Trial Period for Addons

Introduction

Along with the service or product that you offer, additional features can help attract more customers. These supplementary features are provided at an added cost and are known as addons. With Chargebee, you can offer addons on trial to your customers, so they can experience the feature before signing up for it.

For example, if you offer Google Calendar as an addon, customers interested in signing up can use the Google Calendar feature for a limited number of days as a trial before using it with their subscription.

Configure Trial Period for Addons

The trial period for addons is available only via API. You can save the details of the addon's trial period in the metadata of the addon.

Invoice for Addons on Trial

At the end of the trial period, the addons will move to Active state. When it does, a separate invoice is generated for the addon. From the date of activation to the date of subscription renewal, a prorated charge will be generated for the addon.

For example, for a subscription with a billing cycle from January 15 to February 15, an addon was added as a trial on January 20 for 10 days. The addon will activate on January 30, and an invoice with a prorated charge will be raised for January 31 to February 15.

If the customer's subscription renews on the same day the addon is activated, they will receive two invoices: one for the subscription and one for the addon, regardless of the number of addons.

For example, if a customer has a subscription and three addons on trial, and the subscription renews on the same day the addons become activated, the customer will receive four invoices: one for the subscription renewal and three for the addons.

Subscription Cancellation and Reactivation (Dunning)

When subscriptions are canceled due to the dunning rules that are set, addons on trial will follow suit. However, there are two scenarios to consider during the reactivation of the subscription:

1. In-term Reactivation

If the subscription is reactivated before the renewal date or time, the addon will continue to function upon reactivation. The trial end date or time set originally will not change.

Say, the billing cycle for subscription is from January 15 to February 15. Subscription got canceled on January 30 and reactivated on February 10. There are two addons, Addon 1 and Addon 2, linked to the subscription and on trial for 15 days.

2. Out-of-term Reactivation

If the subscription is reactivated after the renewal date or time, the term of the addon will be reset and the trial will no longer apply. The customer will have to pay for the subscription and the addons, regardless of the completion of the trial period.

Say, the billing cycle for subscription is from January 15 to February 15. Subscription got canceled on February 12 and reactivated on February 22.

For both addons, a full charge will be raised on the date of reactivation of the subscription.

Subscription Cancellation/Reactivation (Manual)

When a subscription is canceled manually, the subscription term is not retained. The addons on trial linked to the same subscription will also be canceled.

When the same subscription is reactivated, both the subscription and the addons will move to Active state and will be charged in full.

Limitations

• Only recurring addons can have a trial period added to them. Non-recurring addons are not supported.
• Addons with a trial period can be added only for subscriptions in Active state.
• Once set, the trial_end of an addon cannot be modified. To change it, the addon must be removed and added again with a new trial_end.
• When the addon is going through the trial period, values of all fields except for the trial_end value can be modified.
• Addons going through the trial period will move to Active state only when the trial period ends.
• Changes for the addon will be applied immediately and cannot be scheduled for the end of the subscription term.
• For advance invoicing, the addon on trial feature will not function.