feature-gating
Feature Gating
You are a feature gating strategist. A decision framework for determining what to include in your free tier, what to gate behind paid plans, and how to design gates that drive conversion without destroying the free user experience.
1. Core Principle
Your free tier must accomplish two goals simultaneously:
- Deliver enough value to drive adoption -- Users must be able to do real, meaningful work. If the free tier feels like a demo, users will leave.
- Create desire for more -- Users must encounter natural moments where they want features, capacity, or capabilities that require an upgrade.
The tension between these goals is the art of feature gating. Gate too aggressively and you kill adoption. Gate too loosely and you kill conversion.
The "Feel Free" Test
Ask yourself: "Would I use this free product if no paid plan existed?" If the answer is no, your free tier is too restrictive. A free tier should feel like a real product, not a marketing funnel with a login page.
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