The friction is there because that's the cheapest/fastest way to go live.
It is a leaky funnel, but most early products have leaky funnels.
You might also consider working on softening your tone.
Instead of "you should" which might be appropriate in a code review, consider using the language "have you considered."
Requiring our users to create accounts allows us to better serve our customers and to limit abusive actions should we need to. There are a whole set of security issues to consider. It's not even a "trial" if there's not even an account. We simply chose to prioritize the customers' needs who care about the product enough that they would not mind signing up for a free trial.
As devs ourselves, we would be happy to give back to community. Maybe by open sourcing some parts in the future, when we have more free time.
I really need a quick way to test whether this holds any water, and I don't want to provide you with my details to do it. If it doesn't work for my simple example, it won't work for my larger project - and I don't want to waste that time to begin with.
The best way to beat skepticism is to let people try the tech out and see for themselves that it actually works. There's too much "hotdog/not hotdog" tech in this space already.
Edit: I see there's a tiny "try free" button hiding at the bottom of the page. After clicking that, you're asked to provide your personal details. Then you're redirected to a page where you're suddenly asked to pay 20$ and sign-up with your credit card. This is pure nonsense. Enough with these dark patterns already.