Trial vs free with limited functionality

Posted by Morten K on Stack Overflow See other posts from Stack Overflow or by Morten K
Published on 2010-03-27T10:05:47Z Indexed on 2010/03/27 10:13 UTC
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Hi everyone,

Not a programming question as such, but a bit more business oriented question about software product development.

We have just released a small app, and is offering a free, fully functional trial which lasts for 15 days. I have the gut feeling however, that to reach any kind of penetration on the web, we'd need to offer a version which is free forever, but then has a few limitations in terms of functionality (still quite usable, but not full-throttle).

For example, the Roboform browser plugin is somewhat similar in purpose to ours. Not functionality wise, but it's basically a little util that saves time and removes some repetitive-action pain. They offer a free version with limitations and then a pro version for around 30 USD. Roboform has gotten very much attention over the years, and I can't help to think that this is because they have a product which is obviously good, but also free, thus adoption becomes much higher than if they had only offered a 15 day trial.

I am wondering if any of you have experience in a similar scenario? Or any thoughts on the two models?

Again, I know it's not directly programming related, but it's still a question I feel best answered by a community of developers.

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