Auto-downgrade a trial to free

Don’t lose unconverted trials — automatically move them to a free tier so they stay in your ecosystem and can upgrade later.

Trial → Free, automatic
Keeps lapsed trials as users
Pro plan switching

Start Trial

No credit card required

ProRecurring billing

Most trials don’t convert — but cancelling them throws away the relationship. With auto-downgrade on trial expiry (Pro), an unconverted trial automatically switches to your free tier instead of cancelling, so the customer keeps a (limited) account and a one-click path to upgrade later. This recipe links a Premium trial to a Free plan and turns on auto-downgrade at trial expiry.

What you get

Unconverted trials move to the Free tier automatically.
Customer keeps an account and can upgrade anytime.
An Auto Downgrade email explains the change.
No silent cancellation, no lost relationship.

Copy these settings

The exact configuration

Enter these values and you have the setup live. Every field maps to a real ArraySubs setting.

Setting	Value
Trial on Premium productPremium product → Subscription tab	e.g. 14-day trial
Linked downgrade productProduct → Linked Products	Free plan ($0)
Auto-downgrade timingPlan switching settings (Pro)	On trial expire
Require Payment MethodGeneral Settings → Trials	Off (no card needed for a soft trial)

Best for

When to use this setup

Freemium SaaS with a trial of the paid tier

Products that want to retain lapsed trials

Any plan with a meaningful free tier

Set up

Set it up in 3 steps

A step-by-step guide drawn from the ArraySubs user manual. Open the linked page for the full walkthrough and screenshots.

Create Free and Premium products
Build a $0 Free plan and a paid Premium plan (with a trial) — see the freemium recipe for the tier setup.
Create & Configure Subscription Products
Link the downgrade path
On the Premium product’s Linked Products, set the Free plan as the downgrade target.
Plan Switching & Relationships
Enable auto-downgrade on trial expiry
Turn on auto-downgrade with timing ‘on trial expire’ so unconverted trials switch to Free during the daily conversion job.
Trial Management

From the manual

This recipe is built from these ArraySubs user-manual guides:

Good to know

Notes & edge cases

Requires the Pro plugin and configured plan switching with a downgrade path.

The Auto Downgrade email replaces the Trial Converted email when downgrade handles the conversion.

Pair with a no-card trial so the soft landing on Free needs no payment details.

Built with

Modules behind this recipe

The ArraySubs modules this setup relies on.

Free + Pro

Billing and Renewals

How ArraySubs creates, schedules, communicates, and collects recurring payments from first invoice to final renewal.

Free + Pro

Subscription Products

Create and manage simple or variable subscription products with trials, signup fees, plan logic, and lifecycle behavior.

Pro

Feature Manager

Define product entitlements, limits, and capabilities so customers know exactly what each subscription includes. Pro only.

More recipes

Related setups to explore

Other configurations you can build with the same modules.

Free

Free tier + paid upgrade

Offer a $0 ‘free forever’ tier alongside a paid tier on one product — the freemium model.

Free

No-card trial, then monthly

Let customers start a free trial without entering a card — e.g. 15 days free, then $100/month once the trial converts.

Pro

Failed payment → auto-downgrade

Instead of cancelling after a failed renewal, automatically move the customer to a cheaper plan.

FAQ

Questions, answered

Instead of cancellation, their subscription switches to the Free plan and they receive an Auto Downgrade email explaining the change and how to upgrade.

Yes. Auto-downgrade relies on Pro plan switching with a linked downgrade product configured on the trial product.

Paid Pro plans

Unlock the complete Pro stack

Start on the free-forever core today, then choose a paid Pro plan when you need the advanced Pro feature set.