Trial ending email template for SaaS you can copy

When to send it

A few days before the trial ends, not on the last day. Three days gives someone time to decide, add a card or ask you something without feeling pushed. If your trial is short, two will do.

Say plainly what happens when it ends. That one sentence does most of the work.

The email

Subject: Your [Product] trial ends on [day]

Hi {{first_name}},

Your [Product] trial ends on [day]. If you do nothing, [what happens: your card is charged $[price] / your account moves to the free plan / your account pauses].

If [Product] is working for you, there is nothing to do. To change your plan or stop, you can do either here: [link to your billing page]

If you did not get a fair look at it, tell me what got in the way. Reply to this email.

Sam

Two variations

No card on file.

Subject: Your [Product] trial ends on [day]

Your trial ends on [day]. To keep using [Product], add a card here: [link]. If you don't, your account pauses and your [work] stays put for [how long you keep it].

Sam

They never really used it.

Subject: Did you get to try [Product]?

Your trial ends on [day], and I don't think you got the chance to use [Product] properly. If you want a few more days, reply to this email and I will add them.

Sam

What to avoid

• Fake urgency. Countdowns, "last chance" and red banners turn a fair reminder into pressure.
• Hiding the price or the way out. Put the price in the email and the cancel link in reach.
• A feature list. They have had days with the product. Talk about what happens next.
• Burying the date. It belongs in the subject line.
• Making them log in to find out. The email should answer "when, and what then" by itself.

How Kicklace sends it

Connect Stripe under Settings, Connections, with one restricted key and no code (Stripe has the steps). Kicklace only reads Stripe. It never charges anybody and never changes a customer, a price or a payment.

Stripe tells Kicklace three days before a trial ends, and that lands on the person as a trial ending. A side road on your Lifecycle map can start from it, so the email goes to each person on that side road without you scheduling anything. It is an account email: it goes unless the address bounced or the person complained.

Kicklace writes a first version in your voice from what it knows about your business, and you change whatever you like. Nothing sends until you switch it on. Before you do, it shows who would have got it over the last 30 days, and you can send yourself a test. Each person gets it once.

If your trial runs through Stripe, there is nothing to post from your own code. The Stripe trial ending email guide goes through the Stripe side in detail. You can see a map like this one on your own site in the demo, and pricing has the plans.

FAQ

How many days before the trial ends should I send it?

Three is a good default. It is long enough to act on and short enough that the trial is still on their mind. A trial under a week can go at two days.

Should I put the price in the email?

Yes. People who are about to be charged want to know how much and when. Leaving the price out feels like hiding it, and it brings a reply asking for the price anyway.

What if they never used the product?

Then a reminder about the trial is not the real problem. Send the "did you get to try it" version above, and use an activation email earlier in the trial so fewer people reach this point unused.