---
title: "Free trials"
description: "How the 30-day free trial on Essentials, Enterprise, and MSP works, what it limits, and what happens when it ends."
url: "https://support.outpostplatform.com/account/free-trials/"
product: "platform"
type: "concept"
status: "draft"
ai_summary: "Essentials, Enterprise, and MSP start with a 30-day free trial with no payment method: up to 50 endpoints on Essentials, 100 on Enterprise and MSP, nothing charged, no overages. One trial per organization domain, or per email and phone on personal providers. At the end it converts when a payment method is on file; otherwise 7 days' grace, then the console pauses and agents keep reporting."
source: "https://gitlab.com/outpostplatform/docs/-/edit/main/src/content/docs/account/free-trials.md"
license: "CC BY 4.0"
---

# Free trials

Essentials, Enterprise, and MSP start with a 30-day free trial, so you can
enroll real endpoints and try the workflows before you pay. This page explains
what a trial includes, what it limits, and exactly what happens when it ends,
with and without a payment method on file. Home Lab is free and has no trial.

## What a trial includes

A trial is the full plan you chose, with these differences:

- **No payment method is needed** to start one.
- **Nothing is charged.** No invoice is issued for the trial.
- **A lower endpoint limit.** An Essentials trial allows up to 50 managed
  endpoints, and an Enterprise or MSP trial up to 100. See
  [Plans and limits](/account/plans-and-limits/).
- **No overages.** Usage stays within the plan's included amounts.

The trial starts when you finish sign-up and lasts 30 days.

### When you reach the trial's endpoint limit

When the trial's endpoint limit is reached, the console refuses new enrollment
tokens and new enrollments with the message **Your trial includes** followed
by the limit, then **endpoints. Add a payment method and upgrade in the
Outpost portal to add more.** Endpoints already enrolled
keep working.

On an Essentials trial, you can upgrade to Enterprise from the portal
dashboard. On an Enterprise or MSP trial there is no higher plan to move to
yourself, so to go past 100 endpoints before the trial ends,
[contact support](/support/contact/). See
[Upgrade or change your plan](/account/change-plan/).

## Who can have a trial

- An organization gets one Outpost account, and with it one trial, matched by
  its work email domain.
- On a personal email provider, such as Gmail or Outlook.com, each verified
  email address and each verified mobile number can start one trial.

If your email address or mobile number has already had a trial, the last step
of sign-up offers **Subscribe now without a trial** instead. See
[Create your Outpost account](/account/create-account/#one-account-per-organization-one-trial-per-person).

## Watching the trial

**In the Outpost portal**, the dashboard shows **Your free trial ends in**
followed by the number of days, and the date it ends. The notice changes to
a warning in the last 5 days.

**In the console**, **Settings** > **Billing** has a **Trial** card with the
**Days remaining**, the **Endpoint allowance** in use, and the date your first
invoice will be issued once you are subscribed. Above it, a notice reads
**Your trial ends** followed by the date, then **Access pauses on** a date 7
days later **unless the account is activated before then.**

## When the trial ends

What happens depends on whether a payment method is on file when the trial
ends.

### With a payment method on file

The subscription converts to the paid plan automatically at the end of the
trial, and billing starts then. Outpost emails the account owner that the
trial has ended and the account is subscribed, with the date of the first
invoice. Nothing about your console or your endpoints changes.

To add a payment method before the trial ends, see
[Manage payment methods and billing address](/account/payment-methods/).

### Without a payment method

Nothing is charged, and the subscription does not continue on its own.

1. **For 7 days after the trial ends**, everything keeps working. The portal
   dashboard shows **Your free trial has ended.**
2. **After those 7 days**, access to the console pauses. The console refuses
   most actions with **Account paused**, and **Settings** > **Billing** shows
   **The trial for this account has ended. Contact Outpost to activate your
   subscription. Your agents and data are unaffected.**

While access is paused:

- You can still sign in to the console and open **Settings** > **Billing**.
- Agents keep running on your endpoints and keep reporting. Nothing is
  deleted.
- The endpoint list, remote access, scripts, tickets, and the rest of the
  console are unavailable until the account is activated.

To activate it, add a payment method in the Outpost portal. The subscription
converts to the paid plan on Outpost's next billing run, and access returns.
You can also [contact support](/support/contact/).

## Ending a trial early

- **To pay sooner or move up a plan**, upgrade from the portal dashboard. An
  upgrade ends the trial at once and starts billing on the new plan from that
  day. It needs a payment method. See
  [Upgrade or change your plan](/account/change-plan/).
- **To stop before you are charged**, schedule cancellation. During a trial,
  cancellation takes effect when the trial ends, and nothing is charged. See
  [Cancel your subscription and export your data](/account/cancel-and-export/).

## Related

- [Plans and limits](/account/plans-and-limits/)
- [Invoices, taxes, and payments](/account/invoices/)
- [Create your Outpost account](/account/create-account/)
