Best way to limit a trial version?

Question

I'm building a shareware software that allows users to import various types of files (XML, CSV, etc.) into a database. I'd like to provide a trial version, but limit it in some way to prevent users that really need it, from not having to buy it ever.

I considered time based limit, but it seems that there are so many ways to work around that, especially today with virtual machines and stuff.

So, I'm thinking to limit the functionality, but I don't want this trial version to become crippleware.

Have you ever bought some shareware software? What was limitation of its trial version?

edit: Also, how do you feel about nag-screens as a user?

Answer 1

• Limited number of uses
• Ads
• Splash screens that make you wait X seconds before it goes away
• Not all functionality is available
• Demo limited to a single database

Answer 2

You could limit the size of the import file supported. Or the number of uses. Or if insertion speed is a critical factor you could start out at full speed and then after 30 days add some delay (but be sure to tell your users this is intentional).

BTW, one of the worst schemes was in the Ingres database for Sun workstations 20-odd years ago. If you entered the wrong license key, Ingres silently enabled a dozen serious query processing errors. After playing with it for an afternoon, I told the salesman that his product was ridiculously buggy and that we'd be going with a competitor. He quickly told me what the issue was, but by then the sale was all but lost.

Answer 3

I would definitely go with a time-based limit. As you mentioned, this usually is fairly easy to circumvent, but I promise you that if your software has a large enough user-base, cracks will be around in no time anyway. Thus there IMHO is no point in making it hard/impossible to pass by your software's time limit.

Any other limitations (such as annoying pop-ups or limited functionality) would definitely be a show-stopper for me. If I cannot evaluate the software properly, it has to be very good to make me consider buying it.

Answer 4

Look at this blog post, it's a survey made by Andy Brice on small software vendors. Here you can find the trial types and its % of use.

http://successfulsoftware.net/2009/04/23/the-truth-about-conversion-ratios-for-software/

I recommend you the Business Of Software Forum:

http://discuss.joelonsoftware.com/default.asp?biz

Regular posters there seem to agree that you don't have to think too much about piracy. People who won't buy won't buy anyway and complicated copy protection schemes run the risk of bothering the honest customers.

This is an excellent post by Patrick McKenzie about this issue:

http://www.kalzumeus.com/2006/09/05/everything-you-need-to-know-about-registration-systems/

Answer 5

You can limit the number of times the users can use the functionality within a given time period; say they can use it 8 times in a month, before it throws up a "nag screen" when they use it. And if they need to use it more than, say, 20 times in a month, insist that they buy the software. If you do this, you may want to provide a certain number of keys for charitable purposes or educational purposes as well; it helps users to buy the software when they know that there are some charitable purposes their money is going to pay for.

Answer 6

It is common for software during the trial period to lack (or limit) some significant feature, such as printing or saving. I've tried (and bought) a panorama assembly tool that put a large watermark across the finished image. It allowed the quality of the tool to be evaluated, but put a real limit on further use of the images created during the evaluation period.

I've shipped a trial version of a commercial product that allowed all features to be used with limits generous enough to run through all of the tutorials in the user manual, but did not permit saving your work. We know that many users were able to quickly determine whether the tool would work for them by constructing tests with their own data, and it generated more than enough sales to justify the added development work to create the demo version.

The trick in your case will be to find a way to limit the functionality without eliminating the key utility of a trial period: actually trying out the software.

Perhaps limiting the number of records that can be converted in one run would do the trick?

Answer 7

No, I have never bought limited trial versions. However, I have donated to a couple of open source projects. If this were a software for people, instead of companies I would recommend a donation system.

This software sounds like a work-related app, so:

• constant reminder, like Foxit
• just 2 file formats
• app married to a single database

Answer 8

I've purchased plenty of shareware but always tend to be annoyed when it disables certain features. I prefer to check all features before I make a purchase. I do like the limitations that Altova add to their software. You always need a registration key to use their software and to get one, you have to provide your email address to which they will send you your temporary key. You can then use their software for up to a month and then you'll need a new key. Some people will just continue to request a new temporary license but most users will sooner or later purchase a permanent key. The Altova software does make a "call home" to validate the key it uses. It does this to restrict the number of users that can use the software. I can install their product on as many computers as I like, but at any moment, I can only use it on a single computer. If I try to use the software on two or more systems at the same time, the software will discover this multiple usage and thus block my access to the application.

Still, I do know that many people are willing to pay for your software if it's good enough. Especially if you can provide some additional services next to the software itself. (E.g. regular updates or subscriptions to additional data feeds.)

Answer 9

Limit to number of uses is the fairest way.

As for stopping circumvention... Anyone who wants to crack your software will, and most people are too lazy to circumvent anything but the most trivial usage.

I'd argue that you want to get those people who regularly use your software to happily pay for it. They're most likely to happily pay for it if they've used it a non-trivial number of times.

b.t.w. Beyond compare has a system where you can use the software for 30 non-consecutive days. i.e. If you use it one day, and then use it 2 weeks later, then this will only count as two days. I've never been so happy to pay for software than when I paid for Beyond Compare.

Answer 10

Please do not fall into the trap of limiting anything about the trial version other than time or number of uses. Reducing functionality and/or having annoying popups saying "This is a Pro feature" will simply alienate your users. Besides, the trial period is a chance for you to impress potential buyers, so you should showcase all of the features rather than hide them.

Answer 11

Closing the gap was a very enlightening read when Eric first posted it, I believe it is equally relevant today.

Answer 12

Since this is a software to import data in a database, you could also add rows to the database indicating that the importation was made with a shareware version.

Just annoying enough (rows are still deletable), but you get most of the functionnalities.

Answer 13

This is a marketing decision and the answer to any marketing decision is always "it depends...". For example it doesn't make much sense (commercially) to have a 30 day time limit on software that most users will probably only use once (e.g. harddisk recovery).

There are some issues association with time-limited trials:

• A user might use it once and then not get chance to complete the trial before the 30 days is up.
• Time limitations are easy to work around, e.g. using VMs, registry hacks, additionalmachines or resetting the system clock.
• Longer sales cycle - most customers will only buy on day 31.

Some of these are avoided if you go for a limited number of uses.

The main issue with feature limited trials is that the customer might not feel they can fully evaluate the system. But this isn't too much of a problem if you have a good money-back guarantee (and you should).

As a vendor I prefer feature limited trials in most cases. You can be quite creative in how you cripple the trial (watermarking, limited number of records input or output etc).

Answer 14

I just wanted to add that this is a strangely biased group. As programmers we want to be able to see all of the features, and play with them, etc. We get annoyed by certain limitations, and ads, etc.

However, normal people seem to react to these things differently. I'm just saying that we aren't really the target market here, probably.

ALSO, we should note that most people aren't nearly as good as we are at circumventing these things, so as has been mentioned, something pretty dumb is probably ok...

We have one product with a free - limited version, and a pro version, and another product with a 2 week free trial. Actually the free version also had a 2 week free trial of the pro, so it was sort of both...

All in all, I think it depends on the product and the people using it...

Answer 15

Many people will only need this tool once in a lifetime for an import of some data.

So you will definitely have to go to a limited version instead of a time version.