“I've oscillated between a premium user and a paid user depending on the season of my life. If I'm spending a lot of time on the coast, I will buy a subscription, and then I will let it expire when I'm not at the coast anymore. I still can get cams — I have to watch an ad.”

Seasonal subscribers oscillate — ad-supported free tier monetizes them between paid stints

Plenty of users churn intentionally and return on cue. A free tier that stays useful between paid stints lets you recapture seasonal subscribers without paid re-acquisition — and an ad-supported fallback monetizes them while they're 'off.' Hybrid monetization isn't a backup, it's how you keep churned-but-loyal users on the platform.