Overview

Free trials lower the barrier to entry: the customer books with a binding commitment but only pays once the trial period has elapsed. This article shows the setup and explains what happens during and after the trial.

Setting up a trial

In the product form (the "Trial" section), set "Trial Period (days)" to the desired duration – 14 or 30 days, for example. The note in the form summarizes the behavior: a payment method is always requested in the checkout but is not charged during the trial – the first invoice is created once the trial period has elapsed.

What happens during the trial

• The subscription starts immediately with the status "Trial" – the customer can use the service from day 1.
• No invoice is created at booking; a stored payment method is not charged either.
• In the customer portal, the customer sees the "Trial" status and the end date ("Trial ends …").
• Kyvento reminds the customer automatically by email – 3 days and 1 day before the trial ends – so that the first charge doesn't come as a surprise.
• Your team can additionally be notified account-internally ("Trial ending soon" under Settings → Notifications).

After the trial

At the end of the trial, Kyvento automatically converts the subscription into a regular, paid subscription: the first invoice is created and charged via the stored payment method or delivered to the customer. From now on, the product's normal billing cycle applies.

Extending a trial

If a customer needs more time, you extend the running trial directly: on the subscription detail page, the action "Extend trial" opens a dialog with the field "New trial end date". The new date must be after the current trial end — shortening is not possible. For a product with a fixed billing anchor, the date applies at midnight in your account's time zone.

The extension shifts everything else automatically: the first invoice is only created on the new date, and the customer receives the reminders for the new date — even if they had already gone out for the original one. If the new trial end is very close, however, any reminder whose moment has already passed is skipped.

For automation, the extension is also available via the API (POST /api/v1/subscriptions/{id}/extend-trial; there the date is accepted exclusively as YYYY-MM-DD).

Cancellation during the trial

If the customer (or your team) cancels before the trial ends, the subscription ends without an invoice ever being created – no costs are incurred. It is precisely this risk-free trial that makes trials such a strong sales argument.

Good to know

• The trial applies per product – if you offer the same plan with and without a trial, keep two products.
• Don't combine trials with setup fees – details in the article Adding setup fees.

Next steps

• Renewal and billing logic – see Configuring automatic renewal