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# Configure a Free Trial Offering for a Given Subscription

You can define a free trial offering for a given Subscribe product using the Subscribe Merchant Portal.

* **Use Case Number:** 2-1-03
* **Completed By:** Business Manager
* **Estimated Completion Time:** \<1 day

## Design Approach

Any product can be sold with the inclusion of a free trial offer. The duration of the Free Trial Period is controlled by the Billing Plan associated with the purchased subscription. For more information about Subscribe Billing Plans, see [Billing Plans](https://docs.vindicia.com/bundle/Subscribe_Portal2_User_Guide/page/topics/billingPlanAbout.html) in the **Subscribe Merchant Portal User Guide**.

You will need to create a different Billing Plan for each different subscription recurrence period, for example, one for Monthly subscriptions and one for Yearly subscriptions. The same Billing Plan can be used to grant a Free Trial period for any product. Note that the duration of the Free Trial period can be different between Billing Plans and different from the recurrence period for the subscription. For example, you can offer a monthly subscription with a seven-day free trial period or a yearly subscription with a 10-day free trial period.

Use the following steps to configure Billing Plans that include Free Trial Periods.

* **[Create Billing Plans With Free Trial Periods Using the Subscribe Portal](../topics/2103_r_configureFreeTrial#)**

**Parent topic:**[Free Trials](../topics/r_freeTrials)

## Create Billing Plans With Free Trial Periods Using the Subscribe Portal

Determine the Subscription offering that require a free trial offer.

1. In Subscribe Merchant Portal 2.0, select your starting point from the following options:

   * To create a new Billing Plan, click the **+ New** button and select **Billing Plan**.
   * To duplicate an existing Billing Plan, select the relevant existing Billing Plan from **Catalog** > **Billing Plans** and click **Duplicate**.
   * To edit an existing Billing Plan (for which there are no live subscriptions), select the relevant existing Billing Plan from **Catalog** > **Billing Plans** and click **Edit**.

     **Note:** You can edit the Billing Plan as long as it has not been used as part of a subscription.

2. Define the following Billing Plan fields in the Details Pane:

   1. In the **ID** field , enter your unique Billing Plan ID.

      The Billing Plan ID uniquely identifies this Billing Plan within Subscribe. The value can be any alphanumeric value up to 255 characters.

   2. In the **Description** field, enter a meaningful description for the Billing Plan.

      The Billing Plan Description is a free form text field up to 255 characters long.

   3. For **Status** Toggle, decide whether to set to Active or leave Inactive.

      Only an Active Billing Plan becomes part of the Product Catalog and can be used for subscriptions.

3. In the Billing Periods pane, configure the free trial Billing Period as Billing Period 1:

   1. To create a one-month free trial, in Billing Period 1 set the **Cycle Length** to **1** and select **Months** from the drop-down list.

   2. Set the **Repeat Cycle** field to **1** Time/s.

      This gives the subscriber one initial free period.

   3. Move the **Trial Period** toggle to **Yes** (move right) to set this Billing Period as a free trial period.

      When you enable the **Trial Period**, Subscribe requires you to define a second Billing Period. This second Billing Period controls the recurrence following the free trial. In this way, your free trial period can be a different duration than your recurrence period.

4. In the Billing Periods pane, configure the recurring Billing Period:

   1. Click **Add Billing Period** to add a second Billing Period.

   2. For the associated subscriptions to recur once per month, set the **Cycle Length** to **1** and from the drop-down list, select **Months**.

      Select the frequency you require. Days, Weeks, Months, Years are the available options.

   3. In the **Repeat Cycle** field, select the **Unlimited** radio button.

      Associated subscriptions will recur indefinitely following the free trial period.

5. Click **Save** or **Update** to save the Billing Plan in Subscribe.

6. Repeat the steps above to create additional Billing Plans with a Free Trial Period.

   The product catalog is defined in Subscribe with free trial offerings.

**Parent topic:**[Configure a Free Trial Offering for a Given Subscription](../topics/2103_r_configureFreeTrial#)


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