Free vs Trial
Hi, IH community.
We've in ScrapingAnt decided to avoid any of "Trial", "Free Trial", etc. patterns in our service. Instead of this, we've provided a free plan. Of course, paid plans are also available, but the free plan allows a user not just to try, but continuously use our service for free. From our perspective, it helps to build a community around your service and grow with your users and their needs.
What do you think about it? Is this a good approach or it will lead to free users flood?
Just comment "Free" or "Trial" and your opinion (optional)
Thanks in advance.
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I don't know the correct answer (probably depends on the product), but I'm planning on trying trial first and free only as last resort. Obviously a lot has been written about the pros/cons of both, but here's what resonates with me:
As a user, I like free. As a business I like trial.
JMHO.
I agree with all your points! Plus my $0.02:
Yes, good points too! Maybe it’s perception but free users seem to be more entitled and complain more on support channels than paying users.
Free
It's always good to have more users, especially when you're starting out. More users = more feedback. You can see if your users are active, what features are they using and basing on this data you can make steps to monetize these users.
More feedback does not equal more good feedback.
Free users don't give a damn about your product they can just quit whenever they want.
Paying users do care about your product since they committed to pay you. They paid you to deliver what you promised/advertised, they will be vocal and give you feedback on the things you will have to change in order to keep them, and this will give you a good idea on what people like about your product and why they pay for it.
These are all valid points, but I don't think it's always black or white.
For example in our product - https://seodity.com. People often start using app like this when they are starting something new. New website, new product, new e-commerce. They're small in the beginning so they can use free plan. When they grow - then it's time to move to higher, paid plan.
Sure free plan makes sense for some businesses, but that wasn't my point.
Free
Free
100 requests is more than enough to try it out, while still helping emerging startups to use it while they try to reach some market.
I think it depends on the product and the audience.
If it is something that scales with a user's needs, then a free plan makes a lot of sense. Mailchimp is a good example. The free tier is a low barrier to get started and as a user's email list grows, they move pretty seamlessly into the paid tiers.
But for other products, a trial could very well make more sense. Things like premium content subscriptions would be examples. Consuming some content doesn't lead to needing more content, and a free tier could devalue it.
Free
Free
My choice is obvious. Everyone likes to evaluate something for more than just a limited amount of time or just use service with basic capabilities.
Of course, not all businesses or services can be built with free tiers, but most of them are able.