After over a decade of selling digital downloads, we understand the importance of offering free trial subscriptions in WordPress. This strategy can significantly enhance your business growth, but the setup process can be challenging without the right guidance.
The approach you take to enable free trials will vary based on the type of product you offer and the specific plugin you choose. For instance, the method for selling digital downloads differs from that of providing membership subscriptions or physical goods.
In this guide, we will present four effective methods for integrating free trial subscriptions into your WordPress site. Each method utilizes a distinct plugin designed to meet various business requirements.
Benefits of Adding Free Trial Subscriptions in WordPress
Incorporating subscriptions into your website can lead to a more stable cash flow, reduced payment errors, and minimized payment delays. However, many customers prefer to test a service before committing, particularly when it comes to longer-term or higher-priced subscriptions.
Therefore, offering a free trial period for all your subscriptions is a smart move. For instance, you could provide customers with a complimentary month for your subscription box service or a free one-week pass for your online yoga classes.
If customers appreciate the free trial, they may choose to upgrade to a premium subscription. Even if they don’t subscribe immediately, you can leverage their contact information for lead generation. For instance, you can send them exclusive discount codes or engage them through web push notifications.
Now, let’s explore how to implement free trial subscriptions in WordPress. Use the quick links below to navigate directly to your preferred method:
- Method 1: Easy Digital Downloads (Free Trial for Software and Digital Products)
- Method 2: MemberPress (Free Trial for Memberships or Online Courses)
- Method 3: WooCommerce Subscriptions (Free Trial for Physical Products)
- Method 4: WP Simple Pay (Free Trial for Custom Services)
Method 1: Easy Digital Downloads (Free Trial for Software and Digital Products)
Are you interested in providing a free trial subscription for digital products? Perhaps you plan to offer subscriptions for online courses, a stock photography website, a digital music store, or another type of digital service.
The simplest way to offer free trial subscriptions for digital products is by using Easy Digital Downloads. This plugin allows you to effortlessly sell ebooks, PDF files, audio files, videos, and a variety of other digital products.
If you’re a SiteGround customer, you’ll be pleased to know that the Easy Digital Downloads plugin is already installed, allowing you to start selling subscriptions and digital products immediately.
In this guide, we will walk you through the process of creating a free trial for an all-access pass, which will appear just like any other digital product in your online store.
Once customers sign up for the free trial, they will have the ability to view, access, and download various products available in your online store.
Customers can easily click on a link in their account to view all the products included in their free trial pass.
To prevent misuse of the trial, you can establish daily download limits, restrict the free pass to certain product categories, and implement additional controls.
Keeping this in mind, we will utilize three extensions to create a seamless ‘all access’ free trial experience. You will need to purchase the Extended license or higher for Easy Digital Downloads to access these three add-ons.
For detailed instructions on setting up Easy Digital Downloads, please refer to our guide on selling digital downloads with WordPress.
Install Easy Digital Downloads Extensions
After configuring Easy Digital Downloads, it’s time to install the extensions by navigating toDownloads » Extensions.
On this page, locate the All Access, Free Downloads, and Recurring Payments plugins.
For each plugin, click the ‘Install’ button.
How to Create a Free Trial Subscription in WordPress
Now that you’re set up, you can create a free all-access trial. To begin, navigate to Downloads » Downloads in your WordPress dashboard.
On this page, click ‘Add New.’
You can now enter a name for the subscription.
This name will be visible to customers, so it’s best to choose something descriptive.
Next, scroll down to the ‘Download Prices’ section. Under ‘Pricing Options,’ enter 0.
Then, check the box next to ‘Enable free trial for subscriptions.’
Now, let’s transform this subscription into a free all-access pass that customers can use throughout your entire online store.
To achieve this, simply scroll to the ‘All Access’ section and select the option: Convert this product into an “All Access” pass.
Optionally, Limit the Trial to Specific Product Categories
By default, the free trial allows customers to access all of your products. However, you can limit the free trial to specific product categories. For instance, if you create and sell ebooks, you might include some titles in the free trial while reserving others for paying subscribers.
To limit the free trial to specific categories, simply click the ‘x’ next to ‘All Products.’
Next, click on the ‘Type to search categories’ dropdown and start typing the name of the category you wish to include in the free trial.
