Metrics · Purchase / Paid Conversion
Trial-to-Paid Conversion Rate
Percentage of free trial users who convert to a paid subscription. The critical monetization metric for SaaS, subscription boxes, and free-tier products. Opt-in trials (credit card required) convert at 40-60%; opt-out trials (no card) convert at 15-30%. PQL (product-qualified lead) strategies can push opt-out rates above 35%.
How to calculate it
(new_paid_subscribers / trial_starts) × 100Trial type (opt-in vs opt-out) dramatically shifts the baseline. Always specify which type when benchmarking. Mixpanel's 2024 Product Benchmarks Report covers 8,000 SaaS products.
Per-industry distribution (3)
Each row shows the cited p25 / p50 / p75 for Trial-to-Paid Conversion Rate in that industry. Click an industry to open the full benchmark page.
| Industry | p25 | p50 | p75 | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SaaS (B2B Software) | 12.0% | 21.0% | 35.0% | Mixpanel Product Benchmarks 2024 |
| Fintech (Consumer Finance)(derived) | 10.0% | 18.0% | 32.0% | Mixpanel Product Benchmarks 2024 (derived for fintech) |
| EdTech (Online Courses, LMS)(derived) | 8.0% | 16.0% | 28.0% | Mixpanel Product Benchmarks 2024 (derived for edtech) |
Primary source
Product Benchmarks Report (2024) · Mixpanel · 2024
Cohort-based analysis of 8,000 SaaS products using Mixpanel's analytics platform, covering 16 million+ daily active users. Computes activation rates, trial-to-paid conversion (separately for opt-in vs opt-out trials), 7-day and 30-day return rates, and monthly churn by product category. Uses median + quartile distribution rather than mean to reduce skew from enterprise outliers.