How do you decide what features should be free and what should be paid?
Let me start from the creator’s perspective:
I personally don’t have a product (apart from hiring people for creative work or offering personal consultations).
But as a creator, I constantly share content, insights, and information, value that helps me build trust (for free). Based on that perceived expertise, people eventually decide to work with me (a paid service).
So some things I share for free to eventually move toward a paid collaboration.
Personally, it’s sometimes hard to judge when I might be giving away too much for free.
And I assume it’s similarly tricky for builders.
You want users to try the product, but then comes the question of paid features, or a trial limited by time or usage.
How do you decide which parts of your product or service remain free, and which become paid?
When I share content publicly, I usually provide generalised advice. But when it comes to a specific case or a tailored strategy that requires a personal approach, that’s where it becomes paid.
Replies
Building for service businesses (freelancers, consultants, small shops) so we've gone back and forth on this more times than I'd like to admit.
Where we landed: free has to include whatever it takes to get someone to their first actual win with the product. Not a demo, an actual result. For us that's invoicing and proposals - fully free - because our buyers are cost-sensitive and "trust me it'll save you time" is a bad sales pitch for a $50/month tool.
Early mistake: gating features we thought were the valuable ones. Turned out we were just preventing people from seeing why those features were worth paying for.
Hey Nika！I don't have my own product either but always provide service about marketing and growth for startup company. Here is what my personal experience and hope to engage more meaning discussion with you.
From my perspective，I don’t think the real question is “How much should be free?”
I think it’s: What should be easy to understand, but hard to replicate?
I totally agree with you that the best free value builds trust.
The best paid value compounds with context, customization, speed, and accountability.
So I’m happy to share ideas for free to various startup and people but the paid layer is where people buy precision, leverage, and a shorter path to the result. @busmark_w_nika
The best way to do this is to test it. Often, when a product is being built, whether an app, SaaS, etc. it is essential to give your best input away for free. I had a startup back in 2017 that, after 2 years of development, ended up with my partner placing a paywall before access could be given. We received no signups. I resigned. Point is, when in the startup phase, it is best to give away what you have to gain traction, and focus on monetization later on.
Building something is a process, as you know, and iteration is part of it. Just as you test product features, you should test product pricing :)