When the desired category appears, click to select it.
Establish a Time Limit
Once that’s done, you can decide whether to make the free trial permanent or to set a specific time limit.
If you’ve limited the free trial to certain product categories, it might be beneficial to select ‘Never Expires.’ For example, if you sell digital art and graphics, you could allow customers to download as many watermarked images as they like indefinitely. However, they would need to purchase a subscription to remove the watermark.
Keep in mind that Easy Digital Downloads also gives you the option to set a download limit. This means you can choose ‘Never Expires’ while also restricting the number of items a customer can download.
To create an unlimited free trial, select ‘Never Expires’ from the ‘All Access Duration’ dropdown menu.
Alternatively, you can establish a time-limited trial. This approach is particularly effective for digital products that require time to explore or for items that customers may wish to revisit frequently.
For instance, if you offer online courses, you might provide a two-day free trial, encouraging customers to purchase a subscription to complete their training.
To set a time limit, access the ‘All Access Duration’ dropdown and choose from options like years, months, weeks, or days. Then, enter the desired number in the provided field.
Implement a Daily, Weekly, Monthly, or Yearly Download Limit
You can also specify a Download Limit to safeguard your site against potential abuse of the free trial. For example, if you sell Excel or Google Spreadsheet templates on WordPress, setting a download limit can prevent customers from downloading your entire product catalog during the trial period.
By default, Easy Digital Downloads allows unlimited downloads (0 limit), meaning customers can download as many products as they wish. To modify this, enter a specific number in the ‘Download Limit’ field.
You can then specify whether this limit applies daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly using the dropdown menu that appears.
Incorporate Variable Pricing for Your Free Trial (Optional)
Are you implementing variable pricing in your online store? If so, consider adding specific price options to your free trial.
For instance, if you offer Standard and Deluxe pricing options, you might want to include the Standard option in the free trial while reserving the Deluxe version for paying customers.
When variable pricing is activated, Easy Digital Downloads automatically includes all pricing options in the free trial.
To modify this setting, locate ‘Total Price Variations’ and enter the number of variations you wish to offer in the free trial. Based on your input, a list of different options will appear in your online store.
Simply tick the box next to each variation you wish to include in the free trial.
Personalize the Purchase Confirmation Page and Email
When a customer utilizes their free trial pass to download a product, Easy Digital Downloads displays a Purchase Confirmation page.
Additionally, a confirmation email will be sent to their email address.
By default, both the Purchase Confirmation page and email include the following link: Click here to access your All Access Pass. This link directs the customer to a page where they can download their free products.
To modify the link text, enter your desired message in the ‘Receipts: All Access Link Message’ field.
You can also specify the page to which Easy Digital Downloads directs customers for downloading their free products.
To accomplish this, simply create a new page in WordPress and insert the following shortcode:
[downloads all_access_customer_downloads_only="yes"]
This shortcode will display all the products available for download to customers during their free trial. You can also include additional content, such as text, images, a contact form, or any other elements you wish to add.
For detailed instructions on how to insert the shortcode, please refer to our guide on adding shortcodes in WordPress.
After you publish the page, copy its URL and paste it into the ‘Receipts: Link URL’ field.
Once you are satisfied with the free trial setup, click the ‘Publish’ button.
Create a Premium Subscription
After completing the previous steps, you may want to establish a premium ‘all access’ subscription. When their free trial ends, customers can upgrade to this subscription to continue accessing your content.
To create a premium subscription, navigate toDownloads » Add New.
You can then enter a name for the subscription and set the price in the ‘Pricing Options’ field.
You can also set this up as a recurring subscription, add an optional sign-up fee, and more through the ‘Download Prices’ settings.
Once that’s complete, navigate to the ‘All Access’ section. Here, you can convert the subscription into an all-access pass, set a download limit, and more by following the same steps mentioned earlier.
When you are satisfied with the configuration of the premium all-access subscription, remember to click ‘Publish’ to make it active.
Eliminate the Checkout Process for Free Trial Users
After setting up the free trial subscription, your goal is to maximize signups. Therefore, it’s beneficial to allow customers to initiate the free trial without going through the checkout process.
Easy Digital Downloads can eliminate the checkout screen when a customer is claiming a free product, including your free trial subscription.
