Designing a paywall that prints money isn't exactly a walk in the park. Most app founders struggle to get their conversion rates above single digits, let alone figure out why one design crushes while another flops. But Jonathan Parra, the self-proclaimed "Paywall Guy" and former Senior Designer at Superwall, has cracked more of those puzzles than anyone—having designed over 4,500 paywalls across every app category imaginable.
In today's podcast interview recap, we'll break down his playbook. Jonathan spent over three years at Superwall building paywalls that helped enterprise apps grow revenue by 20–30%, and he's refreshingly transparent about what actually converts versus what just looks like it should.
As always, if you haven't seen the interview yet, definitely check that out right here. For now, on to the recap:
There is no perfect paywall
Jonathan walked into Superwall thinking he'd find golden paywall templates you could copy-paste across any app. He was dead wrong. As he explained, "You would expect the performance to be around the same and it could just flounder completely in one app versus another."
But here's the kicker—there is a reliable starting point. A simple, single-page bullet list paywall with a strong headline, key benefits, and a clear CTA performs well across the board. It gets you roughly 80% there. Use it as your baseline, then experiment.
The "less is more" paywall that won by 111%
One of the wildest results Jonathan shared: a simplified paywall—just a big product image, a headline, and a continue button—beat a detailed comparison chart paywall by 111%.
Here's the thing: users don't read. Jonathan has watched friends and family blow through onboarding without glancing at a single word. So when you put a feature comparison table, three pricing tiers with complex breakdowns, and a wall of copy, you're not informing users—you're overwhelming them. Strip it down. A compelling visual, a clear value proposition, and a big CTA will outperform a feature-packed paywall more often than you'd think.
Price packaging is your biggest lever
Most founders immediately want to test price points. Jonathan says pump the brakes—design and packaging tests give you way more mileage.
In one test, simply cleaning up the pricing section made a 10% difference. The control had redundant plan names like "AI Assistant Weekly, AI Assistant Annual, Monthly" with tiny urgency text. The variant simplified names to "Annual Plan, Monthly Plan, Weekly Plan," swapped the CTA to "Continue," and added "No commitment, cancel anytime" beneath the button.
That "no commitment, cancel anytime" line? Jonathan puts it on almost every paywall now. It's a nearly effortless addition that consistently bumps conversions.
The gray hat drawer strategy
For apps that have already done extensive testing, Jonathan uses a multi-step approach. The first screen shows a clean paywall defaulted to the yearly plan. If the user hits X, a drawer slides up—"Not ready to commit for a year?"—showing the same yearly price reframed as a per-week cost. Instead of "$39/year," it reads "$0.76/week." Same number, completely different psychological impact.
If they still say no, a one-time offer appears with a 25–33% discount. Jonathan keeps these moderate on purpose—save the juicy deals for Black Friday. Running heavy discounts too often cheapens your brand.
Video paywalls and native designs are winning
Two design approaches are performing well right now. First, video paywalls—using tools like Rotato to embed a product demo directly on the paywall. Paired with social proof and bullets, this gives users a tangible feel for the product.
Second—and this surprised Jonathan—Swift UI–style paywalls. He admitted, "I was like, there's no way this is going to work." But native-looking, Apple-esque paywalls outperformed his custom designs "by quite a long shot." When your app already uses Apple's design language, matching it on the paywall reduces friction.
The apps making real money have a closed loop
The highest-converting apps have a clear closed loop: users know who they are before using the app and can see who they'll become after. Recovery apps, fitness transformations, habit-building tools—these convert exceptionally well with "Clear 30–inspired" paywalls that position the user as the hero of their journey.
Jonathan also flagged a growing trend: AI apps charging $20+/month for custom-prompted chat experiences. As he put it, "Users are willing to pay for prompts essentially—to have that custom prompt and have something that is really tailored to that specific problem." Solve a specific emotional pain point with a well-tuned model, and you can charge far more than generic AI wrappers.
Practical advice for app founders
Start with a bullet list paywall. Heading, three to five benefits, social proof, and a strong CTA. Use this as your baseline before getting fancy.
Add "no commitment, cancel anytime" to every paywall. It's free and it works.
Simplify your pricing package. Remove redundant plan names, reorder lengths logically, and hide extra plans behind a "View all plans" button.
Test design before price. Design experiments deliver bigger lifts and are far easier to manage than price testing.
Use video or product screenshots. A demo video outperforms comparison tables in most cases.
Try the drawer strategy for mature apps. Multi-step paywalls with reframed pricing can unlock new conversions.
Wrapping up
Jonathan's insights come from a place most of us will never reach—4,500+ paywalls designed and tested across every category. The core lesson isn't about finding a magical template. It's about building a system of components, testing relentlessly, and accepting that what works for one app might completely fail for another.
The tactics are clear: simplify aggressively, lead with visuals over text, make users feel safe with trust signals, and treat your pricing package as a design problem—not just a math problem. Even modest conversion lifts from 8% to 15–20% can be transformational without spending another dollar on ads.
As always, if you're ready to test your paywall, run price tests and more for your app, then you're already in the right spot. Sign up for a free Superwall account today!