Why we stopped giving a 14-day free trial without asking for a credit card.

When we launched, we thought removing friction would give us thousands of signups. We got the signups, but 90% of them were throwaway email accounts that never logged in a second time. Our server costs went up, and our inbox was flooded with spam accounts. The moment we required a card upfront, overall signups dropped by 60%, but paid conversions doubled because only serious users were entering the funnel.

​For early-stage SaaS, do you prefer high volume free signups or fewer, high-intent leads?