Article · 10 min read

Freemium vs. Free Trial: How to Know Which One to Pick for Your SaaS Startup

Kristin Hillery · OpenView Free Beginner

It settles the freemium versus trial argument with numbers from 150 plus companies rather than opinion: freemium brings 33 percent more signups but converts at half the rate. That trade-off is the whole decision.

  • Free trials convert free-to-paid at roughly 14 percent, about twice freemium's 7 percent.
  • Freemium generates about 33 percent more free accounts per website visitor than free trials.
  • Median activation is around 20 percent for freemium versus 40 percent for free trials.
  • Only 4 percent of freemium and 12 percent of free trial products ask for a card upfront.
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It answers 4 questions

  1. We are about to launch. Should we go with freemium or a free trial?
  2. How do I decide what goes in the free tier and what sits behind the paywall?
  3. How do I convert more trials without turning the product into a nagging upgrade prompt?
  4. What separates a top-quartile self-serve funnel from an average one, stage by stage?

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