Configure a free trial without collecting payment details

Create a Checkout Session with the following:

• A subscription_data parameter with:
  • trial_period_days set to the length (in days) of your free trial. In this example, the trial period is 30 days.
  • trial_settings[end_behavior][missing_payment_method] set to cancel (or pause) if the trial ends without a payment method attached. View Use trial periods to learn more.
• The payment_method_collection parameter set to if_required. This tells Stripe that collecting payment information at checkout is optional.

curl https://api.stripe.com/v1/checkout/sessions \
  -u "
sk_test_4eC39HqLyjWDarjtT1zdp7dc
:" \
  -d mode=subscription \
  --data-urlencode success_url="https://example.com/success" \
  --data-urlencode cancel_url="https://example.com/cancel" \
  -d "line_items[0][price]"={{PRICE_ID}} \
  -d "line_items[0][quantity]"=1 \
  -d "subscription_data[trial_settings][end_behavior][missing_payment_method]"=cancel \
  -d "subscription_data[trial_period_days]"=30 \
  -d payment_method_collection=if_required

Before the trial expires, collect payment details from your customer.

Under Manage free trial messaging in your Subscriptions and emails settings, you can choose to automatically send a reminder email when a customer’s trial is about to expire.

Next, select the Link to a Stripe-hosted page option so the reminder email contains a link for the customer to add or update their payment details. We don’t send free trial reminder emails in test mode. Learn more about how to set up free trial reminders.

You must comply with card network requirements when offering trials. Learn more about compliance requirements for trials and promotion.