Don't be torn. You never would have had me even try your service if you asked for a credit card. I suspect its the same for most people.

Getting a credit card later is proof that you have made an invaluable tool that people just didn't forget to cancel, and should make it easier for you to adjust your service until you hit the sweetspot and become a must have.

I understand what you're saying, but I think most people feel (correctly) like companies who ask for the credit card info up-front are banking on people just being too lazy or forgetful to cancel. While that might result in some decent short-term cashflow, we don't feel that it's a smart move long-term, as that's not really the kind of relationship we want to have with our customers.

One reason I think it should be required is to do vetting up front. That is, say you are offering something ISP/colo-like through your SaaS, something along the lines of a web proxy service. Not good to have people on free trials doing illegal things and having no way to identify them.

I understand credit cards are not great vetting but it's better than nothing in these situations. I wish there were a way around this (which is mostly why I'm posting this comment, perhaps someone can relieve me of any ignorance).

"Fax me a copy of your license" is out of the question ... the only thing I've come up with is to have a pretty crippled free demo that at least gets you a chance to see half of it in action.

There is a large company I used to work for that we all use everyday and most of their services are free, but before I left they were discussing using credit cards as a means to defend against abuse in a free service. (The specific service being discussed hasn't been released yet) While it would cut back greatly on abuse, it'd probably significantly reduce adoption. I was always against the move... but in the start up I'm working on now, I feel it'd be more convenient for both sides to just take care of the credit card stuff up front. The big difference, to me at least, is that what I'm working on is a paid service.

The motivation behind requiring a credit card for free trials is that many people forget, or can't be bothered, to cancel before they start getting charged.

I personally hate being asked for a credit card for a trial because I know the company is hoping that I won't cancel in time and that they get to charge me. If your product is good, I'll be on board. If it isn't, I don't want to go through administrative hassle (especially since many sites make it difficult to cancel - sometimes even requiring phone calls).

Why feel anything? Test both approaches and see which converts better.

Let the data determine the best course of action.