Trials
A trial is only as valuable as its conversion rate. The Trials tab tracks how many merchants start a trial during a given period, how many convert to paid, and how many active trials are in-flight right now — giving you the data to optimize your trial experience rather than guess at it.
💡 The Trials tab is only visible for apps that use Shopify's free trial billing feature. If you don't see it, your app's billing model does not include trials.
Prerequisite
Trial data requires your Partner API to be connected and synced.
How Ranksy defines "active trial"
An active trial is a merchant whose installation is currently flagged as on_trial in Shopify's billing system. Ranksy reads this flag directly from the Partner API — it does not infer trial status from dates or events.
⚠️ This matters because Shopify's trial_ends_at field is set at the time the trial starts and is never cleared when a merchant converts. If Ranksy used that field, converted customers would be counted as trialing indefinitely. The on_trial flag is the only reliable source of truth.
Key metrics
Trial summary cards
| Card | What it means |
|---|---|
| Trials started | Merchants who began a trial in the selected period |
| Trials converted | Trial merchants who converted to a paid plan in the period |
| Trial conversion rate | Converted ÷ started × 100 for the cohort in the period |
| Active trials | Merchants currently on a trial (snapshot, not period-specific) |
Conversion rate methodology
The conversion rate is cohort-based: it counts how many merchants who started a trial during the period subsequently converted, within that same period. This is the most conservative and honest measurement — it does not give credit for conversions that will happen in a future period.
💡 Short date ranges will show lower conversion rates for recent trials, because those merchants haven't had enough time to convert yet. Use a date range that allows at least the length of your trial period to elapse.
Charts and tables
Trial trend chart
A time-series chart showing trials started and trials converted per day (or per week for longer ranges). Diverging lines — more trials started but conversion staying flat — suggests your trial experience needs attention.
Cohort grid
The cohort grid groups trials by the week they started and shows conversion metrics for each cohort. Click any week cell to drill down to the individual merchants in that cohort and see their current status.
Trial status filter
Use the status filter to narrow the merchant list:
| Filter | Shows |
|---|---|
| Active | Currently on trial (default) |
| Converted | Converted to paid in the period |
| Cancelled | Trial ended without conversion |
| All | Every trial regardless of outcome |
Plan filter
If your app has multiple paid plans, filter the trial list by the plan a merchant converted to (or was targeting). This helps you understand which plans attract trial conversions and which don't.
Reading trial data well
Conversion rate across all plans gives you the headline, but plan-level conversion rates tell you where the product-market fit is strongest. If merchants who trial Plan A convert at 40% and Plan B at 8%, that's a signal about perceived value, pricing, or feature availability at each tier.
Active trial count as a stock metric lets you forecast near-term MRR. If you have 50 active trials at a 20% historical conversion rate, you can expect roughly 10 new paying customers from trials currently in flight.
FAQ
Q: Why does my active trial count differ from my Shopify Partner Dashboard?
A: Ranksy reads the on_trial flag via the Partner API. Small differences can occur if Shopify's API lags slightly on status changes. A full re-sync from Settings → Integrations will resolve persistent discrepancies.
Q: A merchant converted but still shows as "active trial" in Ranksy. A: This resolves with the next daily sync. If it persists after 24 hours, trigger a manual re-sync.
Q: The conversion rate looks low for recent weeks. Is something wrong? A: Not necessarily — merchants in recent weeks haven't finished their trial yet. Allow the full trial period to elapse before drawing conclusions about a cohort's conversion rate.
Q: My app doesn't use trials. Why is the tab missing? A: The Trials tab only appears for apps configured with Shopify's trial billing. If you add trials in the future, the tab will appear automatically after the next sync.
Next steps
- Churn — post-paid cancellations (distinct from trial exits)
- Subscriptions — what happens after conversion
- Customers — find and profile individual trial merchants
- Revenue Overview — top-line context