Building a Free-Trial-to-Paid Journey
Overview
A free trial is a promise: try it now, pay later if you stay. The job of the journey is to make that promise effortless to start, obvious to convert, and graceful when a card fails. A free-trial-to-paid journey signs the customer up, starts them on a trial, and — when the trial ends — converts them to the paid plan automatically, with reminders along the way and a recovery path if the first charge doesn't go through.
This guide builds that flow end to end. It pairs with "Creating a Trial Bundle that Auto-Converts to Paid" (which covers the catalog side — the trial + paid products and their activation timing); here we focus on the journey that wraps it.
The example we'll build
Helios, an analytics SaaS, offers a 14-day free trial of its Pro plan. A visitor signs up, optionally puts a card on file, and uses Pro free for 14 days. On day 15 the subscription converts to paid automatically. Helios sends reminders on day 10 and day 13, and if the conversion charge fails, the customer is routed to fix their payment instead of silently churning.
Before you begin
A trial bundle in your catalog — a trial product and the paid product, with activation timing set so the paid charge starts when the trial term ends (see the trial-bundle guide for the catalog mechanics: contract-effective vs. service-activation timing).
A billing integration connected so the trial subscription and its conversion are real.
Notification templates for the reminder emails (managed from your user menu, bottom-left → Settings → Notification Templates).
1. Create the signup journey
Go to Content → Journeys and click + New Journey.
Set Type to E-Commerce (a public, unauthenticated signup) and name it (for example Pro — Free Trial).
Add the steps a trial signup needs, each bound to a page:
Plan (trial) → Signup → Billing → Confirmation
Plan — present the trial offer (the trial bundle). Give the step the Pricing role if it's a custom pricing page.
Signup — the Signup role; its locked internal actions create the organization and contact.
Billing — the Payment role. Decide your trial model here (next step).
Confirmation — the thank-you / "your trial has started" page.
2. Decide your trial model: card up front or not
Two common patterns, both supported by what the billing step collects:
Card required ("reverse trial"). The customer enters a payment method during signup; the trial bundle's activation timing converts them to paid automatically when the trial ends. Best conversion, slightly higher signup friction.
No card ("opt-in trial"). Skip payment capture at signup; the customer adds a card before the trial ends (via a reminder link) to continue. Lower friction, requires a stronger reminder push.
For a card-up-front trial, the Payment-role billing step captures the method and the create_order action places the trial bundle so conversion is hands-off.
3. Let the bundle do the conversion
You don't build "convert on day 15" as a journey step — the trial bundle's activation timing does it. In the journey Settings, the activation-timing defaults line up with the bundle: the trial charge starts on the contract-effective date and the paid charge starts after the trial term, so the paid subscription activates automatically when the trial ends. The journey's job is just to create the order correctly; billing carries it from there.
4. Nudge the conversion with reminders
Trials convert far better when the customer sees it coming. Use notification templates to send:
Day 10 — "4 days left in your trial" with what they'd lose.
Day 13 — "Your trial ends tomorrow" (and, for no-card trials, a direct add payment method link to a payment page so they can continue).
Activate the templates for the trial events you want to fire on.
5. Handle the conversion charge — and failures
When the trial converts, the first paid charge runs. If it fails (expired card, insufficient funds), don't let the customer churn silently:
Branch failed conversions into a dunning recovery flow — a "fix your failed payment" page that captures a fresh payment method and settles the charge. See Building a Dunning Recovery Journey.
6. Preview, publish, and measure
Preview the whole flow — signup, trial start, and (with billing test data) the conversion path — then Publish to get the public URL you'll drive trial traffic to.
Track it on the Analytics funnels: signups started → trials started → trials converted, plus where drop-off happens. That tells you whether to tune the offer, the reminders, or the billing step.
Get creative
Convert early. Add an "Upgrade now and save" step inside the trial so eager customers can convert before day 14 — often for a small incentive.
Freemium instead of expiry. Branch trial-enders who don't convert to a free tier rather than cutting them off, then win them back later.
Usage-gated trial. End the trial on a usage milestone (records imported, seats invited) rather than a fixed date by branching on a usage value in context.
Tips
Let the bundle convert, not the journey. Conversion timing lives in the trial bundle's activation settings — the journey just needs to create the order correctly.
Match journey activation defaults to the bundle. If the journey's activation-timing settings and the bundle disagree, conversion timing drifts.
Always plan for the failed first charge. A trial that converts but can't collect is a silent churn — route it to dunning.
FAQ
Do I need a card to start the trial?
That's your choice — capture a payment method on the Payment-role billing step for a card-required trial, or skip it for a no-card trial and drive the card capture with a reminder before the trial ends.
How does the trial actually become paid?
The trial bundle's activation timing does it: the paid charge is scheduled to start when the trial term ends, so the subscription converts automatically — no extra journey step required.
What happens if the conversion charge fails?
Branch it into a dunning-recovery flow so the customer can fix their payment, rather than losing them silently. See the dunning guide.
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