Three scripts. That's the line we drew.

The first month taught us what free actually means

When we launched Promptr, we did what most app makers do. We made the free tier generous. Unlimited scripts, unlimited imports, everything except recording and the paid features. The thinking was simple: let people fall in love with the tool, and they'll upgrade.

What actually happened was different. People uploaded scripts, fiddled with Smart Scroll and Timed Scroll for a few minutes, and vanished. Some of them never came back. Others came back once, tried to film something, hit the recording paywall, and left for good. The free tier wasn't a ramp into the app. It was a dead end.

We started reading the churn emails. Creators weren't complaining about features they couldn't access. They were saying the free version felt infinite and pointless. No finish line. No reason to commit. One user put it this way: 'I don't know if I actually want to use this thing, so I'm just not going to bother.'

Why three felt like the right number

We looked at our analytics and asked a harder question. How many scripts does someone need to try before they know whether Promptr works for them? Not for a week. For real.

Three felt like the answer. One script to test the scroll mechanics. One to try importing a PDF or DOCX file and see how it handles formatting. One more to play with themes, adjust the text size, find the scroll speed that matches their speaking pace. By script three, a creator knows what they're actually getting from the free tier.

Three also sends a signal. It says this is a real tool, not a toy. When that upload button disappears, people don't feel like they hit a bug. They feel like they've reached the edge of something intentional. And if Promptr has worked for them across those three attempts, that's when the paid tiers start looking worthwhile.

We weren't trying to frustrate anyone. We were trying to be honest. If you're here, you're deciding whether Promptr solves your problem. Three scripts is enough time to find out.

The real test happens when you record

Here's what we noticed. Creators who tried the free tier and loved it didn't upgrade because of unlimited scripts. They upgraded because they wanted to actually film something. The moment they realised Promptr's job is to keep them on script while the camera runs, everything else became secondary.

The free teleprompter works beautifully. Smart Scroll reads your pace. Timed Scroll plays your script in sync with your recording. Both are genuinely useful for learning how Promptr feels in your hand. But neither of them records video. That's the Creator plan at £5.49 a month.

The three-script cap creates a natural decision point. You've tested the teleprompter. You know how Smart Scroll and Timed Scroll behave. Now the question isn't 'Should I bother with this app?' It's 'Do I want to film with this?' That's a question people can actually answer.

What we learned from people who left

Not everyone who hit the three-script limit upgraded. Some people did leave, and we read those cancellation notes too. Most of them said something like, 'Looks cool, but I don't think I need a teleprompter.' Fair enough. That's feedback, and it tells us something important: the free tier did its job. It showed them what Promptr is, and they decided it wasn't for them. That's not failure. That's clarity.

The people we lost weren't angry about the limit. They were grateful they didn't spend money on something they didn't need. The ones who upgraded? They came in knowing exactly what they were paying for. No surprises. No resentment.

We get messages from creators saying things like, 'I wasn't sure I'd use this enough to justify a subscription, so I tested it thoroughly on the free version. By script three, I knew I had to get Creator.' That's the point. The limit isn't punishment. It's focus.

How it shapes what we build next

The three-script decision also taught us something about our own priorities. Every feature we add gets measured against a simple question: does this help someone decide whether Promptr is for them, or does it delay that decision?

That's why we made script import as solid as it is. You can bring in TXT, PDF, RTF, DOCX files straight into the free tier. We wanted people to import the actual script they might use, not some test file. See it in the teleprompter. Feel it. Decide.

It's also why the paid features sit where they do. Recording, video exports, captions, voice scroll, brand kits. Those aren't basic features hidden behind a paywall. Those are features that matter when you've already decided you want to use this tool properly. When the three scripts have shown you that Promptr fits into your workflow, the paid tiers aren't upsells. They're expansions of something you already trust.