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Configure free trials for selected hosting products

hosting-suite, resellers

Hosting Suite's free-trial workflow lets eligible customers start selected products without paying at checkout. Configure the product scope, eligibility rules and end-of-trial billing before displaying the offer. The trial gateway is a temporary checkout route; customers still need a real payment method to continue.

01 Set the trial offer

  1. Open Free Trials and then Settings.
  2. Enable Free trials on and select the products that are genuinely included in the offer.
  3. Set Trial period (days) to the period you advertise. Review the saved value instead of relying on the package default.
  4. Decide whether to require New customers only and One trial per product, together with the supported cart restrictions.
  5. Review Paid period starts when the trial ends and decide how the first paid period should be dated.
  6. Configure reminders, labels and trial emails, then save the settings.

02 Check the cart and gateways

Enable the supplied trial gateway as required by the module and retain at least one real gateway for later payment. Test the actual order form with an eligible product and client. Paid domain registrations and paid addons are not automatically included in a hosting trial; review the supported exclusions and any free-domain policy separately.

The trial creates a normal unpaid invoice with a due date at the end of the trial. Explain that the customer will use Pay invoice or the available real payment method to continue. Do not describe trial selection as a successful card payment.

03 Run a complete test

Use a controlled test product and customer. Check that the trial option appears only where intended, the account is provisioned under the product's setup policy, the invoice and trial end date agree, and the welcome message clearly explains the next step.

Test an ineligible cart as well, such as a product outside the trial scope or an already-used trial under your configured rule. A promotional label should not imply that every product, addon or domain is free to try.

What should support explain about trial expiry?

Unpaid trial expiry follows the module's suspension workflow. It does not promise immediate account deletion. Verify your server supports the relevant suspend and unsuspend operations and that the WHMCS cron is healthy.

Keep your commercial offer separate from a module default. Our confirmed Web Hosting and NabWP offers use seven-day trials; another hosting company buying the module must set and publish its own intended period. Review all product descriptions and emails whenever you change that period.

Sources and further reading

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