Setting Up Free Trials for Digital Products

Free trials convert better than discount codes for high-value digital products. When customers experience your software before committing, conversion rates for paid plans typically run 20–40% higher than cold-purchase flows.

This guide walks through configuring free trials in ChargePanda — the settings, the billing logic, and how to build a good trial experience for your customers.

How free trials work in ChargePanda

When a customer starts a trial, ChargePanda:

1. Creates an order with a trial status
2. Generates a valid license key with an expiry equal to the trial end date
3. Optionally saves the payment method (Stripe SetupIntent) for automatic conversion
4. Sends a trial welcome email
5. Queues renewal reminder emails for days before trial end
6. On trial end: auto-charges the saved card (if configured) or marks the license expired

Configuring a trial on a plan

In the admin panel, go to Products → [Your Product] → Plans → [Plan Name] → Edit:

• Trial enabled: Toggle on
• Trial duration: Set in days (7, 14, 30 are common)
• Require payment method: Yes/No — "Yes" means Stripe saves the card at signup, auto-charges at trial end. "No" means the customer can trial without a card.
• Trial converts to: The plan they'll be charged for at trial end

Require payment upfront vs. no card required

This is the most important decision for your trial strategy:

Require payment method (credit card trial)

• Pro: Higher conversion rate — customers who give a card are more committed
• Pro: Eliminates the "forget to cancel" friction for you
• Con: Lower trial signup rate — some customers won't trial without seeing value first
• Best for: B2B tools, developer tools, anything with a clear ROI

No card required

• Pro: Higher trial signup volume
• Con: Lower conversion — you're depending on the customer to come back and pay
• Con: Requires a strong in-trial conversion sequence (email drip)
• Best for: Consumer products, low price points, freemium conversion flows

Setting up trial reminder emails

ChargePanda sends automated emails at configurable intervals. Under Settings → Email Templates, customise:

• Trial started: Welcome email with quickstart instructions
• Trial ending (7 days): Reminder + highlight of features they should try
• Trial ending (1 day): Urgent reminder + what they'll lose access to
• Trial ended (no conversion): Win-back email with a discount code option

The email templates support Blade syntax — you can include the customer's name, trial end date, and a direct link to upgrade.

Checking trial status in your app

If you're integrating ChargePanda as the billing layer for a SaaS app, the validation API returns trial metadata:

{
  "valid": true,
  "plan": "pro",
  "trial": true,
  "trial_ends_at": "2026-05-01T00:00:00Z",
  "days_remaining": 9
}

Use this to show a trial countdown banner, gate features that are trial-only, or redirect to the upgrade page when the trial ends.

Analysing trial performance

In the ChargePanda admin panel, the Orders section filters by order type. You can see:

• Number of trials started per product
• Trial-to-paid conversion rate
• Which plan tier trials convert at the highest rate

Use this data to A/B test trial duration (14 days vs. 30 days often shows that longer trials don't significantly improve conversion but do delay revenue).