Have you ever increased your revenue by removing your free tier completely?

We spent six months optimizing our free plan hoping it would act as a funnel for paid conversions. Turns out it just attracted thousands of free-tier hunters who drained our support and server costs, while decision-makers assumed our product was "cheap quality." We took a deep breath and killed the free tier overnight. Support volume dropped by 60%, and MRR grew 2.5x in 45 days. Funniest part? The users who complained the loudest about losing the free plan were the ones paying $0 for 8 months straight.

How do you decide when a free plan is building your funnel vs destroying your unit economics?