We’re getting traffic, but no signups — will open-sourcing with paid upgrades work?

We're seeing growing interest in our product — people visit, explore the homepage, even watch the demo. But most stop short of signing up or engaging with the core features.

We’re considering open-sourcing the core product and keeping advanced capabilities (like customization, automation, database support) as paid upgrades. The idea is to remove the “try before trust” barrier and build credibility through transparency.

We’ve seen some platforms go this route — and it seems to work. But we’re curious:

Has anyone here tried this model?

Does open-sourcing drive deeper trust and usage, or just more passive browsing?

How do you balance “giving enough” in the free tier while preserving value in the paid ones?

Are there any unexpected downsides we should watch for?

We’re not trying to monetize everyone — just want to make sure the value and motivation to upgrade are aligned.

Any lessons from others who’ve done this (or considered it) would be hugely appreciated.

Let us know if you’ve walked this path — or why you chose another.