Freemium products with a big free tier
Get Testimonials From Free Plan Users
Most of the people who use a freemium product never pay, and many of them love it anyway. Their words can help, as long as you ask the ones who actually get work done on the free tier and never dress their quote up as a paying customer. Tick through the checklist below before you send a single request.
- Spot free users with a real result to describe
- Ask about the job, not about upgrading
- Label the quote so readers know it came from the free tier
The problem, solved
Free users have opinions too, here is how to use them
The free tier is often where a freemium product is loved most loudly. The trouble is asking the right ones and showing their words fairly.
Situation 1 of 5
Thousands of free accounts, most of them idle
A blast to every free signup reaches people who opened the product once. Their replies are thin, and the active fans get lost in the noise.
How StoryProof solves it
Add only the free users who meet your activity bar as contacts, then group them in a smart list so each request goes to people who have done something worth describing.
Situation 2 of 5
Our request reads like an upgrade pitch
Free users have learned that any email from you might be selling the paid plan. A request that mentions plans gets ignored or resented.
How StoryProof solves it
The request carries one collection link and nothing else to click, so the email can be about their work and leave plans out completely.
Situation 3 of 5
Mixing free and paid quotes feels misleading
A quote from someone who never paid, placed beside your paid plans, quietly suggests that a customer paid for what they praise.
How StoryProof solves it
Tag each testimonial with the tier the person was on, then choose which tagged quotes appear in each widget, so free tier praise lands on the signup page, not next to plan prices.
Situation 4 of 5
Some free users praise features they lack
A free user may describe the product they imagine, including paid features they have never touched, which makes the quote inaccurate.
How StoryProof solves it
Nothing submitted goes public until you approve it, so you can read each answer against what the free tier really includes before it is shown.
Situation 5 of 5
Free users rarely answer the first email
They have no account manager and no contract with you, so a single request is easy to forget.
How StoryProof solves it
From Pro, the follow up automation sends two reminders on a fixed schedule and stops once the person has left a testimonial.
Checklist
Is this free user ready to ask?
Work through it with your product data open. A free user who passes the first group has a story; the other two groups keep the request and the quote honest.
Ticks stay in your browser. Nothing is stored or sent.
Prompts
Questions that suit someone who never paid
Ask about the work the free tier helped them finish. Avoid anything that makes them justify not upgrading.
For a regular free user
- What do you use it for most weeks?
- What did you do before you found it?
- What would you tell a friend who has the same job to do?
Leave out
- Why have you not upgraded yet?
- Would you pay for this?
For a free user who shares or invites others
- Who did you share it with, and why them?
- What made it worth recommending without paying for it?
Leave out
- Rate our paid features
In StoryProof
Run a free tier request in StoryProof
- 1
Add the engaged free users as contacts
Import only the accounts that pass the checklist, and keep them in a smart list of their own so they are not mixed with paying customers.
- 2
Send a request about the job, not the plan
Email the link from a named person. They can answer in writing, with an audio note or on video, in the browser.
- 3
Let reminders do the chasing
From Pro, turn on the follow up automation so non replies get two polite nudges and no more.
- 4
Check, tag and approve
Read each answer against what the free tier includes, add a tier tag, then approve the ones that describe the product accurately.
- 5
Place free tier quotes where free users decide
Choose the tier tagged testimonials for the widget on your signup page or free plan page.
What happens next: Every quarter, look at which free users answered. If the people who reply are mostly the ones who later upgraded, move them to your paying customer requests instead.
Before you start
What to watch with free tier praise
StoryProof does not read your product data
Choosing which free users are active happens in your own analytics. StoryProof only receives the contacts you add.
A free quote is weak proof of value for money
Someone who never paid cannot say the price was worth it. Keep their words for ease of use and getting started.
Tier labels are yours to keep accurate
If a free user upgrades later, the tag you gave their testimonial does not change on its own. Update how you attribute it by hand where you show it.
Some free users want nothing to do with you
A free tier often holds people who chose it to avoid contact. One request and its reminders are enough; take silence as a no.
FAQ
Questions people ask
Short answers to what usually comes up next.
Is a testimonial from a free user honest to publish?
Yes, if it describes what they really used and you do not suggest they are a paying customer. Saying they use the free plan, or placing the quote where free signups happen, keeps it fair.
Should I offer free users a discount for a testimonial?
An offer tied to the testimonial changes why they wrote it and may need disclosing. If you want to thank people, do it for everyone who answers, whatever they said.
Where do free tier quotes work best?
On the signup page, in onboarding emails and on a page about your free plan. For broader placement advice see our guide to where testimonials go on a website.
Do free users answer more or less often than paying ones?
It varies by product and we have no figure to give. Track your own reply share for each list and compare after a few batches.
Still have a question? Ask the StoryProof team or book a demo.
Hear from the people who use your free plan
Add your most active free users, send one honest request, and tag every answer by tier.
Last updated 2026-11-11.