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Navigating complex, ever-changing privacy laws is no small feat—but Ketch rose to the challenge, launching a free tier that empowers new users to collect valid consent in under five minutes.
Ketch needed to turn more visitors into active users—fast. With Candu, they launched a no-code freemium flow that boosted activation by 50% in just weeks.
At a glance
1. Why Ketch Went Free
“It’s a big decision to onboard a new software vendor, so we want customers to experience value as soon as possible.”” — Elena Mukomelova, Product Design, Ketch
Ketch had long offered enterprise‑grade privacy tooling, but small teams need a simpler approach to help with basic compliance tasks. A freemium tier would let founders install one tag, collect user consent data, and upgrade to apaid plan as their business—and compliance responsibilities—grew.
What had to be true:
- Setup had to fit one person’s lunch break.
- Onboarding couldn’t drain engineering sprints.
- Free users needed a clear path to paid features, like integrating consent signals with business systems and apps.
2. Building Self-Serve—No Engineers Required
The Ketch PLG squad chose Candu so Product & Marketing could own the experience end‑to‑end:
Drag‑and‑drop editor
PMs update copy, videos, or CTAs in minutes
Audience segments
Different hero banner for each part of the user journey, breaking out key milestones like “tag not installed” vs. “tag live”.
“Our engineers are happy because they can focus on other tasks. We don’t have to wait two-week sprints to tweak copy; now we can fix it very fast.” — Elena
3. Where the Free Plan Fits in the Journey
“We don’t push small sites to upgrade on day one. They succeed first—then scale with us.” — Elena
Ketch mapped every touchpoint from first visit to enterprise rollout, then offered Ketch Free exactly where prospects feel the most friction:
Free users hit an instant “aha!”—valid consent in minutes—then keep unlocking deeper features (tracker control, data mapping) exactly when the pain appears, not before. That time‑released value props up retention *and* makes the paid upgrade feel inevitable rather than forced.
4. UX Design: From Sign-Up to ‘Aha!
1. Preview the value before you sign up
Ketch leans into social proof by sharing live customer logos, including Time, Forbes, and SeatGeek, to remove friction and answer the unspoken question: “I’m interested, but who else uses Ketch?”
2. Copy a single Smart Tag to go live
The onboarding home page opens on Step 1: a one-line JavaScript snippet plus a 37-second video showing exactly where to paste it. An alert reminds users that the banner will appear instantly once the tag is published—setting clear expectations while creating a mini “aha!” moment.
3. Theme and localize the banner in minutes
Expanding the first accordion inside What’s Next reveals a four-point checklist and quick videos on everything from adjusting formats to orchestrating data integrations. Smart defaults enable most users to hit “Save” without touching code, while power users can dive into over 400 configuration options when they’re ready.
4. Keep leveling up with in-app education
Below the task list, a “Beyond the Basics” rail loads blog posts on strategy, cookieless futures, and data mapping—turning the app into an always-on learning hub and seeding upgrade conversations long before sales gets involved.
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5. Results & Key Metrics
Signup → Live ratio climbed from 40 % to 67 % over eight months (+50 % relative lift).
Because Candu’s checklists handle common “how do I…?” tasks, support volume stays around one ticket for every five live customers — exceptionally low for a compliance-heavy SaaS product.
“We turned all those little CX questions into short videos and links, and we reduced the number of tickets right away.” - Elena
🚀 Try It Yourself
Want to launch onboarding without bugging engineering?
→ Start a free trial with Candu
6. Takeaways: Should You Go Freemium?
- Lead with the upgrade path — show free users what unlocks next.
- Own your UX loop — no‑code lets PM and designers iterate as fast as privacy laws change.
- Track one North‑Star activation — for Ketch it’s Smart Tag installed.
7. What’s Next
The PLG squad is eyeing a routing quiz that pre‑configures smart defaults based on company size and vertical — shrinking time‑to‑value even further.
“Good things need time, but users shouldn’t wait. While the ‘cake’ bakes, Candu shows them the frosting.” — Elena
Grab the Ketch inspired implementation page template and ship your own freemium flow today.
About Ketch
Ketch is redefining responsible data use for the AI era. The Ketch Data Permissioning Platform helps businesses collect, control, and orchestrate user consent across every device, browser, and system. From cookie banners to granular data mapping, Ketch ensures compliance with GDPR, CCPA and emerging state laws—so companies can ensure compliance doesn’t block growth.
About Candu
Candu is the no-code product-experience builder that lets product, design and growth teams create onboarding flows, feature launches and in-app help—without writing code. Drag, drop, segment and publish in minutes, then iterate as fast as your users do.
