Trial Period
Introduction
The Trial Period feature lets you offer a special introductory price for the first order of any subscription plan. Whether you want to give customers a free 7-day trial, a 50% discount on their first month, or any other introductory offer, Trial Period gives you full control over how new subscribers experience your store.
This is one of the most effective ways to grow your subscription business. Customers are far more likely to subscribe when they can try without risk, and once they experience your products, many will continue at full price. With Trial Period, you set the rules once and Joy Subscriptions handles the rest — automatically charging the trial price first, then transitioning to regular billing when the trial ends.
Understanding the trial period
A trial is a special discount applied only to the first order of a subscription. After the first order, all future orders are charged at the regular price.
You decide three things for each plan:
- How much off — A percentage (like 100% for free) or a fixed amount (like $5 off)
- How long — The trial duration in days (for example, 7 days)
- What happens next — After the trial ends, the subscription either continues automatically at full price, or pauses so the customer can confirm they want to keep going
Trial Period is configured per plan, so you can offer a free 7-day trial on your Starter plan and a 50% discount on your Premium plan — or no trial at all on certain plans.
How to set up a trial period
Step 1: In your Joy Subscriptions admin, go to Plans in the left menu.
Step 2: Click the plan you want to add a trial to, or click Create plan to start a new one.
Step 3: Scroll down to the Trial period section and toggle it on.
Step 4: Enter the Discount value and choose Discount type (percentage or fixed amount).
For example, enter 100 and select % to make the trial completely free. Enter 50 and select % to give 50% off the first order. Enter 5 and select $ to take $5 off the first order.
Step 5: Enter the Trial ends after value (in days). This is how long the trial lasts before regular billing kicks in.
Step 6: Choose what happens then (after the trial ends):
- Activate subscription — The subscription continues automatically at the regular price. Best for converting customers smoothly without extra friction.
- Pause subscription — The subscription pauses, and the customer must manually resume it from their customer portal. Best when you want explicit confirmation before charging full price.
Step 7: Click Save at the top of the page to apply your trial settings.
Your trial is now live. Any new customer who subscribes to this plan will automatically receive the trial offer.
How customers experience the trial
When a new customer visits your product page, they will see the trial offer in the subscription widget. For example:
- Free for 7-day trial, then $9.99/month
- $4.99 for 14-day trial, then $9.99/month
When they check out, they pay the trial price for their first order. Joy Subscriptions automatically tracks when their trial ends and either continues billing at full price or pauses the subscription based on your settings.
In their customer portal, the first order is marked with a Trial badge so customers always know which order was the trial.
Tips & best practices
- Free trials drive the most signups. A 100% discount with a 7-day duration is the most popular setup for boosting conversions on consumable products.
- Use "Pause subscription" to reduce chargebacks. If you want customers to actively confirm before being charged full price, the pause option gives them control and prevents unexpected charges.
- Match trial length to your product cycle. A 7-day trial works for weekly delivery, while a 14-day or 30-day trial fits monthly subscriptions.
- Test before launching. Create a test subscription on your own store to confirm the trial pricing and email notifications work the way you expect.
- Keep trial settings stable. Changes to trial settings only affect new customers — existing trial subscribers keep the original terms they signed up with.
How to track trial subscriptions
In your Subscriptions list, the first order of any subscription with a trial will be tagged as a trial in the order details. You can identify trial customers by looking at their order history — the first order will show the discounted trial price, and subsequent orders will show the regular price.
Customers who started on a trial and continued past the first order are your converted trial customers — these are the ones your trial offer successfully converted to paying subscribers.
Overall
Trial Period is one of the simplest ways to remove the biggest barrier to subscribing — the fear of commitment. By letting customers try before they fully commit, you reduce hesitation, build trust, and grow your subscriber base faster. Set it up once on your most popular plan, and let Joy Subscriptions handle every trial automatically from start to finish.