We removed our tier completely and revenue actually went up.

For the year of our app we offered a free basic plan to attract as many users as possible. I expected this large group of users to eventually upgrade when they reach our usage limits.

The reality was entirely different from my expectations. Free users produced ninety percent of our support tickets. Asked for complex features they would never pay for. Meanwhile our actual paying customers got slower response times because we were busy managing the tier.

Three weeks ago we made a decision and disabled the free plan, for new signups. We replaced it with a fourteen-day trial that requires a credit card upfront. I honestly expected our daily registrations to drop to zero and our growth to stop completely.

Registrations dropped by eighty percent. Our actual paid conversions increased by forty percent in the first month. The people signing up now are buyers who test the product thoroughly instead of creating throwaway accounts.

A high volume of users means nothing if they drain your resources without paying. Have you considered removing the tier or is the free tier a core part of your growth strategy?