In addition to directly giving free readers a free trial to your publication, you can now add a free trial to a paywall on your Substack post.
Readers will be able to read a free preview of your post and see a 7-day free trial offer to your publication once they reach the paywall.
To enable a free trial offer on your paywalls, head to your publication's Settings page and click on Payments in the left navigation bar. In this section, slide the toggle next to "Offer 7-day free trials in paywall".
What steps does a reader need to do to get the free trial? Do they need to enter their payment information?
In order to redeem the free trial, free readers will need to select a subscription plan and enter their card payment details.
Tip: Once a free trial begins, you may receive a "New Paid Subscription" confirmation email with a coupon the new subscriber used. This coupon is the free trial.
How do readers cancel a free trial?
To cancel a free trial and avoid being automatically charged on the subscription plan they've selected, readers will need to go to their Substack account and cancel their plan.
What can readers on a free trial access?
Free readers will be like paid subscribers and can access your paid posts and archives.Â
Note: At this time, free readers who accept the free trial will be counted as paying subscribers but will not be counted towards your GAR until their trial ends and they start paying.
Where can I see how many readers are on a free trial?
Head to your Subscribers dashboard and click on "Paid subscribers". Readers who are on a free trial will appear as a new category labeled "Free trials" and you'll be able to see the exact number of subscribers who are in that category.