To accomplish this, simply navigate to Downloads » Settings, and then select the ‘Marketing’ tab. Next, click on ‘Free Downloads’ to hide the checkout.
Afterward, you can use ‘Button Label’ to customize the text displayed when products are available for free download.
By default, this text says ‘Download Now.’
You can change this to your own personalized message.
Simply enter your desired text in the ‘Button Label’ field.
There are additional settings that can enhance your lead generation efforts. For instance, you can gather the user’s name and email address when they sign up for a free trial or download a complimentary product.
We suggest keeping your approach straightforward, as this often leads to higher signup rates.
Once you’re satisfied with your adjustments, click ‘Save Changes.’ Now, when you visit the free trial product page, you’ll see the updated button text in action.
Set Up Expiration Reminder Emails
Free trials can help you generate leads, but the ultimate goal is to convert those leads into paying customers.
With this in mind, consider sending emails to users when their free trial is nearing its end. This can motivate them to purchase a premium subscription to maintain access to your digital content.
Easy Digital Downloads works seamlessly with top email marketing services. Additionally, you can create reminder emails using the Recurring Payments extension you previously installed.
To access this extension, navigate to Download » Settings. Next, click on the ‘Emails’ tab and then select the ‘Recurring Payments’ link.
On this page, check the box labeled ‘Send Expiration Reminders.’
Next, choose ‘Add Expiration Reminder’ to proceed.
You will be directed to a page where you can enter an email subject and message.
To personalize the email, consider using template tags. Easy Digital Downloads will automatically replace these tags with actual details like the customer’s name, expiration date, and subscription name.
You can find all the available template tags listed below the text editor.
Keep in mind that Easy Digital Downloads will send the notification to all customers, not just those on the free trial.
Once you are satisfied with the information entered, click on Add Reminder Notice to save.
Now, Easy Digital Downloads will alert customers when their subscription is nearing expiration. However, be aware that your WordPress hosting server might not be set up correctly, or email providers like Gmail may mistakenly mark your emails as spam.
To increase your conversion rates, it’s crucial that your emails reach the customer’s inbox instead of the spam folder. Therefore, we suggest using a WordPress SMTP plugin and a reliable email provider to enhance your email deliverability.
WP Mail SMTP is the leading SMTP plugin for WordPress. It enables seamless integration between your WordPress site and a mailing service, ensuring that expiration reminders and other important messages consistently reach your customers’ inboxes.
For additional details, please refer to our article on resolving the issue of WordPress not sending emails.
Method 2: MemberPress (Offering Free Trials for Memberships or Courses)
A membership website allows users to pay for exclusive content, online courses, features, and community access. However, these premium features are typically hidden behind a paywall in WordPress, making it difficult for visitors to see the benefits of paid memberships.
To address this, consider providing visitors with a free trial, allowing them to experience the offerings before making a purchase. The simplest way to implement this is through MemberPress.
MemberPress is a comprehensive membership plugin that enables you to process payments, create unlimited membership levels, develop gated content, and restrict access based on various membership tiers, among other features.
We utilize MemberPress to establish our video membership site and expand our email subscriber list.
It also allows you to create multiple free trials, including distinct trials for different membership levels.
Begin by installing and activating the necessary plugin. For assistance, refer to our comprehensive guide on installing a WordPress plugin.
Now you can add payment options, create exclusive content for members, design a pricing page, and more. For detailed guidance, check out our ultimate guide to building a WordPress membership site.
After setting up your site, you can create a membership plan that includes a free trial.
Add a New Membership Level
To begin, navigate toMemberPress » Membershipsin your WordPress dashboard. Click on the ‘Add New’ button.
You can now enter a title for your membership plan, add an optional description, upload a featured image, and more.
For additional details, refer to our ultimate guide to building a WordPress membership site.
Once that’s complete, you can set the membership price by entering an amount in the ‘Price’ field.
This amount will be charged to members after the free trial period ends.
Free trials can only be created for recurring memberships. However, if you prefer to charge members a one-time fee, there is an alternative method that we will discuss shortly.
With that in mind, open the ‘Billing Type’ dropdown and select ‘Recurring.’
Next, set the billing interval for recurring payments, which determines how often your members will be charged after the free trial ends.
Open the ‘Interval’ dropdown menu and select an option from the list, such as monthly or yearly billing.
