# Trial Accounts

How the free trial works, including expiry and suspension.

Source: https://statusdashboard.com/docs/org-mgmt/trial-accounts

Every new organization starts on a free trial so you can evaluate StatusDashboard before adding a payment method. During the trial you get broad feature access: publish status dashboards, post events, configure branding, and explore integrations.

No credit card is required at signup. A banner in the admin console shows your remaining trial time; when the trial ends, the organization is suspended until you subscribe. The sections below cover trial length, included capabilities, expiry behavior, and how to convert to a paid plan.

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## Trial length and visibility
New organizations start on a **free trial** so you can evaluate StatusDashboard before adding a payment method. No credit card is required to sign up.

The trial is a **fully active account**: you can use the admin console, publish status dashboards, configure custom branding and domains, send notifications, and explore paid-tier features. Your organization remains active for the full trial period unless you subscribe sooner.

* The default trial period is **14 days** from signup.
* A **trial banner** appears at the top of the admin console (and on [Billing](/app/billing)) showing your expiry date and days remaining. The banner becomes more prominent as the end date approaches.
* You receive a **reminder email** when the trial is within three days of ending.
* Your trial end date is also visible on the [Account](/app/account) page under organization details.

> Need a longer trial? [Reach out to support](/contact) and we can extend your trial period.

## What you get during the trial
Trial organizations receive broad feature access so you can test the platform realistically — including capabilities that are limited or absent on lower paid tiers (for example custom branding, custom domains, integrations, API access, and advanced notification options).

During the trial:

* **App access** — full access for the account admin. The trial includes **one user seat** (the signup admin).
* **Public status dashboards** — live and reachable at your platform subdomain (and custom domain, if configured).
* **Billing** — no payment method is required. You can open [Billing](/app/billing) at any time to subscribe early.

> Subscribing **before** the trial ends moves your organization to a paid plan immediately and avoids any interruption when the trial period ends.

## When the trial ends without a subscription
If you do **not** subscribe before your trial end date, your organization is suspended, usually within **24 hours** after that date. You may briefly see a “trial has ended” message in the admin console while your account is still active; access is then restricted until you subscribe.

### What changes at suspension
| Area                          | Effect                                                                                                                       |
| ----------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Sign-in**                   | Still works — you can log in to reach [Billing](/app/billing) and re-subscribe.                                              |
| **App**                       | Operational features are blocked. Only [Billing](/app/billing) and basic account context remain available.                   |
| **Public status dashboards**  | Unavailable (visitors see an offline message).                                                                               |
| **API keys**                  | Denied — trial entitlements are cleared at suspension.                                                                       |
| **Custom branding & domains** | Provisioned resources (logos, custom email senders, custom domains) are **removed** from AWS and cleared from configuration. |

Your historical data (events, components, users, dashboards configuration in the database, etc.) is **retained**. Suspension is a **soft close** designed so you can return and subscribe without starting from scratch — but you will need to **reconfigure** branding and custom domains if you had them during the trial.

You receive a **trial ended** email when suspension occurs.

## Returning after trial expiry
If your trial expired and the organization was suspended:

1. Sign in with your existing admin account (your login still works).
2. Open [Billing](/app/billing) from the left navigation or the banner prompt.
3. Choose a plan, enter payment details, and **Subscribe**.

Your organization is **reactivated** immediately on a successful subscription. Plan features are restored according to the tier you selected — not the full trial feature set. For example, **Basic** does not include every capability you may have used during trial; see [Plans & Pricing](/docs/org-mgmt/billing/plans) for tier details.

Because trial suspension tears down custom branding and custom domain infrastructure, you must **set those up again** after subscribing if your new plan includes them.

> **Subscribe before expiry** if you want to avoid any interruption to public status dashboards or custom domain/branding setup. Early subscription is the only self-serve path that skips suspension entirely.