Free trial terms for a SaaS product

A free trial is a contract on unusual terms: the customer pays nothing, receives the product, and is expected to pay for it later, sometimes without doing anything further. The terms have to define what the trial includes, say how and when it converts to a paid plan, meet the rules on reminders and consent where the triallist is a consumer, deal with card details taken at sign-up, say what happens to the customer's data if the trial lapses, and give the supplier a way to end a trial that is being abused. I draft those terms for a fixed fee of £995, delivered in five working days.

Who this is for

Software businesses in England and Wales offering a time-limited or usage-limited free trial of a SaaS product to businesses or consumers, whether the trial requires a card and converts automatically or ends unless the customer subscribes.

What matters in free trial terms

What the trial includes and what it does not

The terms should define the trial by its period or usage allowance, the features and limits included, that the service is provided as it is during the trial with no service level commitment, that the supplier may limit, change or withdraw the trial at any time, and that the trial is one per person or business, because a trial without limits is a free product. For a business triallist the terms are standard terms judged for reasonableness under the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977, and a broad exclusion of liability during a free trial is more likely to be reasonable than one in a paid contract.

Conversion, reminders and consumer triallists

Where the trial converts to a paid subscription unless cancelled, a consumer must be told before the trial that it will convert, at what price and when, and Part 4 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 is introducing rules for subscription contracts that require a reminder before a free or discounted period ends and a cancellation route no harder than signing up. The terms should state the conversion mechanics, and the sign-up and the reminder should say the same, because a conversion the consumer did not understand is a charge they will dispute.

Card details, payment and the first charge

Where a card is taken at sign-up, the terms should say that no charge is made during the trial, when the first charge is taken and for what, that the consumer can cancel before it, and that payment is taken under the subscription terms that then apply. The fourteen-day cancellation right under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 applies to the paid subscription when it starts, and the terms should capture the consent to immediate supply under regulation 37 at conversion, not only at trial sign-up.

Trial data, accounts and what happens after

The terms should say what happens to data the triallist enters if the trial ends without conversion (retained for a stated period so that the customer can subscribe and continue, then deleted), that the triallist may export it during the trial, and that the supplier processes personal data in it as a processor under Article 28 of the UK GDPR from the first day, because a trial is not exempt from data protection. Marketing to lapsed triallists follows the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 and the privacy notice.

Support, availability and changes during the trial

The terms should say what support is offered during the trial (self-service, email, no response time commitment), that availability is not guaranteed and the supplier may take the service down for maintenance without notice, and that features available in the trial may not be available on the plan the customer later buys, or vice versa, so that the trial is not treated as a description of the paid product under section 34 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

Ending a trial, abuse and the transition

The supplier should be able to end a trial immediately for breach of the acceptable use policy, multiple trials, or use that harms the service, and on notice for any reason, and the terms should say that the subscription terms replace the trial terms on conversion, that the order of precedence is clear, and that the trial creates no obligation to continue the service or to offer the same price. The software remains the supplier's under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and the licence during the trial is for evaluation only.

What it costs

SaaS terms of service, £995. Your standard customer-facing terms. Five working days.

Buying online forms the engagement on payment. The scope is what the saas and technology contracts page describes, you accept the Terms of Service at checkout, and I email you within four working hours to get started. If you would rather ask something first, email me.

What you get

• A bespoke contract drafted for how your product is sold, delivered and supported
• Service levels you can meet, with remedies that are proportionate rather than aspirational
• A liability position that is defensible and will survive enterprise procurement
• IP and data provisions that fit together rather than contradicting each other
• A commercial note on where you will get pushback and what is worth conceding
• One round of amendments

What is not included

• Negotiating individual enterprise deals, which I quote separately
• Advice on the law of jurisdictions outside England and Wales
• Technical security certification or audit
• Regulatory advice for regulated sectors such as financial services or health

Questions I am often asked

Our trial converts automatically. Is that lawful for consumers?

It can be, if the consumer was told before the trial that it converts, at what price and when, is reminded before it ends, and can cancel no harder than the way they joined. The terms and the reminder are drafted to those requirements.

Can we delete trial data as soon as the trial ends?

You can if the terms say so, but a short retention period during which the customer can subscribe and keep their data converts better and avoids complaints. The terms set the period and the deletion after it.

Someone keeps signing up for trials with new email addresses. What can we do?

The terms should limit trials to one per person or business and allow the supplier to end a trial immediately for multiple sign-ups. Enforcement is then a matter of your systems, not your terms.

Related guidance and services

• SaaS and technology contracts, £995, the service this page describes
• Contract review, £495
• Data protection agreements and privacy terms, £795
• Terms for a freemium product
• SaaS terms of service for a consumer app

This page is general guidance for businesses in England and Wales, not advice on your own circumstances. Last reviewed: September 2026. Email geoffrey@caesar.co.uk.