Trial subscriptions let your customers try a product or service for a set period at no cost. They are not charged during the trial, giving them a risk-free way to experience the product before committing. Once the trial ends, the subscription automatically converts into a paid plan and billing begins based on the cycle you define, such as 7 days, 15 days, or monthly.
Examples of trial subscriptions include
Skincare: 7-day free trial of a daily moisturiser before starting a monthly plan
Fitness app: 14-day free access to premium workouts before billing begins
Tea brand: First box free, then charged monthly for curated tea blends
Supplements: One-week trial pack before converting to a recurring order
Ways to setup trial subscriptions
There are two ways to set up trial subscriptions:
Using Dynamic discounts
Using Loop flows
Setting up trial subscriptions using dynamic discounts
Using the discounts feature, you can configure your selling plan to offer the first cycle at a reduced rate. After the first cycle, the pricing automatically returns to the regular rate.
Follow these steps to set it up:
Navigate to Loop admin > Acquire > Selling plans, then click Create selling plan.
Configure the selling plan to apply a 100% discount on the first cycle. Make sure the Change discount after a specific number of payments option is enabled.
In this case, after the initial order, we have chosen to have no discount on the product, thereby offering the product at full price. Essentially, this creates a trial subscription for a period of 30 days using custom discounting. You can adjust these values to match the type of trial you want to offer.
Setting up trial subscriptions using Loop flows
You can use Loop flows to create a more dynamic trial subscription experience. There are two ways to set up a trial using flows:
Product swap method: Offer a free trial product and automatically swap it with the paid subscription product after the trial ends.
Trial period method: Add a trial period directly to a subscription so that billing starts only after the trial is complete.
Both methods share the same initial setup steps. The difference is in the Then condition, where you choose the action that matches your trial strategy.
Common setup steps
Follow these steps for both methods:
Navigate to Loop admin > Retain > Flows, then click Create flow.
Enter the name of the flow and set the "When" condition (trigger event), choose from either option based on your requirement. We are using option "A new subscription is created" for this example.
Learn more: Navigate to Flows > When conditions
Under the IF condition, click + Add conditions and select the condition that matches your use case. Conditions can be subscription-based, product-based, customer-based, bundle-based, or demographic-based. You can select more than once condition based on your specific use case
Learn more: Navigate to Flows > IF conditionsFrom this point, the two methods differ in what you configure under the Then condition.
Method 1: Product swap
This method works best when the trial and paid products are different. It swaps the free trial product with the full-size subscription product after the trial ends and billing starts.
Prerequisites
Before setting up the flow, make sure these things are in place:
Create a trial product: Duplicate your original product and set its price to $0. This acts as the trial version offered in the first cycle.
Set up two selling plans: One plan maps to the trial product with the frequency set to 7 days and no discount applied at the plan level. The other plan links to the full-size product with the frequency set to 1 month and a desired discount applied, for example, $15 fixed price off.
Configuring the Then condition
Under the Then condition, add two actions: first, Swap product to replace the trial product with the original one, and second, Change subscription plan to switch to the plan linked with the original product.
Save the flow and set the status to Active.
End result
The trial product frequency is set to 7 days, which serves as the trial period. Once a customer purchases the trial product, the flow triggers. The product is swapped post-purchase, the selling plan changes, the first billing date is set to 7 days from purchase, and the delivery frequency for subsequent orders updates to one month per the new plan.
Method 2: Trial period
This method adds a trial period directly to the subscription. The customer subscribes to the product, and billing starts only after the trial period is complete. No product swap is involved.
Configuring the Then condition
Under the Then condition, select Add trial period from the subscription-based actions. Enter the number of trial days. Subscription billing starts after the trial period is complete.
Save the flow and set the status to Active.
End result
When a customer subscribes, the flow triggers and applies the trial period to the subscription. The customer is not charged during the trial days. Once the trial period is complete, billing starts automatically based on the selling plan's frequency and pricing.
Note: Flows are available exclusively on the Loop Pro plan.
FAQs
How can I use Loop to offer a free trial that automatically transitions into a paid subscription?
How can I use Loop to offer a free trial that automatically transitions into a paid subscription?
To offer a free trial that automatically transitions into a paid subscription, you can choose one of the two suitable ways:
Dynamic Discounts – Use Loop's selling plans to give customers a 100% discount on the first billing cycle (e.g., a free product), and charge the full price in subsequent cycles. This method is simple and doesn't involve product changes.
Loop Flows – Set up an automated flow in Loop that starts customers on a free trial product and, after a set period (like 14 days), automatically swaps the product and updates the subscription plan to a paid version. This is ideal when the trial and paid products are different.
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Loop Subscriptions team 🙂