Actually, quite a lot is free. I have a free tier in my saas product. I don't monetize it in any way. I simply use it as a gateway to paying customers. I think there is probably a great deal of this going on.
Personally, I'm surprised that's a controversial statement.
Its not on this forum. Its so common as to be a cliche.
It's eye-roll inducing at this point.
That's probably true but it seems so easy for people to forget.