If you prefer a different billing interval, choose the ‘Custom’ option.
You will then see additional controls to set a custom billing interval.
Create a Free Trial Membership Subscription
Once that’s done, tick the box next to ‘Free Trial.’
Specify the duration of the free trial by entering the number of days in the ‘Trial Duration’ field. For instance, for a one-month trial, enter ’30.’
Next, enter the ‘Trial Amount,’ which is the total cost for the subscription trial period before tax. Typically, you would enter ‘0’ in this field.
Lastly, decide whether to restrict customers to one free trial by checking or unchecking the ‘Allow Only One Free Trial’ box. If checked, customers who cancel and later re-subscribe will not be eligible for another free trial.
It’s generally advisable to keep the box checked to prevent customers from exploiting the free trial. However, if you offer a very short trial period, you might consider allowing customers to access multiple free trials.
Keep in mind that coupon codes will take precedence over this setting, so it is still possible to provide multiple free trials to the same customer.
Optional: Create a Lifetime Membership
As previously mentioned, free trials are only available for recurring memberships. However, you can set up a trial for lifetime memberships by adjusting a few settings in MemberPress.
To accomplish this, check the ‘Limit Payment Cycles’ option and set the ‘Max # of Payments’ to 1.
Next, open the ‘Access After Last Cycle’ dropdown and choose ‘Lifetime Access.’
Now, once the trial period ends, customers will be required to pay a one-time fee for lifetime membership.
Publish the Free Trial Membership Subscription
With that completed, you can make any additional adjustments to the membership level.
Once you are satisfied with the membership setup, click the ‘Publish’ button to make it live.
To preview how the membership appears to potential customers, navigate to MemberPress » MembershipsOn this page, you will find the membership level you just created.
Simply hover your mouse over the membership level and click on the ‘View’ link.
WordPress will display the membership signup form in a new tab.
Would you like to add a free trial to additional membership levels? Just follow the same steps outlined above.
For more tips and tricks on using MemberPress, explore these helpful guides:
- How to Sell Group Memberships in WordPress for Corporate Teams
- How to Add Automatic Drip Content to Your WordPress Site
- How to Implement Content Locking in WordPress
Method 3: WooCommerce Subscriptions (Free Trials for Physical Products)
If you’re looking to sell digital products online, we recommend using Easy Digital Downloads. However, for selling physical products, WooCommerce is the leading eCommerce platform worldwide.
By default, WooCommerce does not support free trial subscriptions, but you can easily add this feature with WooCommerce Subscriptions.
This plugin introduces a new ‘simple subscription’ product type to your WooCommerce store. You can apply this product type to any existing item or create new subscription products.
For instance, you could allow customers to experience a product before purchasing it, or you might send them a complimentary subscription box from your online boutique.
When a customer browses a subscription product, they will see a ‘Sign Up Now’ button instead of the usual ‘Add to Cart’ button.
The WooCommerce checkout page will also display relevant details about the subscription.
This includes information about the duration of the free trial.
Customers can manage all their subscriptions by logging into their WooCommerce account and navigating to the new ‘My Subscriptions’ section.
Here, they can view the start date of the subscription, the cost, the current status, and more. Customers can also cancel, reactivate, and renew their subscriptions directly from this page without needing to contact you.
This allows a customer enjoying a free trial to easily upgrade to a premium subscription.
In this guide, we will assume that you have already set up a WooCommerce store. If you haven’t, consider checking out our comprehensive guide to WooCommerce made easy.
Next, you will need to install and activate the WooCommerce Subscriptions plugin. If you require assistance, please refer to our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.
Once the plugin is activated, you can easily add free trial subscriptions to WooCommerce. Just navigate to Products » Add New.
You can create this product just like any other WooCommerce product. For instance, enter the product title, add a description, or create a product gallery.
After filling in all the details, scroll down to the ‘Product Data’ section.
Here, select ‘Simple subscription’ from the dropdown menu.
This will reveal new settings that allow you to set up a subscription and include a free trial.
First, enter the ‘Subscription price.’
Then, use the dropdown menus to specify the duration of the subscription. In the example below, the subscription will be $20 per month after the free trial ends.
You can choose whether the subscription is ongoing or set to expire after a certain period.
