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Maria Hagsten

Revenue goals vs. free access

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We recently launched our paywall, and as part of our mission to make our product accessible to everyone, we decided to offer a ‘Request for Free’ option for users in financial need. We’re eager to hear your thoughts and experiences with similar models. What’s your product? What strategies have you found effective in balancing revenue goals with providing free access?

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Alvaro Villalba Perez
Your idea seems great. Request for free for those in financial need. It doesn't seem scalable; you'd have to review each request manually? But it's the right thing to do IMO. It depends whether you're B2C or B2B. It shows courage in your culture and values. Cheers!
Maria Hagsten
@alvarovillalb_ Thank you! The scalability is tough, but some solid automation is helping us out so far. Hopefully we can keep at it or find another solution, it does feel right to offer it for free to those in need.
Brian Hurst
We're working on our Pricing Model right now as well. I'm curious to hear other replies on the subject. We are planning to provide a free tier within our pricing model though. If your product is strong, having a free tier will net you larger returns over a longer period of time.
Sagar Patel
I am planning on having a free tier for my SaaS. Limited use, then they switch over to a pay-as-you-go model if they want more. I realized I personally don’t use a lot of products I haven’t tried. I like to test out a product before I pay for it. So offering the same to my users.
Rehansh
@sagarpatel10 yeah that is good, I think freemium pricing models are better than free trial pricing models. Freemium at least allows you to use the tool for any amount of time add your own
Mujadad Naeem
We released a full featured Proof of Concept at zero commitment or cost. Since we are working in the digital security industry, solutions come with relatively bigger commitments and costs. As organisations look to secure their digital environments, we thought it would be unfair for them to pay up a massive cost and then feel that our solution doesn't comply with their existing framework! It included 50+hrs of engineering but at least we're transparent and can commit that we're working towards the betterment of the digital realm.
Maria Hagsten
@mujadad_naeem I really like the idea of transparency and the concept of creating a fair pricing strategy!
Žiga Kerec
An interesting idea with "request for free". Very similar to what some companies call a "startup package". Basically getting some credits to get things off the ground. We also use free credits, that way you can check out the demo version of the app before buying a subscription. The premise is that it should give you enough value when trying it out.
Maria Hagsten
@ziga_kerec Cool, I hadn't thought of the similarities to "startup packages," but that's spot on 💙
Jake Harrison
Revenue goals become more and more important right now!
Wyatt Feaster
Currently working on figuring out what will make the most sense for our product as well. We are looking at the angle of free for a few months then having a paid tier after we get users into the platform.
Adam Goetz
It definitely depends on your product, but offering a free option can always help with growth. "Request for Free" is interesting especially if you give them specific options for their situation. Say "student" or "non profit", etc... I imagine having to request and provide a reason would limit the amount of free accounts vs just offering a free tier.
André J
Freemium can drive traffic in the early days. Which you can learn from. Then backtrack and change the business model. Maybe trail based etc.
Daniel Zaitzow
Launching soon!
I think this is a really neat model. In line with a lot of other effective altruism. Sam Harris does this with his podcast: https://www.samharris.org/subscribe Hidden under the Visa/Mastercard logos is an option that says "Can't afford a subscription: Click here" Neat solution in that case to offer the information to those in need who may not be able to afford it. I think its a slippery slope and that I would handle this on a case by case basis - not particularly something I would promote as a startup without a ton of funding or a clear mission of what this looks like at scale.