Subscriptions and streaming
Pay per trial start, or per first paid month.
User acquisition for streaming, learning, VPN and box subscriptions. Pick the step you trust, and your server reports it when it happens.
- Trial start
- Plan start
- First paid month
Send a Test event. An advertiser event sent with test=true. It checks the event works and is never charged.What is a test event? for the trial and the first payment before launch. Tests are logged and never charged.
A streaming service
Website · Your landing page
- Setting up
- In review
- Live
- Countries
- US
Events you pay for
- Account created sign_up tracked, not charged $0.00 Live
- Trial started trial_start $4.00 Live
- First paid month first_paid_month $20.00 Live
01Where it runs
Where your subscription offer runs.
Once approved, your plan is an offer publishers can choose. They join by request, and most reward their users, so expect people who came for the reward as well as the show.
With rewards
- Rewarded and earning apps People start a trial for a reward, and some cancel. Pricing the first paid month covers that.
- Survey and research panels Members earn panel points, and a trial is one more thing to try between surveys.
- Offerwall platforms and networks They carry your plan to the apps and sites they work with.
Step names reach people as written on our Hosted Offerwall, so match your checkout. Offer API publishers build their own screens, and the Top Offers Feed takes your plan once it's one of our top offers.
Without rewards
Offer by offer- Media sites and blogs Inside articles and roundups.
- Comparison and review sites Listed beside the alternatives.
- Email newsletters Placed in an issue, to their readers.
- Media buyers On campaigns they run and pay for.
Some brands want people who aren't rewarded. Sites, newsletters and media buyers run hand-picked Offer Links, approved one offer at a time.
How Offer Links work02What you can price
Pay on the trial, or wait for payment.
An example ladder for a streaming service. Set your trial price, add an annual plan or move where this subscriber stops.
- A $0 step is tracked and never charged. Here it shows how many sign-ups never start a trial.
- Send each event within 48 hours of when it happened.
- A percent of each subscription works too. Our team sets it up.
A streaming service
Tap a dot to move where this subscriber stops.
- Account created sign_up tracked, not charged
- Trial started trial_start tracked, not charged
- First paid month first_paid_month tracked, not charged
Add a step
Six steps is the most this example shows.
This subscriber cost you
$4.00 USD
2 of 3 steps reached. Every step: $24.00.
03Where to start
Pick the trial or the payment by your cancel rate.
It's a choice between speed and certainty. A trial start is quick to measure: your server reports it the moment it happens, and in our streaming example it costs $4. The first paid month, at $20 in the example, arrives later and costs more, but you pay nothing for trials that never pay.
Put both steps on the campaign from the start, because you can't add a step once it's live. Track the account at $0 either way.
Then compare how many trial starts reach a first paid month. If most do, keep the money on the trial. If many cancel, lower the trial price and raise the paid month. A new price on a live campaign applies at once.
04Targeting and compliance
What you set, and what stays in your checkout.
You pick countries and platforms. Your checkout decides who can start a trial or pay.
You set in the campaign
- Countries
- US Where the campaign runs, by country code.
- Platforms
- iOSAndroidWebsite iOS, Android or both, or a website.
- Destination
- Your plan or trial page. App campaigns can use a store listing or store search.
- Steps and prices
- Trial and payment steps, each with a name, event key and dollar price.
- Pause and resume
- Stop and restart a live campaign yourself.
Stays with you
- Auto-renewal disclosures
- How people cancel
- Checkout and billing terms
Rules for subscriptions and streaming
-
Renewal terms stay in your checkout
Auto-renewal disclosures and how people cancel are yours, shown before anyone pays.
-
Step names match your offer
People see your step names as written. “Start a 7-day free trial” should match what your checkout says.
05Billing
Trials you're never charged for.
Trial and payment events each get a status back. Your balance only moves when one is approved and live.
trial_start test: true
The test trial your team ran
Your team starts a trial from staging with test set to true. It comes back approved, shows as a test in your log and marks the step Verified. Nothing comes off your balance.
Charged $0.00
Tests, events with no Click ID. A unique ID we give each tap, so a later install or event can be matched back to it.What is a click ID?, repeats and anything sent past the 48-hour limit are all free of charge.
Every status, in the setup guide06Measurement
Your server reports each trial. No SDK.
How a tap becomes a charged trial start, and where you can check what it cost.
-
The tap brings
afos_click_idto your pageWe add it to the URL of your plan or trial page.
-
Checkout keeps it on the account
Save the click ID with the visitor, then on the signed-in subscriber, so a first payment weeks later can still report against it.
-
Your billing system posts
trial_startPost from the webhook that already tells you a trial began or a charge succeeded, and send it within 48 hours of when it happened.
Event logs
Trial and payment events from your billing system. Tests show a mark and no charge.
- Clicks
- 720
- Results
- 64
- Spend
- $512.00
| When | Event | User | Status | Charged |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2:06 PM | trial_ | u_48213 | Approved | $4.00 |
| 2:04 PM | sign_ | u_48213 | Approved | $0.00 |
| 1:58 PM | trial_ | u_48207 | Duplicate | $0.00 |
| 1:41 PM | sign_ | u_48190 | Missing attribution | $0.00 |
| 11:20 AM | trial_ | test_user | Approved | $0.00 |
07From our public list
How subscription offers are built here.
Subscription offers from our public US list, checked 29 October 2026. No brands or payouts shown. Every subscription offer in that list paid on a single step, and most ran on websites.
-
A streaming service
1 paid step · website
- Sign up for a paid trial
Paid once, on this step.
-
A plan with an intro price
1 paid step · website
- Start a $0.50 annual plan
Paid once, on this step.
-
A free-trial offer
1 paid step · website
- Start a free trial
Paid once, on this step.
08Questions
What subscription teams ask us.
Should we pay on the trial or the first payment?
If most trials convert, pay on the trial start: it's quick to measure. If many cancel, pay on the first paid month instead. Set a higher price for it, and you pay nothing for trials that never pay.
What if a subscriber cancels later?
A step your server already reported stays charged; a later cancel doesn't undo it. Send each event only when the step is real.
Do renewals charge us again?
No. Each step is charged once per subscriber, so monthly renewals don't keep charging you. To pay for a second month, add “Second paid month” as its own step at its own price.
Can an annual plan cost more than a monthly one?
Yes. Add “Annual plan started” as a separate step with a higher price, and your server sends whichever one the subscriber chose.
Can we pay a percent of each subscription?
Yes. Our campaign screen prices steps in dollars, so tell our team the percent and we'll set it up. Send the plan price as revenue with each event. Publishers choose what they run, so an offer that doesn't let them make money won't get traffic.
Can we run on a website?
Yes. We add afos_click_id to your plan page URL. Keep it through checkout, on the visitor or the signed-in subscriber, and your server sends it back with the trial and payment events.