# Offer paywall trials https://help.circle.so/p/payments/paywall-trials/offer-paywall-trials Category: [Payments](https://help.circle.so/p/payments) › [Paywall trials](https://help.circle.so/p/payments/paywall-trials) --- _Last updated: August, 2026_ Offer a free or paid trial for your community's paywalls, allowing members to fully experience the exclusive membership content before committing to paid membership. This article covers how to offer a trial with a paywall. ## **Understanding paywall trials** Paywall trials can be an effective strategy to increase your membership base and reduce the entry barrier for new members. By offering access to your exclusive content during a trial period, potential members can assess the benefits of becoming a paid member.  Additionally, you can collect valuable feedback from members during their trial period, which can be used to improve your community content. You can configure free and paid trials for **subscription** and **installment** pricing in your paywalls. ### **Free trial** With free trials, you can allow members to enjoy the perks of membership without any initial purchase or commitment. For example, you can provide a 14-day free trial for a paywall following a monthly subscription of $20. Free trials can be set for subscription and installment pricing with or without upfront payments. You can enable the setting to require members to provide their payment information when they start a trial. ### **Paid trial** Paid trials can help you increase your revenue while still offering a taste of what your community is all about. You can set up a paid trial using an upfront payment configuration in both subscription and installment pricing. For instance, you can set up a paywall with an upfront payment of $20 for a trial period of 30 days. Once the trial expires, members can pay four monthly installments of $50 to gain lifetime access to your premium content. > ℹ️ **Note:** Adding a trial to the existing paywall will only apply to new member subscriptions. > > Additionally, if you change the trial duration of an existing paywall, all members who signed up prior to the change will remain on the number of trial days that were applied when they signed up. * * * ## Setting up a free trial To set up a free trial: 1. Click the community name or logo in the top-left corner and select **Paywalls**. 2. If you are setting up:  - **A new paywall** : Click **Create paywall** and start by adding details to a paywall using the guide[](/p/payments/paywall-setup)[**here**](/p/payments/paywall-setup). - **An existing paywall** : Hover over the paywall, and click the **More actions (three dots)** icon and select[** Edit**](https://help.circle.so/p/payments/paywall-management/updating-a-paywall). 1. In the **Price options** section in the  **Product**  tab, configure the following: - **Trial** : Enable the  **Offer a trial period**  toggle. Add the preferred number of days for the trial. You can add up to 730 days of trial duration. - **Price** : To add a price for a free trial, click  **Add price**. - Click **Add.** 1. Once you have reviewed the pricing setup:  - If you have added the price to a new paywall, continue with the remaining setup by clicking  **Next** in the top-right corner. - If you have added the price to an existing paywall, click  **Save**  in the top-right corner to apply your changes. You're all set! On the paywall checkout page, members can see all the essential information, including free trial duration and future payment amounts. Additionally, members can apply a coupon code for potential discounts. If [**tax collection**](https://help.circle.so/p/payments/taxes) is enabled, members must enter their billing address. Moreover, there’s an option to include their Tax ID directly on the checkout page. ![](https://assets-v2.circle.so/f8nre2zawvrvym7zegsdv0kh8pug) **What happens at the end of a free trial period?** The events to charge your members occur based on your configuration for payment method requirements. Let's look at what happens when the **Require debit/credit card** option is enabled or disabled for a free trial period. 💡  **Tip:**  Here are our member-focused articles on managing their subscriptions and payments that you can use to share the information: - [**Upgrade your trial membership subscription**](/p/members/my-billing/upgrade-your-trial-membership-subscription) - [**Add or update payment method for your membership subscription**](https://help.circle.so/c/member-billing/add-or-update-payment-method-for-your-membership-subscription) - [**Manage your membership subscriptions**](/p/members/my-billing/manage-your-membership-subscriptions) ### **Require debit/credit card enabled** If this option is enabled: - Members will be automatically charged at the end of their trial unless they [**cancel**](/p/members/my-billing/manage-your-membership-subscriptions) their trial paywall before the renewal. - Members can [**update**](https://help.circle.so/c/member-billing/add-or-update-payment-method-for-your-membership-subscription) their payment method before renewal if they prefer a different one. - If members do not want to continue the trial, they can [**cancel**](/p/members/my-billing/manage-your-membership-subscriptions) it anytime, and their paywall access will be revoked. 