Medium — weeks Pre-Revenue

Should I launch with a free tier or paid-only?

Free tier means more users, more feedback, more word-of-mouth. Paid-only means every user is a real signal. The wrong choice at launch sets a pricing anchor that's hard to undo.

1–2 people SaaS, Marketplace Medium — weeks

The Pattern

Based on 326 decisions

72%

Positive outcome

7.0

Avg score

326

Decisions

63 positive 25 negative 238 pending

10 scale 306 optimise 10 experiment

What founders did

high confidence

Monetisation Case Studies

Curated library

Startup (unnamed): Launch product on Product Hunt

A startup decided to officially launch its product on Product Hunt, a platform popular for showcasing new tech products. This is a deliberate channel strategy for gaining early visibility, attracting …

SaaS £0–5k/month Optimise — Working but needs refinement

6.7

SaaS Founder (Unnamed): Choose between open-source with deployment fee or proprietary GUI with subscription (2026)

An early-stage SaaS founder is grappling with a fundamental business model decision for their software. The strategic choice is between offering the core product as an open-source GitHub repository with …

SaaS Building — Pre-launch Experiment — Promising but unvalidated

5.9

Anonymous Founder's Startup: Launch product on Product Hunt with zero marketing budget (2026)

A founder made the strategic decision to leverage Product Hunt as their primary, and effectively sole, launch and initial marketing channel, specifically with a 'zero marketing budget' approach. This choice …

Negative outcome Initial spike, then decline / Lack of sustained …

SaaS £0–5k/month Optimise — Working but needs refinement

6.8

Startup: Evaluate pivot to GUI App + subscription model (2024)

An early-stage SaaS startup is grappling with a fundamental business model decision: whether to continue with a 'GitHub repo + deployment fee' model, which might appeal to developers, or pivot …

SaaS Building — Pre-launch Experiment — Promising but unvalidated

5.9

Salesforce: Per-seat subscription pricing model (1999)

Instead of large upfront licence fees (the Siebel/Oracle model), Salesforce charged $50/user/month. This was radically lower entry cost but required sustained retention. Enterprise buyers were unfamiliar with subscriptions for business …

Positive outcome Net revenue retention: 120%+; became industry standard

SaaS Launched — Pre-Revenue Optimise — Working but needs refinement

7.8

Stripe: Transparent, flat-rate pricing at 2.9% + 30c (2011)

Instead of complex tiered pricing with interchange-plus rates, Stripe offered simple flat-rate pricing. This was slightly more expensive for high-volume merchants but radically simpler. No contracts, no negotiation, no hidden …

Positive outcome Millions of businesses onboarded; simple pricing became industry …

SaaS Launched — Pre-Revenue Optimise — Working but needs refinement

7.8

Spotify: Launch freemium model with ad-supported free tier (2008)

Spotify launched with a free ad-supported tier alongside premium subscriptions. Labels were hostile — they feared free access would cannibalise sales. The bet was that free users would convert to …

Positive outcome 615M users; 36% free-to-paid conversion

SaaS Launched — Pre-Revenue Optimise — Working but needs refinement

6.6

Canva: Freemium design tool targeting non-designers (2013)

Canva launched a drag-and-drop design tool aimed at people who couldn't use Photoshop or Illustrator. The free tier was generous — thousands of templates and basic features. The bet was …

Positive outcome 170M+ MAU; $2.3B ARR; valued at $26B

SaaS Launched — Pre-Revenue Optimise — Working but needs refinement

7.3

As founders contribute their monetisation decisions, you'll see what people at your exact stage are doing too.