Guide
Free trial checklist: what to get right before launch
Free trials turn visitors into customers, or into refunds and angry reviews. Most of the difference comes down to a handful of steps that are easy to forget.
Before they start
- Say what happens at the end. The date the trial ends, what they will pay and how often, on the screen where they start.
- Show "due today". If you take a card, show that nothing is charged today.
- Decide on card upfront. Asking for a card filters out casual sign-ups but also some genuine customers. Treat it as a decision to test, not a default.
During the trial
- Send a reminder before you charge. A few days before, with the date, the amount and a link to cancel. Several markets now expect this, and it prevents most surprise-charge refunds.
- Make cancelling easy. If people signed up online, let them cancel online, in a couple of clicks.
At the end
- Plan for a failed payment. Cards fail for ordinary reasons. Retry, tell the person and give them a simple way to update their card.
- Confirm the change. After the first charge or a cancellation, confirm it by email.
This checklist is general guidance, not legal advice. Rules on reminders and cancelling differ by country, so check the ones that apply to you.
Check your own trial
Pixatom's free demo is a pre-flight check of exactly this kind of flow. Walk through it to see the gaps it finds, then run one on your own trial.