Free, freemium or free trial? How to pick a SaaS pricing model

"Free" on a pricing page can mean five different things. Whether you're choosing a tool or pricing your own, it helps to know exactly which model you're looking at.

The six models you'll see

Free. The whole product costs nothing. It's usually funded some other way: a company's side project, a community, or a larger paid product it supports. Great for buyers; ask how it's sustained so you know it will be around.

Freemium. A free plan that never expires, with limits (users, projects, usage or features) and paid plans that lift them. Works best when the free plan is genuinely useful and growth naturally pushes people over the limits.

Free trial. The full product, free for a fixed time, often 7 to 30 days, then you pay. Works best for products whose value shows quickly. Watch out for trials that ask for a card up front and renew automatically.

Paid. No free option, though there's often a demo or a refund window. Common for specialised or high-touch tools where every customer costs real money to serve.

Custom pricing. "Contact sales." Typical for enterprise plans with security reviews, contracts and volume discounts. Expect a conversation before a number.

Open source. The code is public and free to use, usually with a paid hosted or supported version for teams that don't want to run it themselves.

For buyers: questions to ask

• What's the real limit? Freemium limits often sit exactly where a growing team lands. Check the plan you'll need in six months, not today.
• Does the trial need a card? If so, set a reminder before it converts.
• Per seat or per usage? Per-seat pricing grows with your headcount; usage pricing grows with activity, which can spike.
• Can you export your data on the free plan? If not, leaving later gets harder.

On ZoraHunt you can filter any category by pricing model. Try free and freemium tools to see the difference.

For founders: choosing your model

There's no universally right answer, but a few rules of thumb hold up:

• If people need to use it with their team before they see the value, freemium spreads the product for you.
• If the value is obvious within a few days, a free trial converts better and costs less to support.
• If every customer needs onboarding or a contract, start paid or custom and skip the free tier until you can afford it.
• Whatever you pick, show the price. Hidden pricing makes careful buyers leave.

Pricing isn't permanent. Pick the model that fits your product today, measure it, and adjust. Many successful products have moved from trial to freemium or back again.

When you list your product on ZoraHunt, you choose the pricing model and starting price so buyers can filter for it. Submit your product for free.