Ask HN: Should a software free trial be behind an email sign-up wall?

Hey, I'm looking for people who have provided a free trial of digital download software before. Did you put your free trial download behind an email sign-up wall?

I currently have an application I'm working on that requires people to provide their email address into a form before they're allowed to download the free trial software.

I do this because it allows me to directly reach out to users, provide them with on-boarding emails/updates, and build a mailing list of people interested in keystroke automation (my domain of software).

However, I recently posted my software to Reddit and it got a very angry response from prospective users who didn't want to enter their email addresses. They said it put up a barrier and turned them away from downloading.

So in your experience, is the added barrier to entry of an email signup worth it, given the richness of interaction you can have with customers over email? Real world experience and examples would be excellent (if you have them).

Let me know your thoughts, experience and wisdom!

Cheers, Robin

The people who won’t put in an email address probably wouldn’t pay. It is a barrier, but it’s pretty low, and you’re better off spending time making the site more convincing the product is awesome than playing with collecting emails or not. Most times I’ve seen experiments run on this, more often on create an account, you increase the install rate and decrease conversion proportionally. So it’s a question of whether a bunch more nonpaying users provides value to you or not. Though every product is different so ymmv.

It's a good way to get a collection of throwaway email addresses

Let's break down your reasons one by one.

* it allows me to directly reach out to users

What if I don't want to be contacted? You can add a "news" category to your website (or a subtle "what's new" link in your app's GUI) for people who do want news.

* provide them with on-boarding emails/updates

What if I don't want that, again? If I need help on-boarding I'll read the documentation or email you myself.

* build a mailing list of people interested in keystroke automation

How does that benefit me, as a user?

Bottom line is, you should be converting people by producing great software, not filling up their mailbox with crap. If your software doesn't convert, then email spam won't either.

Also, your current download form includes a "I am happy to be contacted by email" checkbox. If you're happy with people to opt-out, why are you asking for their email at all?

Finally you are using a third-party provider for emails and I'm not really comfortable with that and I do not agree to their privacy policy (I hate emails full of nasty stalking links and 1x1 pixels), so even if I wanted to receive news about your software, this would put me off.

From my experience, Reddit is not a good platform to promote stuff if it is not entirely free (requiring email address input doesn't cut it either).

As u/idunno246 said, the people who won’t put in an email address probably wouldn’t pay either.

I would advise making another webpage without email opt-in for Reddit, and use the one with email opt-in form as default.