The free tier is becoming an agent, not a feature

The classic free tier was a stripped-down version of the product, hoping users would feel the ceiling and upgrade. The emerging pattern is different: the free experience is an agent that completes a real task end to end, so the value is undeniable before any money changes hands.

You don't tease the product — you let it do the job once.

Signal: the strongest top-of-funnel is a completed outcome, not a capped feature set.