[jonathanjaeger]

"We don’t need the pro features. We simply appreciate the safety and want to support the product."

This sentiment is great for businesses but often doesn't translate well to consumer apps. However, some companies are great at having consumers pay because they love a product. Evernote CEO Phil Libin said how they want to make the free option almost all-encompassing with a small percentage upgrading to premium because they love the product so much. If a product can get to that point with their users, then that's the holy grail in my opinion (rather than feeling like you have to coerce or "force" your users to pay for something by trickery, manipulation, or harsh constraints).

[soneca]

I like to think of the freemium model as two different products. The first one, free, must be enough to attend the user's needs. And, without forcing anything, you use the free environment to showcase your second product, which is the paid one, that have different features (not just better ones).

When you frame like this you have both happy paid and happy free users. I imagine it like doing tourism on a city. You may just walk, doing your own sightseeing, with the free city's touristic brochure in your hands. Or you can look for a paid, professional, touristic sightseeing bus. Tourists don't see it as coercive, or even upselling. They are two different products that you choose between.

[jonathanjaeger]

Yes I agree with all your points. But features aside, sometimes I think it's great if not only do you give extra utility with your premium features but users like to pay because they want to support you.