# Offer a trial period (/platforms/subscriptions/customize/trial-period)



## Overview [#overview]

Use a trial period to let subscribers try your product at a free or discounted price before regular billing cycles start. After the trial period ends, the regular billing period for the subscription begins. You can have up to 2 trial periods per plan. The following sample requests show how to offer trial periods. Use these samples to adjust your code when you [create a plan.](/subscriptions/about)

## Example: Music service [#example-music-service]

The following example creates a trial period with the following characteristics:

* $0 for the first month.
* $15 per month following the trial period.

```text lineNumbers
curl -v –X POST https://api-m.sandbox.paypal.com/v1/billing/plans
-H "PayPal-Auth-Assertion: AUTH-ASSERTION"
-H "Accept: application/json"
-H "Authorization: Bearer ACCESS-TOKEN"
-H "Content-Type: application/json"
-H "PayPal-Request-Id: PLAN-18062020-002"
-d '{
"name": "Premium Music Plus",
"description": "A premium plan with music download feature",
"product_id": "PROD-5RN21878H3527870P",
"billing_cycles": [{
  "frequency": {
    "interval_unit": "MONTH",
    "interval_count": 1
  },
  "tenure_type": "TRIAL",
  "sequence": 1,
  "total_cycles": 1,
  "pricing_scheme": {
    "fixed_price": {
      "value": "0",
      "currency_code": "USD"
    }
  }
}, {
  "frequency": {
    "interval_unit": "MONTH",
    "interval_count": 1
  },
  "tenure_type": "REGULAR",
  "sequence": 2,
  "total_cycles": 0,
  "pricing_scheme": {
    "fixed_price": {
      "value": "15",
      "currency_code": "USD"
    }
  }
}], "payment_preferences": {
  "auto_bill_outstanding": true,
  "payment_failure_threshold": 1
 }
}'
```

## Example: Online tutorial service [#example-online-tutorial-service]

The following example creates a trial period with the following characteristics:

* $0 free trial for the first week.
* $5 per week discounted trial for the next 3 weeks.
* $10 per week following the trial period.

```text lineNumbers
curl -v –X POST https://api-m.sandbox.paypal.com/v1/billing/plans
-H "PayPal-Auth-Assertion: AUTH-ASSERTION"
-H "Accept: application/json"
-H "Authorization: Bearer ACCESS-TOKEN"
-H "Content-Type: application/json"
-H "PayPal-Request-Id: PLAN-18062020-003"
-d '{
 "name": "Music Tutorial Premium Plus",
 "description": "Offering a premium music tutorial with download feature",
 "product_id": "PROD-5RN21878H3527870P",
 "billing_cycles": [{
   "frequency": {
     "interval_unit": "WEEK",
     "interval_count": 1
  },
  "tenure_type": "TRIAL",
  "sequence": 1,
  "total_cycles": 1,
  "pricing_scheme": {
    "fixed_price": {
      "value": "0",
      "currency_code": "USD"
    }
  }
}, {
  "frequency": {
    "interval_unit": "WEEK",
    "interval_count": 1
  },
  "tenure_type": "TRIAL",
  "sequence": 2,
  "total_cycles": 3,
  "pricing_scheme": {
    "fixed_price": {
      "value": "5",
      "currency_code": "USD"
    }
  }
}, {
  "frequency": {
    "interval_unit": "WEEK",
    "interval_count": 1
  },
  "tenure_type": "REGULAR",
  "sequence": 3,
  "total_cycles": 0,
  "pricing_scheme": {
    "fixed_price": {
      "value": "10",
      "currency_code": "USD"
    }
  }
}], "payment_preferences": {
  "auto_bill_outstanding": true,
  "payment_failure_threshold": 1
 }
}'
```

## See also [#see-also]

* [Charge a setup fee](/platforms/subscriptions/customize/one-time-fee/)
* [Pricing plans](/platforms/subscriptions/customize/pricing-plans/)