PLG
PLG (Product-Led Growth) is a business model centered on making the product itself the main driver of acquiring, converting, and retaining customers.
How it works
Under this model, companies prioritize delivering an excellent user experience and typically offer free trials or freemium versions, letting users decide whether to pay by experiencing the product's value firsthand. It reduces reliance on traditional sales and marketing, driving growth through word of mouth and organic in-product sharing—an approach especially popular in the SaaS and software industries.
Examples
- 1.A design app offers a fully featured free version; once users are happy with it, they upgrade to a paid subscription to unlock premium templates or collaboration features.
- 2.A project management tool lets small teams use basic features for free; as the team grows and needs more advanced permissions and integrations, it naturally converts into an enterprise customer.
- 3.An AI writing assistant lets users generate a limited amount of content for free; once users rely on it to boost their productivity, they purchase a membership for unlimited use and better models.