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Freemium Is a Money Burning Business Model, Cheapium Is Better
- api 11y agoA major reason for freemium vs. cheapium is to minimize friction. Freemium signups can be achieved in a few clicks. But if you charge anything, now the user has to pull out a credit card, enter digits, etc. That additional investment of time might mean the difference between someone trying something and not trying something. Established brands like Apple can afford to charge for everything and not play this game because they are already known. But if you are a scrappy little startup, your biggest problem is often getting anyone to try your product at all. Your product might be great, but if nobody tries it nobody will ever know. Freemium is a strategy for achieving that at some cost further down the line in the form of overhead and possibly reduced perception of "high-end quality," etc.