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If you cast your mind back to late 2019 and throughout 2020 (six years ago!), you might remember Netflix quietly phasing out one of its most universally loved sign-up perks: the 30-day free trial. For years, it was the default way to get your friends and family hooked on the service.
Well, fast forward to today, and we’ve learned that the free trial is making a comeback—at least in a testing capacity. Netflix has confirmed to us that they are currently exploring the reintroduction of free trials in select markets outside of the US and the UK. Our understanding is that these free trials can range in length and are only for people who have never signed up for Netflix before.
A Netflix spokesperson told What’s on Netflix the following, confirming the test:
“We regularly test promotions to help prospective members experience the value of Netflix.”
Netflix is always tinkering with user acquisition
Long-time readers will know that Netflix has never entirely stopped trying out alternative ways to gain subscribers.
After first killing the classic trial in 2019 (starting in the UK before going global throughout 2020), they famously launched a “Watch Free” portal in 2020. That initiative put a curated selection of original movies and the first episodes of hit shows out in front of the paywall for anyone to stream without an account. When justifying the end of the free trial era at the time, a Netflix representative noted: “We’re looking at different marketing promotions in the U.S. to attract new members and give them a great Netflix experience.”
More recently, we’ve seen Netflix pivot towards using massive live events to test the waters. Earlier this year, Netflix acquired rights to the World Baseball Classic in Japan. It was a fascinating strategy designed to tap into long-standing regional viewing habits and entice a demographic that might not normally sign up for a traditional VOD service. Alongside that live event, Netflix actually offered a discounted first-month sign-up to subscribers in Japan.
Why is Netflix testing free trials now?
It’s been six years since free trials were last on the table, and Netflix is a completely different beast today. Having recently crossed 325 million global subscribers, they’re already at a huge scale. But to keep growing—both internationally and domestically—they have to win over holdouts. For people who have still never tried Netflix, paying right out of the gate could still be a huge barrier to entry. Dropping the paywall for a few days gives those on the fence a chance to actually experience the platform’s expanding value, from the TV and movie library, which ranges from 6,000 to 10,000 titles in most regions globally, to its recent push into video games, podcasts, and YouTube-style content in addition to its overhauled experiences on mobile and TVs.
The goal of this test is to determine whether a free trial is still the best hook. Once the trial period wraps up, those users can easily roll over to any of Netflix’s paid tiers, which now start at a much more accessible entry price (i.e., Standard with Ads).
As is always the case with Netflix’s A/B testing (such as the recent website design overhaul), they’ll review the data to see if it’s actually useful before deciding whether to roll the trial out more broadly.
Would you like to see free trials return to your region? Do you think they’re still an effective way to draw in new subscribers? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
