Adaptive Subscriptions: How do I offer a free trial or upfront payments?

Our Adaptive Subscriptions extension offers the flexibility out-of-box to allow customers to skip their initial payment (such as allowing a free trial or free first order) or pay for their entire subscription up front so future installments are free. To offer either of these, see below.

Free Trials

You can use the Adjustment Price field on subscription products to subtract from the initial product price or Installment Price. If an Installment Price is set, you set the Adjustment Price to the negative value of that price. If there is no Installment Price, set the Adjustment Price to be the negative value of the product price (i.e. price is 14.99, Adjustment Price will need to be -14.99). These changes apply only to the cart and the initial order placement. It will not be visible on the price on the product page, and it will not apply to subsequent subscriptions billings.

Utilizing this field in this manner will allow a free first order placement, while requiring payments on future subscription rebilling. Additional cart rules may be required to enforce free shipping, if you do not offer it normally for $0 products.

Upfront Payments

Using a combination of the Installment Price and Adjustment Price fields on subscription products, you can offer upfront payments. To do so, be sure to set the Frequency to your desired amount and set an appropriate Length. The value for Length ensures there is an end date before customers must manually purchase the subscription again. Then set the Installment Price to 0, which controls the rebilling price, and set the Adjustment Price to your desired upfront cost. The Adjustment Price will apply only to the initial order at checkout.

Additional cart rules may be required to enforce free shipping on rebilling, if desired. Additional information on subscription specific cart rules can be found in our user manual.