This article explains what happens when a paid plan's free trial ends. The outcome depends on whether the plan required a payment method to start the trial, set with the Payment method required switch in the plan's Free Trial section.
Free Trial With a Payment Method
The Charge at the End of the Trial
If a payment method was required, the client already has a card on file for the whole trial and doesn't pay anything until it ends.
When the trial expires, Stripe automatically attempts to charge that card — unless the client removed it from their billing portal during the trial. If the charge succeeds, the client's status moves from Trialing to Active: they're now officially subscribed, and Stripe will process the payment automatically every month or year going forward.
When the Charge Fails
If the charge fails — for example, because of insufficient funds or an expired card — the subscription stops being active and the platform locks. The client sees the Update Your Subscription page with an Open Billing Portal button, and their card in your Clients section shows Past Due (then Unpaid once Stripe stops trying).
The client needs to fix their payment method, either by adding funds or switching to a different card. Stripe retries the payment, and once it succeeds the status returns to Active and regular billing continues.
Free Trial Without a Payment Method
If the Client Adds a Card During the Trial
If no payment method was required, there are two possible paths.
If the client adds a payment method themselves at some point during the trial — from their billing portal, using Add payment method — the same logic as above applies once the trial ends: Stripe attempts the payment, and the client ends up either Active (payment succeeded) or locked out with Past Due / Unpaid (payment failed, platform locked until it's resolved).
If the Client Never Adds a Card
If the client never adds a payment method during the trial, there's nothing for Stripe to charge when the trial expires. In that case the subscription is paused rather than billed: the status moves from Trialing to Paused, no money is collected, and the client is locked out. When they try to use the platform they land on the Update Your Subscription page and open the billing portal from there. As soon as a working payment method is in place, billing and access resume.
This is the moment where most trials are won or lost, so it's worth reaching out personally to clients sitting in Paused — they've used the platform for the whole trial and just never entered a card.
Automated Trial Emails
Which Emails Go Out
Beyond the welcome email, the platform can send clients on a paid plan a few other emails around the trial. They all start switched off, so each one only goes out once you've enabled it:
- Trial Ending Soon — sent exactly 3 days before the trial ends.
- Trial Ended - Payment Successful — sent when the trial ends and the payment goes through.
- Trial Ended - No Payment — sent when the trial ends without a completed payment.
- Charge Succeeded and Charge Failed — sent on each later payment, depending on the outcome.
All of these apply to paid (Stripe) clients only.
Customizing Them
You manage these emails on the Templates tab of Settings > Emails (titled Communications on screen). You can turn each template on or off with the Enabled switch, rewrite its sender, subject and text (with variables such as the login link available for personalization), and send yourself a test with Test template. Note that client emails containing a login link are only sent once your white-label domain is connected and verified — see the Platform Emails article for details.