
Ask HN: SaaS chatbot for free vs. charging users – what should I do? - ahmedaly
Hi,
I am founder of chatbot startup - it&#x27;s fast growing, we are getting a ton of users signups, and almost 0 churn rate!<p>As a founder, I am confused between 2 roads:
a- make it fremium&#x2F;free for the sake of increasing the number of users, and then gradually increase it year by year through the next 5 yrs.<p>b- Make free very limited, and start charging users from day one, just like other chatbots.
But this means I will get a small number of users.<p>What should I do?
I am really having hard time making that decision!
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Coviam
As a business, you must invest in chatbot technology, so that you don't have
to see your customers departing to competition. Check out
[http://s.engati.com/142](http://s.engati.com/142) and see how you can have an
edge over others

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jppope
Split test it ;)

two options... split your traffic out OR create a different brand to test the
theories

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trcarney
I think it depends on what your goals for the startup are. If you want to
bootstrap it and keep the company smaller, charge. It will keep your growth
rate more manageable.

If you want to get VC money, go for the users.

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rajacombinator
Is there some benefit to keeping it free and increasing users, like a network
effect? Seems unlikely, so you should try to monetize from day 1.

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ahmedaly
Yes there is a network effect, if you mean by that, that a user would bring
more users in.... like Facebook or so.

