A free trial lets you use a paid plan before the first charge. Whether a trial is offered, and how long it lasts, is set per plan.
How to tell if a plan has a trial
When you choose a plan, each plan card shows one of two lines under the price:
- X days free: the plan starts with a free trial of that length.
- starting immediately: there's no trial, and you pay for the first billing period right away.
On the last step of creating a salon, a trial plan shows Start Trial instead of Subscribe. The summary says how long the trial is and what you'll pay after it.
Who can get a trial
A trial is for a salon's first subscription only. If the salon has had a subscription before, any new subscription starts as a paid subscription right away, even if the plan card shows a trial.
Starting a trial with or without a card
When the plan has a trial, the Billing & Payment step lets you choose:
- Add now: add a card so you're ready when the trial ends. You aren't charged today.
- Skip for now: start the trial without a payment method. Add one before the trial ends to keep access.
Either way, the subscription status shows Trialing in Settings › Plan & Billing.
What you get during the trial
- All features and limits of the plan you picked.
- Trial credits for SMS, WhatsApp and AI replies. You get the plan's monthly credits scaled to the trial length. For example, a 15-day trial on a plan with 1,000 monthly credits gives 500 credits.
Trial credits don't carry over. Whatever is left expires when the trial ends. Credits you buy yourself never expire.
Reminders before the trial ends
- Softalon emails your billing email address 3 days before the trial ends.
- In the last 3 days, the owner and super administrators see a Free Trial banner at the top of the app. If no card is saved, the banner asks you to Add payment method. On the last day it changes to Trial Ending.
When the trial ends
If a card is saved, Softalon charges your primary payment method for the first billing period. If that fails, it tries your backup method. When the payment goes through, the subscription becomes Active and you get the plan's full monthly credits.
If no card is saved, or the payment fails, the subscription moves to Incomplete. There is only one attempt at the end of a trial, with no automatic retries. You see a Subscription Incomplete banner, and features that need an active subscription stop working. For example, you can't create appointments, and workflows and the AI assistant stop.
To continue, go to Settings › Plan & Billing, click Reactivate, choose a plan and pay. This starts a paid subscription right away, because the salon has already used its trial.
If your bank asks you to confirm the payment (for example with 3D Secure), Softalon emails you a link. The subscription stays Incomplete until you confirm.
Changing or canceling during the trial
- Change plan: if you switch plans during the trial, the trial ends and you pay the full price of the new plan right away. There's no proration, because you haven't paid anything yet. See Change your plan.
- Cancel: you keep access until the trial end date, and then the subscription is canceled without a charge. See Cancel or reactivate your subscription.
Common questions
No. The first charge happens when the trial ends, and only if a payment method is saved.