diff --git a/services/web/app/coffee/Features/Project/ProjectController.coffee b/services/web/app/coffee/Features/Project/ProjectController.coffee
index 77aabd8524..c33e62d12d 100644
--- a/services/web/app/coffee/Features/Project/ProjectController.coffee
+++ b/services/web/app/coffee/Features/Project/ProjectController.coffee
@@ -157,7 +157,7 @@ module.exports = ProjectController =
 			hasSubscription: (cb)->
 				LimitationsManager.userHasSubscriptionOrIsGroupMember currentUser, cb
 			user: (cb) ->
-				User.findById user_id, "featureSwitches overleaf awareOfV2", cb
+				User.findById user_id, "featureSwitches overleaf awareOfV2 features", cb
 			}, (err, results)->
 				if err?
 					logger.err err:err, "error getting data for project list page"
@@ -172,6 +172,7 @@ module.exports = ProjectController =
 				user = results.user
 				warnings = ProjectController._buildWarningsList results.v1Projects
 
+
 				ProjectController._injectProjectOwners projects, (error, projects) ->
 					return next(error) if error?
 					viewModel = {
@@ -193,6 +194,14 @@ module.exports = ProjectController =
 					else
 						viewModel.showUserDetailsArea = false
 
+					paidUser = user.features?.github # use a heuristic for paid account
+					freeUserProportion = 0.85
+					sampleFreeUser = parseInt(user._id.toString().slice(-2), 16) < freeUserProportion * 255
+					showFrontWidget = paidUser or sampleFreeUser
+					logger.log {paidUser, sampleFreeUser, showFrontWidget}, 'deciding whether to show front widget'
+					if showFrontWidget
+						viewModel.frontChatWidgetRoomId = Settings.overleaf?.front_chat_widget_room_id
+
 					res.render 'project/list', viewModel
 					timer.done()
 
diff --git a/services/web/app/views/project/list/front-chat.pug b/services/web/app/views/project/list/front-chat.pug
index 7f0939de29..7e1c9a7123 100644
--- a/services/web/app/views/project/list/front-chat.pug
+++ b/services/web/app/views/project/list/front-chat.pug
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-- if (settings.overleaf && settings.overleaf.front_chat_widget_room_id != null)
+- if (frontChatWidgetRoomId)
 	script.
-		window.FCSP = '#{settings.overleaf.front_chat_widget_room_id}';
-	script(src="https://chat-assets.frontapp.com/v1/chat.bundle.js")
\ No newline at end of file
+		window.FCSP = '#{frontChatWidgetRoomId}';
+	script(src="https://chat-assets.frontapp.com/v1/chat.bundle.js")
diff --git a/services/web/test/unit/coffee/Project/ProjectControllerTests.coffee b/services/web/test/unit/coffee/Project/ProjectControllerTests.coffee
index 4e1402429b..65ca033cab 100644
--- a/services/web/test/unit/coffee/Project/ProjectControllerTests.coffee
+++ b/services/web/test/unit/coffee/Project/ProjectControllerTests.coffee
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ describe "ProjectController", ->
 		@user =
 			_id:"588f3ddae8ebc1bac07c9fa4"
 			first_name: "bjkdsjfk"
+			features: {}
 		@settings =
 			apis:
 				chat:
@@ -300,6 +301,32 @@ describe "ProjectController", ->
 				done()
 			@ProjectController.projectListPage @req, @res
 
+		describe 'front widget', (done) ->
+			beforeEach ->
+				@settings.overleaf =
+					front_chat_widget_room_id: 'chat-room-id'
+
+			it 'should show for paid users', (done) ->
+				@user.features.github = true
+				@res.render = (pageName, opts)=>
+					opts.frontChatWidgetRoomId.should.equal @settings.overleaf.front_chat_widget_room_id
+					done()
+				@ProjectController.projectListPage @req, @res
+
+			it 'should show for sample users', (done) ->
+				@user._id = '588f3ddae8ebc1bac07c9faa' # last two digits
+				@res.render = (pageName, opts)=>
+					opts.frontChatWidgetRoomId.should.equal @settings.overleaf.front_chat_widget_room_id
+					done()
+				@ProjectController.projectListPage @req, @res
+
+			it 'should not show for non sample users', (done) ->
+				@user._id = '588f3ddae8ebc1bac07c9fff' # last two digits
+				@res.render = (pageName, opts)=>
+					expect(opts.frontChatWidgetRoomId).to.equal undefined
+					done()
+				@ProjectController.projectListPage @req, @res
+
 		describe 'with overleaf-integration-web-module hook', ->
 			beforeEach ->
 				@V1Response =