---
updatedAt: 2026-08-19T20:00:17.000Z
agentTools:
  siteIndex: https://docs.recurly.com/llms.txt
  projectIndex: https://docs.recurly.com/recurly-subscriptions/llms.txt
---

# Trial performance

Learn how to use Recurly's Trial Performance dashboard to track trial starts, conversion rates, and trial subscription status.

<div class="rp-page">
  <div class="rp-overview">The Trial Performance dashboard shows you how your subscription trials are performing, from how many trials start to how many convert to paid subscriptions. The dashboard refreshes several times a day, so you're always looking at close-to-current data, and you can drill into conversion trends, subscription status, and status details for any date range.</div>
  <div class="rp-plan"><i class="fa-solid fa-key" aria-hidden="true"></i> Available on all Recurly plans</div>
  <div class="rp-toc">
    <a class="rp-toc-pill" href="#definition"><span class="rp-toc-num">1</span>Definition</a>
    <a class="rp-toc-pill" href="#key-benefits"><span class="rp-toc-num">2</span>Key benefits</a>
    <a class="rp-toc-pill" href="#key-details"><span class="rp-toc-num">3</span>Key details</a>
    <a class="rp-toc-pill" href="#using-the-trial-performance-dashboard"><span class="rp-toc-num">4</span>Using the dashboard</a>
  </div>
</div>

### Prerequisites

<ul class="rp-list">
  <li>Users must have Analytics user role permission.</li>
</ul>

# Definition

<div class="rp-definition">The Trial Performance dashboard tracks the performance of your subscription trials and monitors conversion rates from trial to active subscription. It updates several times a day — check the widget at the bottom of the dashboard to see when it was last refreshed.</div>

<div class="rp-callout rp-callout-note">
  <div><strong><i class="fa-solid fa-circle-info" aria-hidden="true"></i> Note</strong>It's important to understand the difference between a subscriber and a subscription. A single subscriber might hold multiple active subscriptions, but this dashboard counts each individual subscriber — not the number of subscriptions they hold. For more on navigating and using the filter tools, see our <a href="https://docs.recurly.com/docs/recurly-analytics-overview#navigation-features" target="_blank">analytics overview documentation</a>.</div>
</div>

# Key benefits

<div class="rp-benefits">
  <div class="rp-benefit">
    <div class="rp-benefit-icon"><i class="fa-solid fa-circle-check" aria-hidden="true"></i></div>
    <strong>Trial visibility</strong>
    <span>See trial starts, conversions, and churn updated several times daily.</span>
  </div>
  <div class="rp-benefit">
    <div class="rp-benefit-icon"><i class="fa-solid fa-circle-check" aria-hidden="true"></i></div>
    <strong>Conversion insight</strong>
    <span>Track how trials convert to paid, automatically or manually, and spot trends over time.</span>
  </div>
  <div class="rp-benefit">
    <div class="rp-benefit-icon"><i class="fa-solid fa-circle-check" aria-hidden="true"></i></div>
    <strong>Early problem detection</strong>
    <span>Catch payment failures and missing billing info before they hurt revenue.</span>
  </div>
</div>

# Key details

The Trial Performance dashboard is organized into several sections, each giving you specific insight into your trials.

## Trial performance KPI totals

This widget gives you an at-a-glance view of your trial performance. It shows your current Trials Started total alongside totals from last month, the previous month, three months ago, and one year ago. An arrow under each total shows the difference between that timeframe and your current total, so you can quickly see whether your trials are growing or declining.

<Image src="https://files.readme.io/88969ce3bd815c97017027c5c460d9daf8f7931ae485a38a5037fbceb30a8f0c-image.png" align="center" width="75%" border={true} />

## Trial conversion rate

This line chart shows the conversion rate for trial subscriptions that moved to paid subscriptions during your selected date range. A subscription counts as converted when it moves from a free trial to a paid subscription, whether automatically or manually — setup fees charged during the trial aren't included in this metric, and the dashboard doesn't track what happens to a subscription after conversion. The date range and interval you select affect the date the subscription started its trial.

<Image src="https://files.readme.io/a8e723c543b8c036cf3a2479c0aa8ce92e34bad66db709b8a8ebbb41360a3816-image.png" align="center" width="75%" border={true} />

## Trial subscription status

This bar chart tracks the current state of subscriptions that started as trials during your selected date range. Only subscriptions that began with a trial are included.

<Image src="https://files.readme.io/71746a777d8ff8e5bfc2665b11545a58b110172e94923a53f61fa4c19ea88e78-image.png" align="center" width="75%" border={true} />

The potential states for these subscriptions are:

<ul class="rp-list">
  <li><strong>Canceled</strong>: The subscription was canceled.</li>
  <li><strong>Payment failed</strong>: The customer entered billing information, but the trial churned after a failed payment collection attempt.</li>
  <li><strong>Pending</strong>: A temporary state for subscriptions that started in trial and haven't yet converted or churned.</li>
  <li><strong>Converted manual</strong>: The subscription had manual invoicing enabled, ended its trial, and successfully converted to paid through a manual payment greater than $0.</li>
  <li><strong>Converted auto</strong>: The subscription had automatic invoicing enabled, ended its trial, and successfully converted to paid through an invoice greater than $0.</li>
  <li><strong>No billing info</strong>: The customer never entered billing information.</li>
</ul>

## Trial subscription status details

This section gives you a more granular look at the status of trial subscriptions for your selected date range.

