4 Tactics SaaS Products Use to Nudge Users to Upgrade

I studied 12 successful SaaS products (including Beehiiv, Canva, and Buffer) to understand the tactics they use to nudge their users towards a paid plan.

You can find my entire feature gating research deck (for free) here.

Here are 4 tactics you can steal right now.

Display the user's progress at all times

Does your product offer a limited number of actions for free? Display your user's progress towards the upgrade at all times.

Here's an example with Todoist:

Todoist offer up to 5 free 'Projects'. Beyond that, the user has to upgrade to a paid plan. Todoist do an excellent job of displaying the limit at all times; so there are no surprises when it's time to upgrade.

Turn your feature gate into a landing page

As users click around your app and reach a paywall, use this opportunity to sell the feature (and, thus, the upgrade).

Here's an example with Beehiiv:

Beehiiv show entire marketing landing pages inside their app. This isn't just a 'Please upgrade to access this feature' paywall. They take this opportunity to remind the user of the tremendous value they'll get out of upgrading by actively selling the feature.

Leverage consistent visual clues

Most products gate multiple valuable features behind an upgrade. As users navigate the app, warn them of the required upgrade with consistent visual clues.

Here's a good example with Buffer:

These visual clues achieve multiple goals. First, they are a constant reminder that the user is not getting as much from your app as they could. Second, it limits disappointment: you won't have access to this feature.

Hook & anchor value throughout the upgrade process

What extra value will your users get on the other side of the paywall?

In this example, Grammarly not only clearly display the value (hook) but keep the user engaged throughout the upgrade process by reminding them of the value (anchor):

At each step of the process, the user is encouraged to carry on so they get to that sweet, sweet value.

Grab the entire feature gating research deck (30+ pages).