[DoreenMichele]

I've seen a number of pieces that talk about getting rid of bad users by getting rid of the freemium model. I've done some looking around and the search phrase "freemium bad idea" seems like it comes up with some hits for the topic.

People who want it for free are often unreasonably demanding, feel entitled, need a lot of hand holding and education about how to use the product, what it's really for, etc. People willing and able to pay are much more likely to have their act together, have reasonable expectations, etc.

I have mixed feelings about it because of the social implications of excluding those who most need access to something for free, but you should at least be aware that users who want it for free are more likely than other users to be people with personal problems and poor boundaries who can be a pain to deal with. If you want to give it away for free -- at least some of the time -- you need to be aware that setting boundaries other than price will be a necessary part of protecting your time and sanity.

All businesses do some things for free. For example, Walmart does not charge you to use their bathroom.

But that doesn't mean all cases of giving it away for free are equally good business ideas. Sometimes they are extremely bad ideas and understanding what you should be willing to do for free and when, where, how and why is probably a very understudied and critical detail of how to create a viable business.

[tubularhells]

I'd say if you go freemium, do not provide support. Have an email address there with autoreply set up that says 'your account is free and as such, we cannot promise an answer'. Then have a dedicated zendesk integration for the actual paying customers. No problem giving basic service away for free, just make sure you don't spend time on people who leech.