Every app faces this fork. The honest answer: pure versions of both lose to a third option — but let’s take them in order.
For: Shopify rewards free plans with better search placement — free traffic. Easiest possible activation.
Against: free users cost you support and infrastructure, and they convert terribly — roughly 3% of freemium users ever pay. You accumulate an expensive audience of non-buyers.
For: filters for intent; ~8.5% of visitors start trials.
Against: at trial end the merchant must actively decide to pay, and only ~18% do. Active conversion is where trials die.
Merchants approve the subscription — including the max fee — before onboarding; the trial runs toward payment unless they cancel. In general SaaS this kills trial starts (credit-card friction). In Shopify it doesn’t: Shopify holds the card and does the billing, so approval is one routine click. You get near-opt-in entry ease with ~50% trial-to-paid conversion.
Want the free-plan placement bump without a real free plan? A “free plan” that includes usage-based charges under an authorized max is listed as free, ranks as free, and monetizes real usage. Two more opt-out patterns and the full framework: pricing & monetization best practices. Done for you: pricing & monetization optimization.
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