Early B2C software launch: Giving software away for free vs free trial?

From your early startup experience, what helped your startup the most? If possible, when you started organically.

1. Did giving it away for free, help you gain lots of attention by lowering the burden of buying a subscription?

2. Or did setting a 30 or 7-day trial show people the value of your product and convert them into paying customers?

I can see word of mouth helping a lot, but I'm assuming that you'll receive little or no money. Then, you can increase the price later on (But I don't know if the backlash of that will be harmful enough). I can see this as easier to market and increase downloads.

vs

Showing its value by giving a taste and charging them if they need it after. However, there is that burden of being charged after it ends or if they forget. I imagine there will be much fewer downloads without massive marketing budget.