What do you prefer: a trial period or a free tariff plan with limited features?

Question

And which of these options do you use/planning to use for your customers in your business?

Sasha Briu · Accepted Answer

I prefer trial definitely!  Because you get full experience.

Sergei Timoshenko · Answer

@iscu_andrei @ben_bertelsen It seems to me that it is not good to give something for free at first, and then ask for money for it.

Sergei Timoshenko · Answer

@price2spy Are you asking for credit card details when giving free 30 days trial?

Sergei Timoshenko · Answer

@iscu_andrei Thank you, an interesting option for combining product testing capabilities

Benjamin Bertelsen · Answer

Depends. I can think of many products where I would want one or the other. Or a mix as suggested by @iscu_andrei.

Assuming you already know users want your product from previous user research I think the best approach is to do a (new) series of interviews, where you have explained exactly price, length of trial period and what the limited features are to the interviewee. And then code responses as to what will make the interviewee most likely to 1) sign-up and 2) not churn on your product.

Alternatively just launch with everything free, and then experiment with different subsections of your userbase (if you tech allows) where you turn features off in return for payments, and see how many drop off. Or advertise different trial period lengths to different user groups (for instance by geographic market) and see what the response is.

Misha Krunic · Answer

For Price2Spy 2.0 , we are using a free 30 days trial, and it turned out to be a good decision. For BotMeNot, I am planning to offer a very basic version that would come at no cost for the users - since the app will work on credits. We'll see which one of these strategies will turn out to be better. I think that both have their advantages, it just depends on the type of the product.

Iscu Andrei · Answer

I think the best option is a combination of both: add a free plan, but allow the user to test the full feature list for X amount of days. After the trial expires the user can decide if they require the extra functionality or not. Depending on the software type, even the free users can end up landing payed users by spreading the tool. Depends on the service type, but from my point of view this would be the best option.

Misha Krunic · Answer

@sergei_timoshenko No. I do not ask for the credit card, and the free version is a bit limited in terms of how many websites they can monitor, etc. However, our support treats the trial users with the same level of attention as if they were paid users.

Akinori Nakajima · Answer

It depends on service or product, do prefer a combination of free and premium FreeMium!

Rezida · Answer

I prefer free tariff plan with limited features.

Iscu Andrei · Answer

@sergei_timoshenko As long as you clearly state that the feature is free for a trial period, I think it shouldn't be an issue. What I constantly hate seeing, if products that are advertised as free and then request money. Those I ditch instantly. But products that combine free features with trial ones, I end up buying constantly... I'm a sucker for features that work and get me hooked on them. So let people test features for free, but make sure they know it will cost them in the long term.

What do you prefer: a trial period or a free tariff plan with limited features?

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