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## Resource: Set Up and Manage Free Trials
## Article: Set Up and Manage Free Trials
## Article Link: https://dev.wix.com/docs/build-apps/launch-your-app/pricing-and-billing/set-up-and-manage-free-trials.md
## Article Content:
# Set Up and Manage Free Trials
A free trial is an optional, popular marketing tactic that lets users try paid features of your app for a limited period. After the trial, users are charged automatically and need to opt out if they don't want to pay to continue using the paid features of your app.
Apps with stable, recurring fees that are billed monthly or yearly and use the Wix billing system can have free trials fully managed by Wix. This includes:
- Displaying a free trial's availability at various touch points on the [Wix App Market](https://www.wix.com/app-market).
- Prompting users to "Start a Free Trial" after installation via Manage Apps or other locations.
- Taking payment details when a user opts in for the free trial (this increases conversion).
- Notifying the user by email when a free trial is purchased, canceled, and about to end.
- Automatically charging the user when the free trial ends (users can immediately cancel the free trial at any point on their Wix subscriptions page).
> **Note:** Apps that use external billing, usage-based pricing or offer single purchases must manage their own free trials. Learn how to [set up a self-managed free trial](#set-up-a-self-managed-free-trial).
## Set up a Wix-managed free trial
The following sections explain how to set up a Wix-managed free trial, including how to:
- Activate and configure a free trial in your app's dashboard.
- Detect a user's free trial activity, such as when they start a free trial.
- Set up UI states in your app to reflect the trial's availability and status.
**Important:** Free trials don't appear in your payouts dashboard until the trial ends and the user is successfully charged.
### Step 1 | Activate and configure a free trial
1. Go to the [**Pricing**](https://manage.wix.com/app-selector?title=Select+an+App&primaryButtonText=Select+Site&actionUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fdev.wix.com%2Fapps%2F%7BappId%7D%2Fpricing) page in your app's dashboard.
2. Enable **Free Trial**.
3. Input the amount of days you want to offer the trial for (up to 30 days).
4. Click **Save**.
> **Note:** Free trials are applied to users and existing plans only after submitting, approving, and publishing a new app version. Free trials are compatible with other discounts like yearly discounts and sales.
### Step 2 | Detect a user's free trial activity
When a user begins a free trial plan, Wix considers them as paying customers, and triggers [Paid Plan Purchased](https://dev.wix.com/docs/rest/app-management/app-instance/paid-plan-purchased.md).
To detect if a user is on a free trial, call [Get App Instance](https://dev.wix.com/docs/rest/app-management/app-instance/get-app-instance.md). Check the returned `instance` properties, and activate or deactivate your app's paid features accordingly.
- ```isFree```: ```false``` if a user is on a paid plan or free trial.
- ```billing```: Only appears if `isFree` is `false`. Contains a property `freeTrialInfo` with ```status``` and ```endDate``` (to check how many days are left in the trial).
- ```freeTrialAvailable```: Indicates if a user is eligible for a free trial or not.
When the free trial ends, and the user's credit card is charged, you won't receive a notification. However, if the user cancels before their credit card is charged, [Paid Plan Auto Renewal Canceled](https://dev.wix.com/docs/rest/app-management/app-instance/paid-plan-auto-renewal-cancelled.md) is triggered.
> **Note for Blocks developers:** Free trial fields aren't available in the [decoded instance](https://dev.wix.com/docs/velo/velo-only-apis/wix-application/get-decoded-app-instance.md) and the ```vendorProductId``` will be updated once a user upgrades to a free trial plan. We recommend using the REST/SDK instance to receive information on free trials.
### Step 3 | Set up UI states in your app
For users eligible for a free trial, prompt them to start the trial with a button. You can know if a user is eligible by checking the `freeTrialAvailable` property returned from [Get App Instance](https://dev.wix.com/docs/rest/app-management/app-instance/get-app-instance.md).
> **Note:** A free trial can only be used once per app per Wix account. If a Wix user has already used a free trial for your app, they aren't eligible for another one.
Since a free trial is considered an upgrade, your button should link to your app's pricing page opened in a new tab. Use the following URL, replacing `` and `` with their respective values:
```plaintext
https://www.wix.com/apps/upgrade/?appInstanceId=
```
> **Note:** If your app is built with Wix Blocks, see [Provide Entry Points to Upgrade a Blocks App](https://dev.wix.com/docs/build-apps/develop-your-app/frameworks/wix-blocks/publish-blocks-apps-to-the-app-market/provide-entry-points-to-upgrade-your-app.md).
If your app offers only a premium plan with a free trial, choose one of these approaches until the user starts the trial:
- **Fully lock the app:** Block all functionality and prompt the user to start the free trial.
- **Partially lock the app:** Keep settings accessible but disable core features.
### Step 4 | Test your free trial flow
After you've activated a free trial as described in step 1:
1. Add a recurring pricing plan in your app's dashboard and save it.
1. Listen to relevant webhooks such as Paid Plan Purchased.
1. Install the app on your site and check the App Instance: ```isfree``` should be true.
1. Upgrade the app with free trial for the new recurring pricing plan you just created.
1. Check that you receive the Paid Plan Purchased webhook and the relevant fields in App Instance are updated.
> **Note**: Wix-managed free trials are available to new users only. This means that if you tested your purchase flow, you won't be able to test the Wix-managed free trial flow afterward from the same Wix account for the same app. Create a new test app if necessary.
## Transition from a self-managed free trial to a Wix-managed free trial
When your new app version is published with a Wix-managed free trial any users that are currently enrolled in the self-managed free trial will be offered the new free trial as well. Your app can prompt users to move to the new free trial and end their current one.
## Set up a self-managed free trial
**Important:** As of June 01, 2024, this workaround solution is only relevant for apps that use external billing, usage-based pricing or offer single purchases.
When a free trial is activated in the app dashboard, Wix displays a free trial’s availability in various places on the Wix App Market. However, it’s the app’s responsibility to:
- Manage the user experience.
- Notify users when a free trial is purchased, canceled, and about to end.
- Charge users when the free trial ends.
### Step 1 | Activate a free trial in the app dashboard
1. Go to the [**Pricing**](https://manage.wix.com/app-selector?title=Select+an+App&primaryButtonText=Select+Site&actionUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fdev.wix.com%2Fapps%2F%7BappId%7D%2Fpricing) page in your app’s dashboard.
2. Enable **Free Trial**.
3. Input the amount of days you want to offer the trial for (up to 99 days).
4. Click **Save**.
5. Your app needs to be submitted, approved and published for changes to take place.
### Step 2 | Set up UI states within your app
You need to set up the following ‘availability’ states within your app:
1. App is added, trial started. Usually the app has its features active during the trial days. You can also show a counter of how many days are left.
2. Trial ended after X days. The app should be locked or minimal.
## See also
- [Set up a freemium model](https://dev.wix.com/docs/build-apps/launch-your-app/pricing-and-billing/set-up-a-freemium-business-model.md)
- [About pricing plans and business models](https://dev.wix.com/docs/build-apps/launch-your-app/pricing-and-billing/about-pricing-plans-and-business-models.md)