Freemium 18#
The basic version of an offering is given away for free in the hope of eventually persuading the customers to pay for the premium version. The free offering is able to attract the highest volume of customers possible for the company. The generally smaller volume of paying ‘premium customers’ generate the revenue, which also cross-finances the free offering.
Examples: Iconic Cases
How they do it: Hotmails basic inbox and email service was offered to customers for free. However, the inboxes came with limited storage for messages. Users could upgrade their storage by paying a monthly or annual fee.
Learn more about Hotmail →
How they do it: A lot of apps in the Apple AppStore are accessible for free but then only allow using limited features or a trial period for the full version. To have access to the full version permamently, the user has to purchase a premium version.
Learn more about Apple iPhone/AppStore →
How they do it: After being acquired by LinkedIn in 2012, Slideshare transit ioned from a Freemium to a Free model. In the Freemium model, advertisements were shown, with the option of users to subscribe to different tiers of PRO accounts for a monthly fee of $19 or $49.
Learn more about SlideShare →
How they do it: Regular use of the LinkedIn platform is free and users can use the majority of the functions. However, LinkedIn offers various premium subscriptions allowing users to unlock even more functions or more intense use (e.g. unlimited profile searches).
Learn more about LinkedIn →
How they do it: Much of Skype’s service is free. Skype-to-Skype calls to other users are free of charge, while calls to landline telephones and mobile phones (over traditional telephone networks) are charged via a debit-based user account system called Skype Credit.
Learn more about Skype →
Below, the top industries for the pattern "Freemium" are displayed, in order to get insights into how this pattern is applied across different industries. We've collected data from 5 firms using this pattern.
Top Industries
17% of firms using pattern
14% of firms using pattern
12% of firms using pattern
All Industries
Below, the pattern "Freemium" is analyzed based on co-occurrence, in order to get insights into how this business model pattern is applied in combination with other patterns within the firms we studied.
Top Co-Occurrences
7 pattern co-occurrences
5 pattern co-occurrences
5 pattern co-occurrences