Every new Timely account starts with 7 days of Pro for free. The trial is full-feature — schedule rules, Smart Copy, conflict detection, the lot. After 7 days, you either continue on Pro (we charge the card you put on file at signup) or drop to free-tier read-only access.
Why we ask for a card up front
Two reasons:
- It filters for serious signups. No-card trials collect a lot of accounts that try the product for a week and disappear. Asking for a card means people who sign up actually intend to keep using Timely — which means support time goes to real customers.
- The conversion is seamless. When the trial ends, your card is already on file. No interruption, no scramble to enter details, no missed week.
You can cancel anytime in one click — Settings → Billing → Manage subscription → Cancel. No questions, no charge, no hassle. Your data stays intact in case you come back.
What you can do during the trial
Everything Pro can do (locations up to 5, employees up to 75 per location, schedule rules, Smart Copy, AI scheduler with usage caps, all SMS/email features). Functionally indistinguishable from a paying Pro account.
What happens at trial end
Three possible paths, depending on the state of your card and your intent:
| Card status | What happens at trial end |
|---|---|
| Card valid, you didn't cancel | Stripe charges $79 (monthly Pro) and you continue without interruption. |
| Card valid, you cancelled during trial | No charge. Subscription cancels. Account drops to free-tier read-only. |
| Card declined / expired | Account enters past_due. You see an in-app banner asking you to fix payment. After Stripe's retry window (~7 days), the subscription cancels and the account drops to free-tier read-only. |
We send a reminder email 3 days before the trial ends so the timing is never a surprise.
Reminders we send
- Day 0 — welcome email with onboarding tips.
- Day 1, 3 — feature spotlight emails (SMS alerts, multi-location, etc.).
- Day 4 — branded trial-end reminder if the trial is ending in 3 days (Stripe-fired, sent from us, links to Manage subscription).
- Day 5 — "2 days left" email.
- Day 6 — "trial ends tomorrow".
Free-tier read-only
If your trial expires without conversion, you don't lose your data — you just lose write access to most of the product:
- Past schedules: viewable
- Employee + location data: intact
- Schedule rules, tags, integrations: configured but inactive
- Building new schedules, sending SMS/email, AI scheduler: gated behind upgrade
You can re-subscribe any time from Settings → Billing and pick up exactly where you left off.
Plan switching
You can switch plans at any time during the trial or after:
- Upgrade (e.g., Pro → Business) — change takes effect immediately. We prorate the difference for the rest of the current cycle.
- Downgrade (e.g., Business → Pro) — change takes effect at the next billing cycle. You keep Business features until then.
- Annual ↔ monthly — change takes effect at the next billing cycle.
See Plans & limits for the comparison table.
Refunds
We don't offer prorated refunds for cancellations mid-cycle (the standard SaaS pattern), but if something's gone genuinely wrong — billed by mistake, never used the product, app outage — email support@trytimely.com and we'll sort it out.