We removed our credit card requirement for free trials. Our conversion rate dropped to 2%.

Six months ago, our conversion rate from trial to paid was a respectable 22%. The catch? We required a credit card upfront for our 14-day trial.

We started getting feedback (mostly on Twitter and Reddit) that we were "anti-consumer" and that people hated being forced to enter card details just to test a product. So, we decided to test a frictionless trial. We removed the credit card requirement entirely.

The immediate result was a massive spike in signups. Our weekly trial volume went from about 40 people to 250 people. I thought we had finally unlocked growth.

But I just pulled our cohort data for the last 60 days, and the reality is brutal:

• Out of roughly 1,000 signups, only 20 people converted to paid. That's a 2% conversion rate.

• 80% of the users who signed up without a card never even completed the onboarding steps.

• Our support tickets from free trial users doubled, mostly asking for features we don't have or trying to use the tool for things it wasn't built for.

I realized we didn't reduce friction; we just attracted a massive wave of "tire-kickers" who treat free software like a novelty. The 22% conversion rate with a credit card meant we were getting fewer signups, but they were highly qualified buyers who were ready to commit.

Now we are faced with a dilemma: do we go back to the credit card requirement (and eat the PR backlash from the community), or do we keep the frictionless trial and accept that we now have to sort through 1,000 freeloaders to find 20 real customers?

For those who have tested both: Did you stick with the credit card requirement, or is there a middle ground (like a reverse trial) that actually works?

How do you get high-quality leads without looking like you are putting up a paywall before they even see the value?