.
- Paying customers at 17.0%: 85 subscribers, a difference of 25.
- Extra MRR: 25 subscribers at $99 is $2,475 a month.
- Extra ARR: 12 months of $2,475 is $29,700.
- Plan fee: your current MRR of $5,940 falls in a band priced at $29 a month at launch, $348 a year.
- Return on the fee: $29,700 divided by $348 is 8,534%, and $29,352 stays after the fee.
How the ROI is worked out
The calculator asks what a higher share of trials turning into paying customers is worth. It takes your monthly free trials, your average monthly price and your current trial to paid rate, then compares paying customers today with paying customers at a what-if rate that you choose. The gap is multiplied by your price to get extra monthly recurring revenue (MRR), and by 12 to get extra annual recurring revenue (ARR).
The what-if rate is a scenario you set. It starts at your current rate plus five points, and nothing on this page forecasts that you will reach it. Use it to ask "if we got there, what would that be worth", then compare the answer with the cost of the work needed to get there.
The formula in words
Paying customers are trials times the rate. Extra customers are the paying customers at the what-if rate minus the paying customers now. Extra MRR is extra customers times price. Extra ARR is twelve times extra MRR. The fee is the TrialValid plan price for the band your current MRR falls in, and the return on the fee is extra ARR divided by twelve times that monthly fee.
The formula in symbols
T = trials per month P = price per customer per month
r0 = current rate r1 = what-if rate (capped at 100%)
C0 = round(T * r0) C1 = round(T * r1)
extra MRR = (C1 - C0) * P extra ARR = 12 * extra MRR
current MRR = C0 * P fee = plan price for the band holding current MRR
return on fee = extra ARR / (12 * fee) net ARR = extra ARR - 12 * feeWorked examples
Both examples below are produced by the same function as the tool above. The first uses the default inputs, a small account. The second is a larger account whose MRR falls into a paid band, so the plan fee and the return on it show up.
| Step | Small account (defaults) | Mid-size account | Larger account |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free trials per month | 500 | 800 | 2,000 |
| Average monthly price | $99 | $150 | $300 |
| Current rate, then what-if rate | 12.0% to 17.0% | 10.0% to 15.0% | 9.0% to 12.0% |
| Paying customers now | 60 | 80 | 180 |
| Paying customers at the what-if rate | 85 | 120 | 240 |
| Extra MRR | $2,475 | $6,000 | $18,000 |
| Extra ARR | $29,700 | $72,000 | $216,000 |
| Current MRR | $5,940 | $12,000 | $54,000 |
| Plan fee per month | $29 | $95 | $295 |
| Return on the plan fee | 8,534% | 6,316% | 6,102% |
| Extra ARR after the plan fee | $29,352 | $70,860 | $212,460 |
In the mid-size case, 40 extra customers at $150 add $6,000 a month. The current MRR of $12,000 falls in a band priced at $95 a month, so the extra ARR of $72,000 is 6,316% of the yearly fee.
Extra ARR by price and points gained
The table holds the trial count at 500 a month and the current rate at 12 percent, then varies the price and the points added. Each cell is the extra ARR the calculator returns for that scenario.
| Monthly price | +1 point | +2 points | +5 points | +10 points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $29 | $1,740 | $3,480 | $8,700 | $17,400 |
| $99 | $5,940 | $11,880 | $29,700 | $59,400 |
| $299 | $17,940 | $35,880 | $89,700 | $179,400 |
Plan fee bands used in the return
The fee in the calculator is the TrialValid plan price for the band that holds your current MRR. The bands and prices come from the same plan catalog that drives the pricing page. See pricing for what each plan includes.
| Connected MRR band | Monthly fee | Yearly fee |
|---|---|---|
| $0 up to $10,000 | $29 | $348 |
| $10,000 up to $50,000 | $95 | $1,140 |
| $50,000 up to $150,000 | $295 | $3,540 |
| $150,000 up to $250,000 | $595 | $7,140 |
| $250,000 up to $1,000,000 | $995 | $11,940 |
| $1,000,000 and above | $1,995 | $23,940 |
Edge cases
- A what-if rate below your current rate gives a negative result and no error. At the default inputs, a what-if rate of 9% shows -15 extra customers and -$1,485 of extra MRR, which tells you what a slide of three points would cost.
- A what-if rate above 100% is capped at 100%. Entering 140% shows 500 paying customers from 500 trials, and the working steps say that the rate was capped.
- Zero trials or a zero price shows an empty state asking for the missing number. The calculator never divides by zero.
- Below $10,000 of current MRR the fee is the $29 entry band, so the return on the fee is a real percentage at every MRR.
- A current rate above 100% is rejected with a message, because a trial cannot convert more than once.
- Customer counts are rounded half up to whole customers before the price is applied, so tiny changes in rate can move the result by exactly one customer.
Questions people ask
What does the ROI calculator measure?
It measures the value of a higher trial to paid rate, not the cost of reaching it. At the default inputs, moving from 12.0% to 17.0% on 500 trials a month adds 25 subscribers, $2,475 of MRR and $29,700 of ARR.
Is the what-if rate a forecast?
No. It is a scenario you choose, and the calculator does not predict that you will reach it. Pick a rate you think a specific change could plausibly reach, then use the result to decide whether that change is worth building.
How is the plan fee chosen?
The fee is the monthly price of the TrialValid plan whose connected MRR band holds your current MRR. With $12,000 of current MRR in the mid-size example the monthly fee is $95, or $1,140 a year. Prices are launch prices.
Why do small rate changes move the result in steps?
Customers are whole people, so the calculator rounds half up. In the mid-size example, 10.0% of 800 trials is 80 subscribers and 15.0% is 120, a gap of 40.
Does the calculator include churn?
No. It values the extra customers as monthly revenue and annualizes by multiplying by 12, which assumes they all stay for the year. To see how losses change the picture, use the churn rate calculator and the customer lifetime value calculator.
What number should I use for my current rate?
Use paid divided by started for one start cohort whose trials have all ended. The trial conversion rate calculator works that out and prices each extra point, for example 15.0% of trials paying out of 400 started.
Related tools
Start with the trial conversion rate calculator to get an honest current rate, then use the MRR calculator to see how extra customers flow into ending MRR. The churn rate calculator shows what survives a year, and pricing lists every plan band.