Has anyone else tested a free trial and then pulled it back? 😅

I want to share what I learned because I think it's worth being honest about - especially for anyone considering adding a free trial to their Skool community.

A little context: I started my community at $7 for a limited time, then bumped it up to $27 and I had 14 members who joined through direct paid before I ever offered a trial. Zero churn, high engagement, people actively going through the content and showing up to live calls. It felt like a really solid foundation.

Then I decided to test a 7-day free trial in late February after seeing other community owners talk about how much it lowered the barrier to entry. The logic made sense to me - let people experience the value first, and they'll stay.

Here's what actually happened with my 7 trial members:

1 cancelled during the trial
1 payment declined after the trial ended
1 cancelled after their payment went through - so they paid once but left
2 churned after converting - one cited cutting costs, one gave no reason
1 is still active with no signs of cancelling
1 is still in their trial

So realistically I got 1 solid member out of 7. That's a ~14% real conversion rate.

Compare that to my 14 direct paid members - zero churn, actively engaged, going through the classroom, commenting, showing up every day. The difference in energy between the two groups was honestly striking.

My theory is that paying something - even $27 - creates commitment. The person who pays upfront has already made a decision. The person who grabs a free trial is still deciding, and a lot of them never actually commit. They came in curious, not convinced.

I also noticed that the free trial seemed to attract a slightly different type of person - more casual, less bought in. My paid members treat it like an investment. My trial members treated it more like a free sample.

I've gone back to direct paid at $27/month and I'm running ads without any free trial offer now. I'm watching closely to see if the quality of member holds up.

What I'm still sitting with: I've heard and seen that a $7 first month or a challenge-based entry offer can work really well as a lower-friction alternative that still requires a commitment. Has anyone tested something like that and seen better retention than a free trial?

Would love to hear what's actually working for people - especially at lower price points where the math gets tight fast. 👇

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