Article · ~15 min read

6 Steps To Design A Freemium Tier That Actually Converts

Daphne Tideman · RevenueCat Free Intermediate

Once you have decided free is worth trying, this is the practical follow-through: a step by step way to decide what stays free, where the paywall sits, and which upgrade triggers actually move people to pay. The standout idea is a free tier bill of rights, a set of untouchable free features you never quietly erode while chasing conversion, which is a real trap for early founders A/B testing their way into a worse product. Read it as a working checklist, not a verdict, and adapt the tier map to your own product.

• Decide what is free based on user success, letting people make meaningful progress without handing them the whole solution, so there is a genuine reason to upgrade.
• Pick a clear architecture (usage limits on the same product, a feature split, or a hybrid) and map every feature to free, limited, or paid with a written reason, so the paywall lands at a natural moment rather than an arbitrary wall.
• Protect a core set of free features from slow erosion, because stacking small conversion wins can quietly gut the free experience and the word of mouth that came with it.