Keep in mind that the expiration period does not include the free trial. For instance, if the subscription lasts for 1 month and you offer a one-month free trial, the total duration will be 2 months.
Alternatively, you can provide customers with lifetime access. To do this, select ‘Never expire’ from the ‘Expire After’ dropdown.
Consider implementing a sign-up fee for your subscription.
Keep in mind that WooCommerce will apply this fee regardless of whether the customer is purchasing a subscription or opting for a free trial. Therefore, we advise against adding a sign-up fee to products that offer a free trial subscription.
Once that’s complete, you can determine the duration of the free trial by selecting the dropdown menu that defaults to ‘days’ and choosing an option from the available list.
Next, enter the duration for the free trial in days, weeks, months, or years. Please note that the free trial cannot exceed 90 days, 52 weeks, 24 months, or 5 years.
This approach is designed for physical products, but you can also utilize the plugin to set up free trials for digital products.
To enable this, check both the ‘Virtual’ and ‘Downloadable’ options if there is a file that customers need to download after making a purchase.
If you choose to make your product downloadable, you can scroll down the page to upload your file.
Additionally, you can adjust the settings for how long the file remains accessible and the number of times it can be downloaded.
You can make any additional adjustments to the product. Once you are satisfied with the product and subscription settings, click ‘Update’ or ‘Publish’ to activate the trial.
You can create free trial subscriptions for other products by following the same steps outlined above.
After adding one or more subscriptions to your WooCommerce site, aim to maximize signups by allowing visitors to use their preferred payment methods.
By integrating the free Stripe Payment Gateway for WooCommerce plugin, you can accept payments via Visa, MasterCard, Google Pay, Apple Pay, and more.
Simply install the plugin, and the onboarding wizard will assist you in adding additional payment methods and enabling express checkout.
Additionally, consider adding a WooCommerce subscription reminder email to notify users about upcoming renewal dates.
Method 4: WP Simple Pay (Free Trial for Custom Services)
Many freelancers, consultants, trainers, and other business owners offer their services as subscriptions. For instance, if you operate a yoga studio, you might provide a one-month free trial for your personalized training program.
Offering a free trial for custom services is most effectively done using WP Simple Pay. This top-rated Stripe payment plugin for WordPress enables you to accept payments, manage invoices, and provide free trials without the need for a shopping cart or product listings.
Important Note:WP Simple Pay offers a free version that supports credit card payments, Apple Pay, iDEAL, and various other payment options. However, for this guide, we will focus on the premium version, which provides the capability to offer free trials.
Installing the WP Simple Pay Plugin
Begin by installing and activating the WP Simple Pay plugin. If you require assistance, please refer to our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.
Once activated, the plugin will automatically initiate the setup wizard. Click the ‘Let’s Get Started’ button to proceed.
Next, you will need to input your license key, which can be found in your account on the WP Simple Pay website.
After entering the license key, click the ‘Activate and Continue’ button.
Link Your WordPress Site to Your Stripe Account
Next, connect your Stripe account to WP Simple Pay. Stripe is a widely-used payment gateway that makes it easy to accept credit card payments in WordPress, making it an excellent choice for selling custom services online.
To begin, click the ‘Connect with Stripe’ button. You can log into your existing Stripe account or create a new one if you haven’t registered yet.
Once WP Simple Pay is connected to Stripe, the setup wizard will guide you to configure email notifications. You can select options for receiving emails regarding payment receipts, upcoming invoices, and payment alerts.
You will also need to provide the email address where WP Simple Pay will send these notifications.
When you have completed the setup, simply click the ‘Save and Continue’ button.
Create a Subscription Form Featuring a Free Trial
You are now ready to design a subscription form that includes a free trial option. Click on the ‘Create a Payment Form’ button to proceed.
WP Simple Pay offers a variety of pre-designed templates that you can utilize to set up ‘buy now, pay later’ payment plans, collect donations, accept Google Pay in WordPress, and much more.
To set up a free trial, hover over the ‘Recurring Services with Trial Period Form’ template. When it appears, click the ‘Use Template’ button.
This action will direct you to the payment form editor.
You can start by renaming the form and adding an optional description. The default description is ‘Try our service free for 30 days,’ but feel free to modify it to suit your needs.
