I don't think that question can be considered outside of a specific product. Freemium makes sense in professional apps. As it promotes lock in right from the start. As an example consider 3d art apps. Maya and Houdini have freemium versions where the free version might as well have no limits for the beginner. So when you are starting out you learn the houdini work flow and way of thinking about things and there is a bit of lock in. Modo, silo both do 30 day trials that isn't enough time for me to learn how their software works let alone learn how to model, so they must be hoping for converts not new customers.