I'm in the same situation. I'm very close to launching http://pitcher.io ... with all the usual SaaS things - 3 tiers, free trial, maybe a free account level. I have thought long and hard about free accounts though. Here's roughly where I'm at:
1. Are free accounts actually worth having? If your service offers enough value to the users that they'll invest time and energy using it then why won't they also invent a token amount of money? Even if it's just $10/year, that's going to be worthwhile for you if there are 5,000 accounts at that level.
2. Will a fee really put people off signing up? Putting credit card in to the sign up process definitely will, so don't do that. But people will try software even knowing it's going to cost them eventually if the pain you're taking away is great enough. If you can afford to give them a free account, just give them a long term free trial instead. "3 months free" is effectively the same as a free account to someone trying a new app.
3. Remember the popular saying "If you're not paying, you're the product." that people love to quote on HN when they're admonishing Facebook. It has an element of truth to it. If you're planning to make money from users by means other than direct payment, be upfront and honest about it. Tell them that they'll see adverts unless they hand over money. Tell them that you're mining their data. Tell them that you've invented a revolutionary new business model that makes money out of nothing. And tell me. :)
4. Consider that if you don't have a free tier you won't need to subsidise your free users, so you might be able to lower prices. But also consider that the price you start with will be the highest you ever charge. Users don't like increases in prices. But you can always grandfather old price points in.
5. Ultimately, until you launch, it's all speculation really. Just get it out there and get data to make proper decisions with.
I have no tips about money collection because I'm in the UK.
First, thank you for the thoughtful feedback. Second, pitcher.io looks great, it inspired me to think about some potential features.
I have spent the last two days doing some research and visiting lots of "paid" web applications and I came to the conclusion that maybe having a way for customers to try out the application without even having to sign up is a great way to gain traction. I am still considering a very limited "free" version but will for sure be focusing on the paid tiers even if they are relatively inexpensive upon release.
Oh yea, Stripe seems to be the way to go for my application.
If you don't mind, I'd suggest toning down the 'Our' side of the copy a bit... e.g. 'Our amazing content. Your expert knowledge.' sounds too boastful (no offense) and might sound better with 'great' instead of 'amazing'...
Also: 'To start you off every Pitcher account comes loaded with content we love' might be better as 'To start you off every Pitcher account comes loaded with great/useful content' ...
Comments
I'm in the same situation. I'm very close to launching http://pitcher.io ... with all the usual SaaS things - 3 tiers, free trial, maybe a free account level. I have thought long and hard about free accounts though. Here's roughly where I'm at:
1. Are free accounts actually worth having? If your service offers enough value to the users that they'll invest time and energy using it then why won't they also invent a token amount of money? Even if it's just $10/year, that's going to be worthwhile for you if there are 5,000 accounts at that level.
2. Will a fee really put people off signing up? Putting credit card in to the sign up process definitely will, so don't do that. But people will try software even knowing it's going to cost them eventually if the pain you're taking away is great enough. If you can afford to give them a free account, just give them a long term free trial instead. "3 months free" is effectively the same as a free account to someone trying a new app.
3. Remember the popular saying "If you're not paying, you're the product." that people love to quote on HN when they're admonishing Facebook. It has an element of truth to it. If you're planning to make money from users by means other than direct payment, be upfront and honest about it. Tell them that they'll see adverts unless they hand over money. Tell them that you're mining their data. Tell them that you've invented a revolutionary new business model that makes money out of nothing. And tell me. :)
4. Consider that if you don't have a free tier you won't need to subsidise your free users, so you might be able to lower prices. But also consider that the price you start with will be the highest you ever charge. Users don't like increases in prices. But you can always grandfather old price points in.
5. Ultimately, until you launch, it's all speculation really. Just get it out there and get data to make proper decisions with.
I have no tips about money collection because I'm in the UK.
Actually I do: "Don't use Paypal."
First, thank you for the thoughtful feedback. Second, pitcher.io looks great, it inspired me to think about some potential features.
I have spent the last two days doing some research and visiting lots of "paid" web applications and I came to the conclusion that maybe having a way for customers to try out the application without even having to sign up is a great way to gain traction. I am still considering a very limited "free" version but will for sure be focusing on the paid tiers even if they are relatively inexpensive upon release.
Oh yea, Stripe seems to be the way to go for my application.
Best of luck to you and pitcher.io!
As an aside, pitcher.io looks cool... congrats :)
If you don't mind, I'd suggest toning down the 'Our' side of the copy a bit... e.g. 'Our amazing content. Your expert knowledge.' sounds too boastful (no offense) and might sound better with 'great' instead of 'amazing'...
Also: 'To start you off every Pitcher account comes loaded with content we love' might be better as 'To start you off every Pitcher account comes loaded with great/useful content' ...
HTH and all the best.