<Image src="https://files.readme.io/64f0e46d9657cd4cfc08d2342e9164f33c26dd4713235e8480087bdb6af2899b-image.png" align="center" width="75%" border={true} />

It tracks the following metrics:

<ul class="rp-list">
  <li>Trials started</li>
  <li>Converted (the sum of Converted - Automatic and Converted - Manual)</li>
  <li>Converted - Automatic</li>
  <li>Converted - Manual</li>
  <li>Canceled</li>
  <li>Payment failed</li>
  <li>Pending</li>
</ul>

Together, these sections give you a complete view of your trial performance, so you can make data-driven decisions to improve your conversion rates.

# Using the trial performance dashboard

## Viewing trial performance KPI totals

<div class="rp-steps">
  <div class="rp-step">
    <div class="rp-step-num">1</div>
    <div><h4>Navigate to Trial Performance</h4><p>From your Recurly dashboard, go to the Trial Performance dashboard.</p></div>
  </div>
  <div class="rp-step">
    <div class="rp-step-num">2</div>
    <div><h4>Find the KPI totals widget</h4><p>Locate the Trial Performance KPI Totals widget.</p></div>
  </div>
  <div class="rp-step">
    <div class="rp-step-num">3</div>
    <div><h4>Review the totals</h4><p>View trials started for the current month, last month, the previous month, three months ago, and one year ago.</p></div>
  </div>
  <div class="rp-step">
    <div class="rp-step-num">4</div>
    <div><h4>Check the growth indicator</h4><p>Look at the arrow under each total to see the difference between that timeframe and your current total.</p></div>
  </div>
</div>

## Analyzing the trial conversion rate

<div class="rp-steps">
  <div class="rp-step">
    <div class="rp-step-num">1</div>
    <div><h4>Find the conversion rate chart</h4><p>In the Trial Performance dashboard, find the Trial Conversion Rate line chart.</p></div>
  </div>
  <div class="rp-step">
    <div class="rp-step-num">2</div>
    <div><h4>Read the chart</h4><p>The chart shows the conversion rate for trial subscriptions that converted to paid during your selected date range.</p></div>
  </div>
  <div class="rp-step">
    <div class="rp-step-num">3</div>
    <div><h4>Track trends</h4><p>Review the line chart to track conversion trends and patterns over time.</p></div>
  </div>
</div>

## Assessing the trial subscription status

<div class="rp-steps">
  <div class="rp-step">
    <div class="rp-step-num">1</div>
    <div><h4>Find the status chart</h4><p>On the Trial Performance dashboard, locate the Trial Subscription Status bar chart.</p></div>
  </div>
  <div class="rp-step">
    <div class="rp-step-num">2</div>
    <div><h4>Read the chart</h4><p>This chart shows the current state of subscriptions that started as trials during your selected date range.</p></div>
  </div>
  <div class="rp-step">
    <div class="rp-step-num">3</div>
    <div><h4>Compare outcomes</h4><p>Compare how many trial subscriptions converted (manually or automatically), were canceled, failed payment, or are still pending.</p></div>
  </div>
</div>

## Monitoring the trial subscription status details

<div class="rp-steps">
  <div class="rp-step">
    <div class="rp-step-num">1</div>
    <div><h4>Navigate to status details</h4><p>Go to the Trial Subscription Status Details section on the Trial Performance dashboard.</p></div>
  </div>
  <div class="rp-step">
    <div class="rp-step-num">2</div>
    <div><h4>Review the details</h4><p>This section gives you a more granular view of trial subscription status over your selected date range.</p></div>
  </div>
  <div class="rp-step">
    <div class="rp-step-num">3</div>
    <div><h4>Use the data</h4><p>Use this information to analyze the effectiveness of your trials and identify potential issues or areas for improvement.</p></div>
  </div>
</div>

# Sibling pages

* [Subscriber benchmarks](https://docs.recurly.com/recurly-subscriptions/docs/subscriber-benchmarks.md)
* [Subscribers](https://docs.recurly.com/recurly-subscriptions/docs/subscribers-new.md)
* [Subscribers (Legacy)](https://docs.recurly.com/recurly-subscriptions/docs/subscriber-metrics.md)
* [Hourly activation & churn](https://docs.recurly.com/recurly-subscriptions/docs/hourly-activation-churn.md)
* [Signup declines](https://docs.recurly.com/recurly-subscriptions/docs/signup-declines.md)
* [Signup declines trendalyzer](https://docs.recurly.com/recurly-subscriptions/docs/signup-declines-trendalyzer.md)
* [Subscriber retention](https://docs.recurly.com/recurly-subscriptions/docs/subscriber-retention.md)
* [Accounts analysis](https://docs.recurly.com/recurly-subscriptions/docs/accounts-analytics.md)