Is Freemium dying, or are free trials just easier to optimize?

We’ve been debating between offering a 14 day free trial or a permanently free tier restricted features. Freemium seems great for virality, but managing storage and server costs for inactive free users gets expensive fast. On the flip side, time-boxed trials create urgency but turn away casual explorers.

For early-stage SaaS, which model helped you convert high-intent users faster without burning resources?