Show free users the premium features they're missing

Disabled premium features means free users can see the paid features inside your product, marked as locked, with an upgrade link next to them. It works when a locked feature appears at the moment a free user wants it. It backfires when it blocks work the user has already started, or when most of the screen is locked.

How to do it

1. Pick 3 to 5 paid features that free users actually reach for. Your usage data and support questions will tell you which ones. Skip features nobody asks about.
2. Show each one where it would sit if it were unlocked. Add a lock icon or a "Pro" badge. Keep the label the same everywhere so people learn what it means.
3. Make the click useful. When a free user taps a locked feature, show one sentence about what it does, the plan that includes it, the price, and an upgrade button. A dead click that does nothing reads as a bug.
4. Gate before the user invests work. If the lock appears only at export or save, people feel tricked. Tell them at the start.
5. Make the locked state work for keyboards and screen readers. MDN notes that aria-disabled keeps an element in the focus order, so people can still find it and read why it is locked, while the native disabled attribute removes that. You must also block the action yourself, because aria-disabled only changes what assistive tech announces.
6. Measure the chain: clicks on locked items, upgrade pages opened, paid conversions. Run it against a group of users who see no locked items, so you know it is the lock doing the work.

Examples

Canva. Canva's developer guidelines for premium apps describe the pattern directly. Free users see a yellow crown "to draw their attention to premium features," and they get the upgrade dialog "immediately after clicking on a premium feature." Paid users see a grey crown that tells them they have access. Same icon, different meaning for each plan. Source: Canva premium apps guidelines.

Zapier. Zapier's help center says that on the free plan you cannot turn on a Zap that uses a premium app or has more than one action step. The gate comes when you switch the Zap on, which means a free user can build something and then learn it needs a paid plan. If you gate late like this, say so early in the flow. Source: Zapier help.

When it backfires

• Too much locked. If a free user sees locks on every other control, the free plan feels broken. Keep the free plan useful on its own.
• Late paywalls. Letting someone finish work and then asking for money at the last step feels like a trap. Tell them up front.
• Features that do not exist yet. Only lock things you ship today. A locked "coming soon" item sells nothing and costs trust.
• Inaccessible controls. A greyed-out button that keyboard and screen reader users cannot reach or understand excludes them. See step 5.
• Hidden cost of the free plan. Every locked item adds to the interface free users must scan. Prune the ones nobody clicks.

Questions people ask

When should a premium feature be shown as locked? When the user is doing the thing it helps with, or right after they hit a limit. A banner on an empty dashboard is easier to ignore than a locked button next to the task.

How can feature usage suggest which premium feature to promote? Look at what free users do just before they churn or ask support for help. Promote the paid feature that solves that exact step, and track clicks on its locked version.

Is a disabled feature the same as a paywall? A paywall stops you from continuing. A disabled feature is visible but optional, and the free user keeps working. Keep it that way.

Sources

• canva.dev / premium apps, read Oct 8, 2026
• help.zapier.com / 8496199466125 Can t turn on or publish Zap, read Oct 8, 2026
• developer.mozilla.org / aria disabled, read Oct 8, 2026