By default, WP Simple Pay generates an on-site payment form. However, if you prefer, you can display a payment button instead. When visitors click this button, the payment form will appear in a popup.
To enable the popup feature, check the box labeled ‘Open in an overlay modal.’
Alternatively, you can host the payment form on Stripe’s website by selecting the ‘Type’ dropdown.
In this dropdown, choose ‘Off-site Stripe Checkout form.’
When a customer purchases a subscription, WP Simple Pay will automatically redirect them to its built-in Payment Success Page. If you wish to redirect visitors to a different page, select either ‘Specific Page’ or ‘Redirect URL.’
You can then either enter the URL or choose the page you want to redirect to. For instance, you might direct subscribers to a custom thank you page or a page where they can manage their free trial.
Set a Price for Your Subscription Form
When you’re ready, click on the ‘Payment’ tab.
Here, you can choose the payment mode as either live or testing. The testing mode allows you to complete the purchasing process without any charges, making it ideal for testing new subscriptions on your website.
If you select ‘Test Mode,’ remember to return to this page and switch the mode to ‘Live’ once you finish testing.
Next, you can set the subscription price and currency using the ‘Amount’ settings.
Once that’s done, you can specify how frequently WP Simple Pay should bill subscribers.
Simply open the ‘Billing Period’ dropdown and select day, week, month, or year. Then, enter a number in the field next to the dropdown menu.
By default, WP Simple Pay provides customers with a 30-day free trial.
If you wish to adjust the length of the free trial, just enter a number in the ‘Free Trial’ field.
At times, you may want to apply a setup fee for subscribers. For instance, if you’re a life coach, this fee may compensate for the time and effort needed to onboard new clients into your admin system.
To add an extra fee, simply enter an amount in the ‘Setup Fee’ field.
Once that’s completed, scroll down to the ‘Payment Methods’ section.
Here, you can select additional payment options to offer, such as Klarna or ACH payments.
Providing visitors with a variety of payment methods can increase your subscriber count. However, avoid overwhelming them with too many choices, as this may lead to confusion.
Depending on your chosen payment methods, you might see a ‘Configure’ link. Click on ‘Configure’ and follow the on-screen instructions to set up the payment gateway or method.
Personalize the WP Simple Pay Subscription Form
Once that’s complete, you’re ready to create the subscription form.
Click on ‘Form Fields’ to access the form builder in WP Simple Pay.
The template automatically gathers essential customer information, including their email address and credit card details.
The image below illustrates how the default form appears on WordPress.
To modify any of the default fields, simply click to select it.
The section will expand, revealing all the customizable settings, such as changing the field label or adding placeholder text.
You can also eliminate fields from the subscription form.
Just click to expand the field, then select ‘Remove.’
Do you need to gather additional information from your new subscribers? For instance, you may require their tax identification number or phone number.
Simply click on the ‘Form Fields’ dropdown menu and select a field from the options available. Then, click on ‘Add Field.’
You can rearrange the order of the fields in your form by using the drag and drop feature.
While customizing the form, you can click on ‘Preview’ to see how it will appear on your blog or website.
Once you are satisfied with the form, click ‘Publish’ to save your settings.
Integrate the Subscription Form into Your WordPress Website
You are now ready to add the form to your WordPress blog using either a block or shortcode.
The simplest approach is to use a block. Open the page or post where you want to display the subscription form.
Next, click on the plus (+) icon and type ‘WP Simple Pay.’
When the correct block appears, click to add it to your page or post.
After that, open the dropdown menu in the WP Simple Pay block and select the form you wish to display.
When you are done, click on either ‘Update’ or ‘Publish.’
Now, if you visit your website, you will see the subscription payment form live.
An alternative method is to incorporate the subscription form using a shortcode. To obtain the shortcode, navigate to WP Simple Pay » Payment Forms within your WordPress dashboard.
Locate the subscription form and click the ‘Copy Shortcode’ button.
Next, simply paste the shortcode into any page, post, or widget-ready area. For detailed instructions on how to insert the shortcode, please refer to our guide on adding shortcodes in WordPress.
We hope this article has helped you understand how to implement free trial subscriptions in WordPress. You may also want to explore our guide on tracking customer journeys with MemberPress and our top recommendations for the best WordPress LMS plugins.
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