Entrepreneurs, how do you treat free users of your product?
Future buyers or freeloaders? Brand ambassadors or resource-hoggers?
While there are feature/usage/support limitations on them, should time-since-registered or past purchase history also be a factor in servicing them?
Categorizing them can bring some actionable insights I guess.
Free users are either future customers or advocates. It helps to categorize them based on their behavior rather than just how long they have been using the product. Look for patterns like how often they engage and which features they use. Engaged free users are more likely to convert or recommend your product. If some users are not adding value, guide them toward conversion with upsells or incentives. A referral program can also unlock value from free users. The goal is to balance engagement with sustainability, giving value to those who might become paying customers while minimizing the drain on resources.
I love them! Free users are still validation that there is a demand for what you’re building. Ofc it might still be the case that most people aren’t willing to pay for your product, but you’re only going to find that out once you keep building.
This is exactly my approach with https://rockyai.me/ - chrome extension that lets you chat with any webpage using LLMs. I have zero paid users but a lot of my friends love the product so that’s still very satisfying!
Personally, I don't do "free tiers" for my commercial offerings. I do free trials instead. I think that its important not to set false expectations right from the start, and free tiers almost always set false expectations.
I don’t do “free”. Free is bad for everyone: the paying customers, me, and eventually the feee customers as well