Why it isn't converting
Free trial conversion rate: where trials stall
People sign up for the trial, then do not pay, and the trial ends without anyone telling them why. Mimiq sends simulated visitors through the trial and the upgrade step, and shows where they stop.
Why do free trial users sign up but never upgrade?
Trial users who never upgrade usually did not reach the first result the product exists to give them, did not see what the paid plan adds, or hit an upgrade step they could not finish. Check those three in that order, because each one needs a different fix. The trial also ends on a set date, so check what users see in the days before it. Mimiq runs simulated visitors through sign-up, the first task and the upgrade step, and reports the step where each one stops.
What this looks like in a report
“I made one proposal in the trial. The plans are called Team and Studio, and I cannot tell which one three people need. The button says Contact sales, so I am staying on the free version.”
The fix. Show the seat count next to each plan name and a Choose plan button, with the same price repeated on the payment step. Send the trial-ending email to the upgrade page with the plan that fits the number of people the user already invited.
An illustration. Run a test to see your own.See a real sample report
Trial users pay only after they have a result to lose
A trial user pays when they can picture the product doing a job they already need done, and the trial has given them a result they would miss. If the first session ends on an empty dashboard, a setup wizard or a blank table, the user has nothing to lose when the trial ends. The upgrade page then compares plans by feature names they have not used yet, so they cannot tell which plan fits. The user who did get a result faces a different wall: the upgrade button may lead to a sales form, or to a payment form with a total that differs from the page they read.
- First result: how many trial users create the thing the product is for before the trial ends?
- Plan comparison: can a trial user tell which plan they need from the page, without a sales call?
- Upgrade button: does it open a payment form, or a contact form that asks for a company size?
- Price match: does the amount on the payment step equal the price on the pricing page?
- Trial-ending message: does it link to the upgrade page, or only to the dashboard?
Count trials by the first result, not by sign-ups
A trial sign-up tells you someone was curious. It does not tell you they got anything from the product. Teams often count logins during the trial and then wonder why the upgrade rate is flat. The more useful count is the number of trial users who finished the first real task, such as saving a proposal, publishing a page or sending a first invoice. Run a simulated visitor through that same task on a new account. If the run cannot reach the task, the trial is losing people before the upgrade question ever comes up, and the upgrade page is not the place to fix it.
Plan names a visitor cannot match to their own work
Pricing pages are written by people who know the product. A plan called Studio means something to the team that built it, and nothing to a three person studio deciding whether a second seat is worth paying for. Look at the pricing page as a visitor who has just used the trial. Can they see which plan covers the number of people they have, and what that plan adds that they would miss? If the answer depends on a feature they never touched, the page has asked them to compare in the wrong units. Put the seat count and the one feature a trial user already relies on next to each plan.
The upgrade button that opens a different kind of form
Some upgrade buttons do not upgrade anything. They open a contact form for sales, a demo request, or a long company profile, and the trial user who wanted to pay is now writing to someone. Others open a payment form whose total is higher than the number on the pricing page, because a tax line or a seat minimum appears late. Either way the user feels tricked, even when nothing was hidden on purpose. Follow the upgrade button to the payment step and compare the total with the page the button came from. A simulated visitor can reach the payment form and read the total, and the run stops there. A person still has to check the charge.
Which source finds the trial step that stalls
| Source | What it tells you | What it cannot tell you |
|---|---|---|
| Trial analytics | Which users stopped, and on which day | Why they stopped |
| Interviews with trial users | Why a few people left, in their own words | How many others felt the same way |
| Simulated visitors | The upgrade step a new visitor cannot finish | Whether a real trial user would pay |
Use analytics to find the day, the simulated run to find the step, and interviews to learn the reason.
What you get with Mimiq
- 01
Run it by hand, or on every pull request
Paste a link and a task in the app and watch the visitors work. Or run them on every preview deploy: the GitHub Action comments on the pull request, any other CI can call the MCP endpoint, and your coding agent can run it too.
- 02
Bugs and usability problems in one report
The browser records errors and failed or slow requests on the step they happened. The visitors say where the wording or the steps confused them, and where they left.
- 03
Visitors that behave like your audience
Each visitor is a different profile with a reason to be there, matched to who the page is for, described by you, or built from your own customers.
- 04
A prompt to fix each problem
Every problem comes with a fix to paste into Cursor, Claude Code, Lovable or any coding agent, and one prompt hands over the top problems at once. Then send the same visitors through again.
- 05
Follow every visitor
See each visitor's whole path, step by step with screenshots, and what it was thinking at every step. Ask any visitor a question.
The browser records relevant JavaScript errors and failed or slow app requests encountered during the run, attached to the step where they occurred. The visitors are simulated: they find problems, they do not predict how many real people will convert.
Each pricing change can move the upgrade button again
Pricing pages change more often than the product does: a new plan, an annual discount, a renamed tier. Each change can move the upgrade button, the payment step or the trial reminder. Run the same trial path after every pricing change, and check that the upgrade step still shows the price the user read. Paid runs can sign a visitor in with a test account you give, so a trial account can be included too.
Starter
Try it on one launch
About 4 tests of 5 visitors
- Visitors on your landing page, signup and checkout
- Where they left and why, with a fix to copy for each problem
- Run it in the app or on every pull request
- Ask any visitor a question, included
- Test accounts and protected previews
Builder
Test every build
About 20 tests of 5 visitors
- Everything in Starter
- Credits refill each month, and what is left rolls over once
- Cancel anytime
Pro
Test every release, as a team
About 60 tests of 5 visitors
- Everything in Starter
- Credits refill each month, and what is left rolls over once
- Cancel anytime
Scale
Test at scale, every day
About 240 tests of 5 visitors
- Everything in Starter
- Credits refill each month, and what is left rolls over once
- Priority support
- Cancel anytime
Questions
Does the test tell me my trial-to-paid rate?
No. It does not predict how many trial users will pay, and it does not forecast a rate. It shows whether a simulated visitor can reach the first result and the upgrade step, and the screen where they stop. Your real rate comes from billing data on real trials.
Can a simulated visitor finish a trial?
They can sign up with their own email, because each visitor has a working inbox for the confirmation. The run stops at any step that needs a card, a Google sign-in, a single sign-on or a connected tool, and it reports that step. A stop there tells you the step is in the way, not whether the integration works.
Should I shorten the trial?
Not based on one run. A shorter trial leaves less time for the first real task, which is the step this page is about. Change the length only after that task is clear and reachable in the days you already give, then run the same trial path again to see whether more visitors get there.
Why do some users pay without finishing the first task?
Some pay for a reason the product cannot see, such as a team deadline or a client who asked for it. A test cannot show those reasons. Read the cancellation notes, and ask a few paying users what made them decide, so the upgrade page speaks to the reason they gave.
Keep reading
Send visitors and see what breaks first.
Your first test is free: sign in with Google and it starts right away. Last checked 2026-11-02.