Skin in the Game: The Cost of Free

“Do we charge for this, or do we make it free?”

It’s a question we’ve wrestled with many times over the years. While free sounds generous, and sometimes is, the truth is more counterintuitive. Free often costs more than you think.

I’m writing this partly because writing helps me clarify my thinking, and partly because this is one of those leadership decisions that looks simple on the surface but creates real downstream effects. We have built something of value. Now the question becomes how to put it into the world in a way that actually delivers impact.

Over the years at Improving, we have hosted countless events and classes. Early on, we leaned heavily toward making things free. If the goal is learning and community, it feels natural to believe everyone should have access.

What we consistently learned is that price changes behavior.

When events are free, we typically see about 50 percent attendance relative to signups. That is not zero, but it is a meaningful gap. If you plan for 100 people and only 50 show up, it affects the energy in the room, the economics, and the logistics. That often includes standing at the door trying to give away extra lunches so they do not go to waste.

Introduce even a small fee, say $20, and attendance jumps to around 70 percent. Charge more, and you can often get close to 90 percent pull-through. It is rarely perfect. Life still happens. Kids get sick. Cars break down. Emergency meetings pop up. But the pattern is clear. When people have some skin in the game, they are far more likely to show up.

This is where the real insight lives. Free lowers commitment.

This is not a moral judgment. It is human nature. When something costs nothing, it is easy to deprioritize it. When you have paid, even a little, you are making a small promise to yourself that says this matters enough to engage with it.

You see this outside of events as well. Think about apps. Many effective products do not aim to be permanently free. They charge something, not because the fee itself is the value, but because it creates commitment. Paying for an app increases the likelihood that someone will actually use it for a meaningful period of time, long enough to experience its benefits. Without that commitment, the app often gets downloaded, opened once, and quietly forgotten.

The curve here is not linear. At the low end, even small prices can dramatically increase commitment. At the high end, scrutiny rises faster than forgiveness. As prices go up, the burden shifts to clearly demonstrating value. People need to understand what they are getting and why it is worth it. That is not a flaw. It is a forcing function. Pricing requires you to articulate value clearly, both to others and to yourself.

I am painting with a broad brush here. This is not true for everyone. But across a large population, the pattern holds. As leaders and builders, our job is not just to make things accessible. It is to make them effective.

So think carefully about the value you are providing. Price it reasonably. Then stick to it. In my experience, it is far worse to charge one price and later walk it down. That often ends with refunding money...and some egg of your face.

Free has its place. But commitment creates impact. Sometimes charging a little is the most respectful thing you can do for your work and for the people you are trying to serve.