What to check before starting a free trial

Where the trial details usually appear

Most of what is useful to know about a free trial is shown at the point of sign-up: on the offer page, on the payment screen, and in the confirmation email that follows. Once the trial has started, some of these details can be harder to find again.

A few minutes reading the sign-up screen before confirming tells you most of what this guide covers.

• How long the trial lasts and the date it ends.
• The price once the trial is over, and how often that price is charged.
• Whether payment details are taken at sign-up.
• Where and how the trial can be cancelled.

When the trial ends

A trial runs for a set period, and the day it ends is usually the day the first charge can happen. The end date — or the trial length, from which you can work it out — is normally shown at sign-up and repeated in the confirmation email.

It is worth noting the exact end date rather than a rough sense of it, because a charge that lands earlier than expected is a common source of surprise. Some trials also end at a specific time of day, which the terms may describe.

What the price becomes afterwards

A free trial is usually the opening period of a paid subscription, so the sign-up page normally states the price that applies once the trial is over. That figure — not the word "free" — is the price of what you are agreeing to.

It is worth checking how often the charge repeats (monthly or yearly), and whether the first paid price is an introductory rate that later changes to a standard one.

Whether payment details are taken upfront

Trials divide into those that ask for a card or other payment method at sign-up and those that do not. The difference matters because it determines what happens if you do nothing: a trial with payment details on file typically converts to a paid subscription automatically, while one without usually just lapses.

The sign-up flow itself makes this clear — if you are asked for payment details before the trial starts, an automatic charge at the end is the usual arrangement.

How cancellation would work

Before starting a trial, it can help to know where the cancel option will live once you have signed up. Where you subscribe from often decides this: a subscription taken out through an app store or platform is usually cancelled in that store’s settings rather than inside the service itself.

Services normally describe their cancellation route in their help pages or terms, which you can read before signing up rather than after.

• Whether cancellation is managed in the service’s own account settings or through the app store or platform you signed up through.
• Whether cancelling during the trial ends access straight away or lets the trial run to its end date.
• Whether the sign-up page or help pages describe the cancellation steps.

A note in your calendar

Some services send a reminder before a trial converts to a paid subscription, but not all do, and a reminder can arrive in a busy inbox and go unread. The one date you reliably know at sign-up is when the trial ends.

Adding that date to your own calendar at the moment you sign up — with a note of the price that starts afterwards and where cancellation is managed — means the decision point arrives on your schedule rather than by surprise. Whether you then keep, change, or cancel the subscription is entirely your choice.

A note on this guide

This guide is general information to help you understand your own contracts. It is not financial advice or a recommendation, and it does not rank or endorse any provider. Every decision about your contracts remains with you. To see how PEAMO surfaces your contracts and renewals, read How PEAMO works.