How to stop free trials from charging you

Why free trials turn into charges

A free trial that asks for your card isn’t really a trial with a subscription after it. It’s a subscription with a free first period. Unless you act, it converts automatically, and the service has no reason to remind you.

Three things make trials slip. The end date is shown once, at sign-up, when you’re focused on trying the product. “Seven days” often means seven days from the minute you started, so the charge can land before the day you had in mind. And trials pile up: start three in the same week and keeping track of them becomes a job of its own.

Before you start a trial: the 60-second check

• What does it cost afterwards, and how often? Note the full price, not the introductory one.
• When exactly does it end? Write down the date, and the time if it’s shown.
• Where will you be billed? A trial started in an iPhone or Android app is billed by Apple or Google, and that’s where you’ll cancel.
• Does cancelling end access immediately? Some services stop the trial the moment you cancel.
• Is it really free? “€1 for the first month” is a paid introductory offer, and it renews at the full price.

On day one: log it and set your reminders

1. Save the end date and the price it becomes, somewhere you’ll actually look.
2. Set a reminder two days before the end, not on the last day. Charges are often taken early in the morning, sometimes in another time zone.
3. Decide at the reminder: keep it knowingly, or cancel there and then.

Cancelling early: when it’s safe and when it isn’t

Cancelling on day one is the safest way to make sure you’re never charged, but it isn’t always free of side effects. Many services keep your trial running until its end date after you cancel. Others end access straight away. Apple, for example, warns that cancelling during a free trial may end your access immediately, depending on the app.

The cancel screen usually tells you what happens next. Read it before you confirm. If it says you’ll lose access at once, keep the trial running and rely on your reminder instead.

What a missed trial costs

The yearly trial is the dangerous one. A forgotten monthly trial costs you one month before you notice. A forgotten yearly trial costs you twelve, in one go.

If a trial has already charged you

1. Cancel now, so it doesn’t renew again next cycle.
2. Ask the service for a refund quickly. Many will refund a charge made just after a trial ended, especially if you haven’t used the paid plan.
3. For app purchases, use the store. Apple takes refund requests at reportaproblem.apple.com. Google Play lets you request refunds for some purchases from your order history, and otherwise points you to the developer.
4. Know your rights. In the EU, online purchases usually come with a 14-day right of withdrawal, with exceptions for digital content you’ve already started using. It’s worth mentioning when you ask. The full route, from the service to your bank, is in how to get a refund for a subscription.

Common mistakes

• Setting the reminder for the last day. By then the charge may already be on its way.
• Deleting the app. It doesn’t cancel the trial or the subscription that follows it.
• Forgetting which account you used. Trials started with an old email or a second Google account are the hardest to find later.
• Logging the intro price. Your budget should show what you’ll really pay from the second period.
• Starting several trials at once. Stagger them so each one gets a proper look before it converts.

How Billbase handles trials

When you add a subscription in Billbase, you can mark it as a free trial and set its end date. Billbase treats that date as the first charge, shows how many days are left, and sends a reminder that says the free trial is ending rather than a normal renewal notice.

Reminders are part of the free plan, three days ahead at 09:00. With Pro you choose how far ahead and at what time. If a trial has already turned into a subscription you don’t want, here’s how to cancel it where you’re billed, and if you’ve started several trials over the years, this guide finds the ones that stuck.