Does offering a permanent free tier actually ruin your paid conversion rates?

I assumed a generous freemium plan was the ultimate growth engine for organic user acquisition. But after months of high user signups with virtually flat revenue, switching to a strict 14 day free trial completely transformed our numbers.

The freemium tier was giving away just enough value that users never felt the urgency to upgrade, effectively turning our SaaS into a free utility.

For SaaS founders: did implementing a free tier build a loyal pipeline for you, or did it just bleed server costs without driving conversions?