📚 For details on failed subscription charges, check out our guide on [**Understanding the cancellation process for failed payments**](/p/payments/paywall-management/understanding-the-cancellation-process-for-failed-payments) **.** ### **Require debit/credit card disabled** When this option is disabled: - Members must enter their payment details to continue using their paywall membership after the trial ends. They can do so any time during their trial by following these steps:  - Existing members who have previously added a payment method while purchasing another paywall will be automatically charged using the same method unless they [**choose to update it through their billing settings**](https://help.circle.so/c/member-billing/add-or-update-payment-method-for-your-membership-subscription)[.](https://help.circle.so/c/member-billing/add-or-update-payment-method-for-your-membership-subscription) - If members do not want to continue the trial, they can [**cancel**](/p/members/my-billing/manage-your-membership-subscriptions) it anytime, and their paywall access will be revoked. > 🔔 **Notifications:** Members will also receive a reminder email and an in-app notification **3 days** before the end of the trial if they haven't added a payment method. If no payment method has been added by the end of the trial period, the member’s subscription status will be updated to **Past Due,** and the member will be asked to add their payment details in order to regain access to the paywall. If the member fails to provide a valid payment method within the [**retry schedule**](/p/payments/paywall-trials/automatically-remove-member-s-access-from-paywalled-content-after-trial-ends) you have set in your Stripe account, the subscription status will be updated to **Canceled** , and access to paywalled content will be revoked. 📚 To learn more about implementing a stricter policy around failed payment to revoke member access to paywalled content one day after the end of the trial (this is the earliest option), see [**Automatically remove member's access from paywalled content after trial ends.**](/p/payments/paywall-trials/automatically-remove-member-s-access-from-paywalled-content-after-trial-ends) ## Setting up a paid trial To set up a paid trial: 1. Select **Payments** in the left sidebar, then select **Paywalls**. 2. If you are setting up: - **A new paywall** : Click  **New paywall**  and start by adding details to a paywall using the guide [**here**](https://help.circle.so/p/payments/paywall-setup). - **An existing paywall** : Hover over the paywall, and click the **More actions (three dots)** icon and select [**Edit**](https://help.circle.so/p/payments/paywall-management/updating-a-paywall). 1. In the **Price options** section in the  **Product**  tab, configure the following: - **Trial** : Enable the  **Offer a trial period**  toggle. Add the preferred number of days for the trial. You can add up to 730 days of trial duration. > ℹ️  **Note** : If you are creating a new paywall or haven’t already added any prices to an existing paywall, please add a sample subscription price first by clicking  **Add price**. This will make the settings section appear on the pricing tab. You can then remove the sample price later if you don’t need it. - **Price** : To add a price for a paid trial, click  **Add price**. 1. Once you have reviewed the pricing setup: - If you have added the price to a new paywall, continue with the remaining setup by clicking  **Next** in the top-right corner. - If you have added the price to an existing paywall, click  **Save**  in the top-right corner to apply your changes. You're all set! On the paywall checkout page, members can see all the essential information. This includes the amount due for the paid trial, trial duration, future payment amounts, and the total due upon purchase. Additionally, members can apply a coupon code for potential discounts. If [tax collection](/p/payments/taxes) is enabled, members must enter their billing address. Moreover, there will be an option to include their Tax ID directly on the checkout page. ### **What happens at the end of a paid trial period?** Since the member has already added the payment method to start the paid trial, they are charged for the paid membership once their trial period ends. If members do not want to continue the trial, they can [**cancel**](https://help.circle.so/p/members/my-billing/manage-your-membership-subscriptions) at any time, and their paywall access will be revoked. Additionally, if the payment fails, Stripe attempts to charge members according to the [**retry schedule**](https://help.circle.so/p/payments/paywall-trials/automatically-remove-member-s-access-from-paywalled-content-after-trial-ends). If all retry attempts are exhausted, the member's subscription status is updated to **Canceled** , resulting in the removal of access from paywalled content. ## **Relevant articles** - [**Set up a paywall**](/p/payments/paywall-setup/set-up-a-paywall) - [**Export member subscriptions and transactions data**](/p/payments/paywall-management/export-member-subscriptions-and-transactions-data) - [**Extend trial duration for paywall subscriptions**](/p/payments/paywall-trials/extend-trial-duration-for-paywall-subscriptions) - [**Automatically remove member's paywall access upon cancellation or failed payments**](/p/payments/paywall-management/automatically-remove-member-s-paywall-access-upon-cancellation-or-failed-payments)