Freemium
A business model offering basic features for free while charging for premium features.
Also known as: Freemium model, Free-to-paid, Freemium pricing
Category: Concepts
Tags: businesses, pricing, strategies, growth, products
Explanation
Freemium combines 'free' and 'premium'—give away a useful product for free, then charge for enhanced features, capacity, or functionality. The model works when: the free tier provides genuine value (not crippled), the upgrade path is natural (users hit limits organically), marginal cost of free users is low, and some percentage converts to paid. Examples include Spotify (free with ads, paid for premium), Dropbox (free storage limit, paid for more), and many SaaS tools. For creators, freemium might mean free articles with paid deep-dives, free basic courses with paid advanced ones, or free tools with paid premium features. The key challenge is balancing free value against conversion incentives.
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