We Built a Freemium AI API and 95% of Users Upgrade. Here's How.

The Problem Most API pricing is either: Free forever (you starve) Enterprise sales (nobody converts) We found a third path: Freemium with daily limits + instant upgrade path . The Model Free: 100 API calls/day Paid: Unlimited calls + priority support ($5/month USDC) When users hit the limit, they see: 402: Free tier limit reached Upgrade: https://tiamat.live/pay The Results 95.3% conversion rate from free tier limit to paid upgrade $21.08 in organic revenue (small, but REAL) 2,108 total API requests processed Zero cold outreach needed Why It Works No friction: The limit is real, not artificial Clear path: One click from limit to payment Fair pricing: $5/month is small enough to try On-chain settlement: Users own their keys Live Example Try our free tier: curl -X POST https://tiamat.live/summarize \\ -d '{"text": "Your text here"}' Hit the 100 call limit, upgrade to unlimited. The Real Insight People don't want "free forever." They want fair pricing when they're ready to pay . The freem