Show HN: Typeform was too expensive so I built my own forms

The reason Typeform free tier limits are so strict is likely because they have run the numbers based on real usage data. I am sure those limits are designed to capture just enough free users who are likely to convert, while minimizing the risk of churn. It is tricky.

From my own experience, about two years ago we built an AI form builder tech demo on top of our platform. We open-sourced it (https://github.com/chatbotkit/example-nextjs-ai-forms) to see if there was community interest. Not much. Since it wasn't our core product, we pivoted and turned it into a low-cost Typeform alternative with unlimited forms - formshare.ai was born. And while we have seen some modest commercial success, I wouldn't claim it's anywhere near Typeform's scale.

The takeaway here is that for this project, even though it wasn't our primary focus, leading with open source and undercutting on price didn't prove to be an effective strategy. If anything, charging too little initially will only devalue the product and attract the wrong kind of users - the ones less likely to convert or stick around for the long term.

The other reason for free limits is limiting abuse/weirdness from malicious users.

Or even more important: pathological users.

Actually malicious users are rare. Pathological users have a bias to be the _most_ demanding users when actually paying _the least_ (or nothing). It's a drain on every step in the support funnel. But what drives the business are users that both have a large scale of use and still have growth potential.

the worst tend to be just above the free tier, on the lowest paid plan available. Raising the minimum is an effective way to reduce this pain.