[dmix]

I also tried every sort of SaaS signup process (CC-first, every type of free-trial, etc) with my app (https://carelogger.com).

I actually agree CC upfront is better overall than not. Depending on the audience of course (some business users don't have access to CC's without approval from finance dept).

That being said. I found a higher conversion rate via what I call "resource-based" trials. One's not based on time ('14-days') but resources/services your app provides.

For example, in our app users can create 10 free entries with no time restriction. This sounds like a good deal to the user. But what makes it effective is the type of user who ends up paying for our app, was always creating 10 entries the first day already. So it was essentially getting them to commit and signup for free, then give us their CC the same day.

I've been meaning to blog about this for about 2 years now :P

[DenisM]

I think it's called "freemium"?

[dmix]

Freemium = offering a free service (sometimes with ads) with premium upgrade options.

That's different from a "free trial", because there really is no way to use our app for free on an ongoing-basis without paying for it.

[sutterbomb]

Your explanation made it sound like freemium because many freemium apps use that kind of resource-limited trials - e.g. 3 seats are free, but you pay for more seats. Your "10 free entries" sounded like the same model, but a quick look at your product shows there is no ongoing value to 10 free entries.

[derefr]

Another way to think of this is that you're creating a time-based trial, but on a "clock" that only ticks down while the user is getting value from the product.

(Not logged in ⇒ trial never expires) = no surprised and pissed-off users.