Which page flow will have better conversion rate?

Which flow will have a better conversion rate?

I am designing the page flow for a website that is a of a monthly subscription type. Here's the page flow options I have:

1. Home Page (Try now button) -->
   Pricing and Plans page --> Signup
   form --> Payment page (paypal) -->
   Main App Page
2. Home Page (Try now button) --> Main
   App Page (Submit button --> Pricing
   and Plans page --> Signup form -->
   Payment page (Paypal) --> Back to
   Main App page

Basically, the second option provides the user an opportunity to partly key in the data on the main app page and delays the user in signing up.

Which option would have better conversion rate?

All of them have a 30 day free period.
Alternatively, I can set it up for a
user to use the service for 30 days
without requiring a credit card and
ask the credit card details at the
end of 30 days.

This option and the second option may have more overhead with development though.

Start following Anne's Which Test Won site .. http://whichtestwon.com/ Has great tests.

Agree with Pierre - Testing will be the only way to determine the best conversion rate.

Some general questions:

is there a free plan? If so, its easier to start them off at a higher level then downgrade after the trial.

Is there a reason to not open up all functionality during trial, allow people to test everything and then let them scale back after 30?

If you are running a free for 30 days and do not require a credit card, why are you jumping to the paypal page? Why not just inform them of the no cost trial, create the account then allow them to start using your service?

Perfect scenario for an A/B testing.

You may check Google Website optimizer
http://www.google.com/websiteoptimizer or similar solutions http://www.google.com/search?q=website+optimizer