Trial management
Convert try-first shoppers into ready-to-commit buyers with flexible trial management.
Create, test, and track your free trial’s performance with easy-to-use tools
Let subscribers try before they buy
Allow cautious customers to test your product. This is integral to subscription success—and free trials are an easy way to make it happen.
Test and adopt the right trial strategy
Understand which subscribers convert and why. Test free trials and gauge performance using robust analytics that track acquisition channel, conversion, and cancellations.
Get noticed with personalized offers
Convert more trial customers into loyal customers. Free trials, combined with coupons and gift subscriptions, add powerful tools to your promotions strategy.
Improve customer acquisition, profitability, and lifetime value with free subscription trials
Drive brand loyalty from day one. Free trials give subscribers a taste of your product’s value, encouraging them to stay longer. If you’re looking for proven ways to increase subscriber acquisition and retention, make free trials a part of your strategy.
- Configure by days or months
- Notifications include automatic emails at the end of the trial
- Require a credit card, or request payment, at the trial close
Configuring credit card trials
Simply set a trial period and the paid subscription kicks in at its conclusion using the credit card provided. Subscribers have the option to cancel during the trial.
Allowing for cardless trials
Improve the subscriber sign-up experience and support customer acquisition efforts by offering free trials without billing information.
Offering free trial coupons
Control availability and access to free trials by setting up trial coupons, which helps track the effectiveness of subscription promotions.
Automating trial-ending emails to stay compliant
Be proactive with automatic emails that notify subscribers three days before their trial period ends, as required by some payment providers, including Visa® and MasterCard®.
Measuring your trial’s performance
Track the performance of your subscription trials and monitor conversion rates from trial to active subscriptions—all from an intuitive dashboard.
Recurly has been integral in helping us sort out our pricing plans and deciding how we actually wanted to move our business forward. We wouldn’t be able to function as a business without it.
Read case studyFrequently asked questions
What is subscription trial management?
Businesses can allow prospects to try out a product or service for a limited time before switching to a paid subscription. That time is referred to as a trial subscription.
What happens at the end of a trial period?
When a trial subscription ends, Recurly automatically converts the trial to a paid subscription and notifies the customer accordingly. Learn how to calculate your trial conversion rate and other valuable subscription metrics.
Why offer trial subscriptions?
Trials are a proven way to encourage subscription sign-ups. In 2022, consumers took advantage of almost 35 million free trials globally from participating subscription sites on Recurly. Uncover more subscription metrics in our 2023 State of Subscriptions report.
Is it difficult to set up a trial subscription?
It’s easy to configure a trial offer on Recurly. You specify the trial period (days or months), whether a credit card is required to start the trial, and which notifications you’d like the subscriber to receive. Gain insight into which length trial periods are most effective in our 2023 State of Subscriptions report.
Do my customers have to enter a credit card to sign up for a trial?
While most free trial offers require billing information, on Recurly, you have the option to offer cardless trials where the subscriber is not required to enter a credit card.
Recommended resources
Make subscriptions your competitive advantage
