Home
Starting Up
Case Studies DB
Products
Ideas DB
Vibe Coding Tools
Subscribe to IH+
Starting Up
Case Studies
Ideas DB
Products DB
Sign in
Join
9
Likes
7
Comments
Why this bootstrapped SaaS requires a credit card to signup for a trial
by
webinsider
https://nusii.com/blog/why-we-ask-for-a-credit-card/
Some good points there. If you're in a B2B market I'd be careful following this advice. Sometimes people who don't have a company credit card wants to try your service, but not necessarily put down their private card.
Also, if you're early stage you probably want more people to try your service which will happen if you drop cc requirement.
I have two SaaS businesses, Klart which has reqiured cc on trial since 2016 and it works great. And Wobaka which is more B2B and saw increase in MRR after dropping cc requirement a year ago.
Thanks @drikerf - I often wonder about this!
This founder made it free for people to try their product - without providing a cc - and while it did give them 4x sign ups, it greatly reduced their conversions. It also caused their support tickets to increase, and the founder concludes that letting people browse the app was a recipe for disaster. As a bootstrapped SaaS, they couldn't afford to spend time with unserious buyers.
I've seen this in a lot of businesses. It goes against the grain of what conversion-rate-optimization guys tell you. "Lower the barrier to entry, and you'll increase your conv. rate!" Nope...
I've even seen some businesses (mostly offline) INCREASE the barrier to use them. They've positioned themselves as "popular"/"exclusive" options, rejecting customers or requiring them to go through hoops to get in.
I don't think enough people talk about this topic.
Good point, glad you mention this. There are a variety of odd psychological phenomena that happen with purchasing something, and who the person is and what they do in their company is obviously a key factor.
Certain products might benefit from prices up front but that can work against IHers.
Pricing tactics that mask rather than highlight prices—like season tickets, advance purchases, or subscriptions—reduce the pressure to consume the product in order to get the money’s worth.
This is often hotly debated and in the end, it's different for everyone. If you go this route, I know Crazy Egg increased signup by 116% just by explaining why they take credit card info up front and making it clear that customers wouldn't be charged.
Another option that some folks have been successful with (but I haven't tried it myself) is to offer people a 30-day money-back guarantee instead of a free trial. It keeps the risk low for the customer, but you still get paid. 🤷♂️
Couldn't have put it any better myself. Some business tactics, like free trials with no CC, work only for VC backed-SaaS businesses that don't have to worry about running out of funds.