I did not plan to make the project paid at first, I would have prefered the OS / Open Core model, but it did not work out. So what I meant about the feedback was that the feedback for a free product might not help much for a paid product and vice versa. Different target groups, different priorities. On the other hand, more users, no matter if free or paid, help to detect edge case bugs better as there is a higher chance of someone stumbling on it and reporting it. In this case the first larger wave of free users did help me, yes.
BTW good luck to scaling up to $60k / month, it will be fun