Skene
PLG term

Free trial vs freemium

Two common PLG entry models: time-limited free trials and always-free freemium tiers, each with different tradeoffs.

Pricing
About this term

This page is part of the Skene PLG glossary. Use it as a reference when writing specs, dashboards, or playbooks that rely on this concept.

Canonical glossary index: /resources/glossary

Definition

Free trials give users full or nearly full access to the product for a limited time window before requiring payment.

Freemium models provide an always-free tier with constraints such as limited seats, features, or usage.

Tradeoffs between free trial and freemium

Free trials concentrate evaluation into a shorter time period and can create clearer upgrade moments, but they require users to move fast.

Freemium models can drive wider top-of-funnel adoption and long-tail usage, but they require careful limits so that value is real while still leaving room for paid expansion.

How Skene fits into free trial and freemium decisions

Skene can help you see how activation, time-to-value, and feature adoption differ between free and paid cohorts.

Those insights make it easier to decide where to put limits, which milestones to gate, and when to prompt upgrades.