Conversion Atlas by Product
Compare conversion ranges for ecommerce categories, SaaS sales models, app subscriptions, developer tools, and AI products with denominators and evidence grades.
Written and reviewed by Eric Han · Co-founder & CTO, reopt
Key takeaways
- Median ecommerce session conversion is 2.5% for beauty, 2.4% for health, 2.3% for food and beverage, and 1.0% each for fashion and home/furniture, among Shopify stores.
- Overall median SaaS free-to-paid conversion is 8%. Card-required trials reach about 30%, but lower visit-to-signup rates mean the end-to-end effect differs by source.
- For apps, 2.0% of downloads convert to paid within 35 days. Category differences are substantial: health 2.9%, games 1.0%.
- Paid penetration calculated from filings is not a conversion rate. Dropbox at about 2.6%, Slack at 14.7%, and Duolingo at 9% each use different denominators.
- Median free-to-paid conversion for developer products is 5%, half the 10% for nondeveloper products. This is survey data with an undisclosed subgroup sample size.
Ecommerce
The denominator is sessions; the sample is Shopify stores using Littledata (July–October 2026, grade C).
- Beauty / skincare2.5% ~ 3.8%
- Health / supplements2.4% ~ 3.8%
- Food / beverage2.3% ~ 3.3%
- Fashion / apparel1.0% ~ 1.9%
- Home / furniture1.0% ~ 1.8%
| Category | Median CVR | Top 20% threshold | Median add-to-cart | Median checkout completion | Stores |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 1.4% | 2.7% | 6.8% | 49% | 436 |
| Beauty / skincare | 2.5% | 3.8% | 12% | 50% | 39 |
| Health / supplements | 2.4% | 3.8% | 8.2% | 60% | 35 |
| Food / beverage | 2.3% | 3.3% | 11% | 53% | 32 |
| Fashion / apparel | 1.0% | 1.9% | 6.0% | 48% | 76 |
| Home / furniture | 1.0% | 1.8% | 5.0% | 51% | 63 |
Sources: Littledata conversion, add-to-cart, and checkout completion. See Ecommerce Conversion Baselines for broader coverage.
SaaS Sales Models
The denominator is leads/free signups, with paid conversion within six months. This is a self-selected survey. “Good” means the 50th percentile and “great” the 75th. Ungated freemium lets people try the product before creating an account.
- Trial, card required25% ~ 35%
- Ungated freemium7% ~ 9%
- Freemium3% ~ 5%
- Trial, no card4% ~ 6%
- Reverse trial (small sample)4% ~ 6%
| Model | Good | Great | Visit → signup | Paying customers per 1,000 visits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freemium | 3–5% | 8–12% | 9% (all freemium, including ungated) | 5 (all freemium, including ungated) |
| Ungated freemium | 7–9% | 8–12% | 7% | 5.6 |
| Trial, no card | 4–6% | 10–15% | — | — |
| All trials (20% card-required) | — | — | 4.5% | 3.6 |
| Trial, card required | 25–35% | 50–60% | 3.5% | 10.5 |
| Reverse trial | 4–6% | 8–12% | — | — |
Source: ChartMogul, Growth Unhinged, and ProductLed, SaaS Conversion Report 2026 (200 products, grade C). The overall 8% median is free-to-paid, not visit-to-signup. “Paying customers per 1,000 visits” multiplies stage-level medians for illustration; it is not an observed cohort result. The source explicitly flags the small reverse-trial sample.
SaaS Product Types
| Type | Metric | Value | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI-native / hybrid | Good and great free-to-paid | 6–8%, 15–20% | ChartMogul 2026, C |
| Conventional SaaS | Same | 5–7%, 12–16% | Same source, C |
| B2B | Same | 6–10%, 15–20% | Same source, C |
| B2C / mixed | Same | 5–7%, 8–12% | Same source, C |
| Developer tools | Free → paid; visit → signup | 5%, 10% | OpenView data via Boldstart, C |
| Software subscriptions | Trial → paid | 16.6% | Recurly 2026, C (sample not stated) |
| HR software | Visit → trial; trial → paid | 8.1%, 22.7% | First Page Sage, D |
| Fintech | Same | 9.0%, 19.4% | Same source, D |
| CRM | Same | 9.7%, 29.0% | Same source, D |
| Cybersecurity | Same | 7.4%, 21.9% | Same source, D |
| Enterprise software | Same | 5.5%, 18.6% | Same source, D |
Limits of First Page Sage figures
The sample comprises 86 SEO-agency clients, and calculation methods are undisclosed. These figures are included because no independent product-type data were found, but do not use them as inputs. Many blogs also repeat them without attribution.
Paid Penetration from Filings
These figures show paying customers as a share of registered or active users or organizations, rather than conversion over a defined period (all calculated, grade B).
| Company | Value | Denominator | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dropbox | About 2.6% (upper bound) | More than 700 million cumulative registered users | FY2025 10-K |
| Slack | About 14.7% | Organizations with at least three people | 2019 S-1 |
| Duolingo | About 9.0% | Quarterly average MAU | Q2 2026 shareholder letter |
App Subscriptions
RevenueCat State of Subscription Apps 2026 covers more than 115,000 apps using RevenueCat (grade B).
| Category | Download → trial | Trial → paid | Download → paid within 35 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | — | — | 2.0% |
| Health | 6.9% | 37.7% | 2.9% |
| Business | 9.1% | — | 2.6% |
| Games | 4.4% | 25.0% | 1.0% |
| Travel | 4.1% | 43.5% | — |
| Shopping | — | — | 1.3% |
“—” marks chart-only values that could not be confirmed numerically. The source includes more categories. See App Subscription Conversion for detail.
Early Startups and Desktop Apps
| Scope | Metric | Value | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| SaaS below $300K ARR | Median annual customer retention | 53% | ChartMogul 2023, B |
| Early SaaS | Stage-specific free-to-paid rates | Not found | Early-Stage SaaS Conversion |
| New subscription apps | Reaching $1K monthly revenue within two years | 17.3% | RevenueCat, B |
| Free desktop software (Firefox, 2007) | Visit → daily active at 30 days | About 20% | Mozilla, B |
| Paid indie desktop software (2009) | Median sales per visit | 0.70% | Brice, C |
| Steam games | Median first-week sales ÷ wishlists | 10.5% | GameDiscoverCo, C |
Referral Programs by Product
Conversion means conversions per shared-link click; acquisition means converted customers per referrer. These are industry medians published by Extole, without sample counts (grade C).
| Industry | Share rate | Conversion | Acquisition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Banking | 15.6% | 13.4% | 30% |
| Lending | 30% | 9.4% | 16% |
| Apparel | 5.2% | 15.8% | 15% |
| General retail | 7.7% | 10.8% | 21% |
| Health / beauty | 7% | 9.1% | 14% |
| Hotels / travel | 7.3% | 2.2% | 11% |
| B2B | 4.8% | 1.3% | 17% |
Consultations and Services
| Industry | Median visit → conversion | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Dental | 4.3% | Unbounce, C; forms and clicks mixed |
| Commercial / professional services | 6.1% | Same source, C |
| Legal | 6.3% | Same source, C |
Post-submission stages are covered in Consultation and Photo-Upload Form Conversion. Korean store, subscription, and consultation figures are in the Korean Conversion Atlas.
Choosing Product Inputs
Conversion Atlas by Channel
Compare click-through rates, conversion rates, and costs across Google search, Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn, email, and referrals with evidence grades.
Conversion Atlas by Role
Review cold-email replies, LinkedIn costs, product conversion figures, and gaps in public evidence for CMOs, developers, HR, finance, founders, and other roles.