5
2 Comments

Reasons to launch with a free beta and the associated user communications

Who has experience of initially launching a product through a free beta?

I've launched things with free trials of various lengths, discounts, and marketplace products with no cost attached.

All of these had clear communications for what users should expect from the outset.

For upcoming products I'm thinking about a free beta. For one product in particular I have two main reasons

  1. There will definitely be a few hard to edge case scenarios in the tech which are hard to predict and test *
  2. I'd simply like more people to get a chance to use it soon

* I'm not suggesting knowingly launching something that isn't largely fit for purpose though ;-)

One reservation I have though, is that I've no idea how long I'd offer the free beta for, and it would be a paid product (possibly with some sort of free plan) in future.

Putting myself in the user's position, I'd prefer some clarity on how long it would last, how much I'd be expected to pay to keep using it afterwards etc.

Has anyone been in the same position before and have any advice to offer?

The conventional wisdom seems to be to always launch as early as possible with whatever you have, and see if people like it. However, there is also something to be said for being professional and offering clear communication to potential customers.

I've searched the archives for 'free beta', but as you can imagine it turns up a load of people offering their own.

Looking forward to your insights :)

  1. 2

    Really interested in this. Currently in a free beta, but I ask for cc validation, and I’m weighing changing this. The problem I have is in my market the pricing is very high and I’m wrestling with how to manage the messaging while still getting a good collection of users to add their data and use the product. Right now we’re working on integrating with existing solutions and stripping the beta down a bit to thread this needle better, but the messaging is tough. Interested in others thoughts on how to communicate the expectations around “free,” especially when apps are sticky because they work with a ton of user data.

    1. 1

      Yep, the type of app definitely matters.

      Whether it's something valuable in and of itself in single uses, or requires some integration to a user's website/app, or significant configuration, or data accumulation...

      Also, the pricing range. Even if we don't have a price in mind, we probably know if it's gonna be $1-20pm or $100+

      The product I'm focussing on at the moment would likely have a fully featured plan at less than half the monthly cost of the entry level plan in some comparable products.

      Affordability may well be one of my key selling points, and that's what got me thinking that to attract the right type of free beta users I may need to give some indication that's the case.

Trending on Indie Hackers
How I grew a side project to 100k Unique Visitors in 7 days with 0 audience 49 comments Competing with Product Hunt: a month later 33 comments Why do you hate marketing? 28 comments My Top 20 Free Tools That I Use Everyday as an Indie Hacker 15 comments $15k revenues in <4 months as a solopreneur 14 comments Use Your Product 13 comments