Trial Periods... Are they really worth it?
There is no SaaS without a Trial!
Many indie devs are into SaaS nowadays and their monetization strategy normally falls into two categories:
- A fully paid product with different tiers
- A freemium model
Quite often in either of these methods, the creators offer free trials. A way for users to actually try the paid version without credit card is needed! (got to have these last magic words)
Feedback
I have been really enjoying writing my thoughts here and from yesterday's post I got a few Devs visiting my virtual co-working space for entrepreneurs and asking me if they could try it for free...
I had already considered a trial in the past but I have always rejected the idea
My product is a paid community and I have been lucky enough to have found really cool and active first members 💪
It somehow seemed odd to allow strangers to come into our virtual office just to disappear a few days after (much like my father... 😿). Plus it's a 4 euros subscription that can be canceled at any time...
If people are not willing to pay that then they probably never will... - Tiago thinking to himself
I explained my reasons to this user and then got convinced by the explanation... 😱
Is not about the money but the fact of giving my credit card info and committing to a product without actually knowing if it works... - user
I realized that the problem was not losing the 4 euros but rather being tricked by a sketchy podcaster with possibly an empty slack channel!
I decided then to give it a shot! Here is what I have done...
1- Get a coffee ofc... ☕
2- Asked the community members if they were ok with it and like always they were super supportive!
3- Create a new extra in the buymeacoffee platform for a value of ZERO euros and use zapier to store the new user data together with the expiration date into Airtable. #NoCode4TheWinBROOOO
4- Change the landing page to this beauty...
Results
It's amazing because since I implemented the trial a grand total of ZERO new members have joined!!! So I was right!
Or maybe is still too soon to tell... XD I will wait a couple more days to take my conclusions and I will keep you posted! (btw if you prefer listening to these adventures in an audio format you should checkout my podcast)
I hope you found this entertaining and I would love to know what are your thoughts on trial periods... Have they been working out for you?
This is an interesting take, that is really well written. I would like to know the result in a couple of weeks though. Were there any new users and how many skipped right onto the paid version etc.
My questions exactly... I will probably write down a post about the results later on. Otherwise, you can follow my podcast
With Progressier, we offer a 14-day free trial WITH credit card needed and no free plan. I've found this model to convert much better than freemium and no-credit-card-needed free trials.
In 2021, people are used to paying for SaaS. They also know that with Stripe, their payment info is safe. I feel like requiring a credit card at sign up doesn't create that much friction anymore, compared to say 5 years ago.
This is really interesting. Thanks for sharing. For now, buymeacoffee does not require CC by default but I might have to start thinking on changing to a new tool to manage subscriptions. Any recommendations?
For some services, it makes sense not to have a trial period, e.g. when having access to something earlier than others (deals, news) matters. For others, the free trial is a way for a user to quickly get the 'feeling' of the service and validate claims from the landing page. I'm not sure if there is a more efficient way than trying the service.
Exactly and in my case you do get some discounts just by joining... I might have to restrict that in the futures