Let's build a list of SAAS products that have free trials that don't require payment info
I almost never use products that have a free trial that requires payment information. I hate to give out my card info before knowing if the product is any good. That's why I want to create a list of SAAS products that don't require payment info for their free trials. If you're an indie hacker and want to add your product to this list, please create a new row in this spreadsheet: (feel free to add another column to the table to improve it) https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gsDsv8WEvlZFN1IrKpsj0UICKSuXMOkI4FVCeE5ngk4/edit?usp=sharing
Maybe I'm in the minority, but I've never had a problem cancelling something during a trial that required a card.
The consensus is that as an indie hacker, you should be collecting a card up front. Unless you want to spend your time supporting users that will never convert.
One alternative is a strong nurturing program during trials. One that provides value and makes specific calls to action while also clearly communicating the trial end date.
I have never run into trial troubles myself, and trials seem to be very flexible at most products when needed.
Not sure about the consensus though, for me the consensus is to not collect cards upfront but this seems to be a tabs vs spaces discussion. The consensus is to try to see what works for your market / product.
Personally, as someone who runs a few SaaS products, I hate this idea. I collect CC info because otherwise tire-kickers are a strain on support, and I'd rather be supporting paying customers.
If I'm serious about trying software, I'll punch in my CC, if I'm not, I won't bother.
For SaaS, this is not the first concern:
By the time a product is good enough that it can be recommended to use, the company has made sure to have a way to convince you of it. In the cases where free trials are not part of the business model, they offer screenshots, videos, and money-back guarantees.
Most business decisions have a short list of SaaS products to use for said business need, so you don't have the luxury to be picky about how they price. You'll find a way to decide if you want that particular product.
If someone or the internet as a whole recommends that product X is the way to go, you'll be focused on how to get on board, not worrying about their pricing structure.
If the recurring charge is an insignificant enough number for the business, the monetary risk doesn't matter. You can cancel after a month of service. Most SaaS companies are not scammers, so having to take the process all the way to a chargeback is unlikely, but it's easily available in extreme cases. If the number is too much to invest, then you are playing outside of your league and need to face the sobering reality.
Bottom line, pricing structure is not the first line of concern; therefore, people won't typically come to your list/site to discover solutions for their needs. Pricing structure is something people consider once they have come up with a short list of options to investigate.
I completely agree: pricing structure is not a primary concern. People will not come to this site to discover solutions; rather they will find an alternative solution with a better pricing structure so that they will actually be willing to try out the product.
Once you have a certain business need and specs in mind, SaaS solutions are few and far apart. No such thing as true "alternatives".
One of the most prolific categories, website analytics, has very few choices already. Just go to Segment's directory of supported products and try for example to find products for recording user interaction and mouse clicks. There are some 10 products, and each potential customer can easily narrow down that list to only two or three based on specific needs. This is a generous case that I went through myself for my own business needs. Random SaaS product needs won't be this ample! You'll literally have one or two choices that will differ quite significantly.
This is pretty interesting, but what is a possible use case. It doesn't seem that useful.
Here's what I am expecting: once we have a comprehensive list, I will build a searchable directory which indie hackers can use to find SAAS products that they can test without having to worry about their payment info.
I like this. I actually wanted to make a searchable directory. I also think you need some sort of a categorization because this list could get really large and almost useless if you just put together a bunch of SaaS products in there.
I find that IH products page is very good, but I think you can try building a reporting system on top of that. But overall I think you're up to something.
Thanks a lot for the feedback. If we get a good list, I will definitely setup a searchable directory, but for now I am just validating the idea.
I like the idea, did you built a platform for this? Are you planning to do so?
I currently don’t collect the card info upfront with findbetterquestions.com, but that’s mainly to get as many people as possible in. I’ll change it once I have a better idea of how people use my product.
About 50% of all downloads never used my tool when I required card info upfront, so I changed it for now. I also know that I don’t do the best job communicating the product on my landing page, so I want to give them a way to try first. but as I said, I’ll probably change it back again.
I've just launched a little side project (https://remoteretro.io) and went the first month's trial without asking for payment details upfront; we thought that if we're not making the value to our customers obvious enough to sign up, that's on us. We might change that, as there's a lot of talk here about the very thing we were a little worried about... the endless tire-kickers as Paul Jarvis suggested. But I guess we'll see!
I completely agree, for the most part, unless its a super known service that I more or less know I will pay for anyways, I don't have an issue, but for any random SaaS, even to just try out is a no go to just drop my CC details.
Shamless plug, mine will not only have a FT of the service but a complete free tier :)
I have added our own product(https://www.plivo.com) in the list.
I like this too. Just added my SaaS (Cherry PC Business Apps.)
Great idea!
I love this idea. I wanted to build this a while back but just never got started. I'll try to contribute as much as possible.
Very cool idea! Just added https://readwise.io ... I hope consumer SaaS fits in too :P
Of course!
Love it. I added another column for additional notes at the end. It might not be necessary, but I needed that to mention we haven't published our Free Trial yet, but it's available and we've been giving it out.
Thanks so much for the addition!