Every new Website Toolbox forum starts with a 14-day free trial. No credit card is required to start, and you are not billed for anything while the trial is active. The trial exists so you can build your forum, test every setup step, and invite people to try it before you choose a plan.
What you can do during the trial
The trial gives you the full working product, so you can complete every ordinary setup task:
- Create and organize your forum: categories, user groups, permissions, tags, and posting rules.
- Customize the look with themes, colors, fonts, and layout settings in the theme editor.
- Embed the forum on your website, or link to it, and connect your own domain name.
- Sign up test accounts, post topics and replies, send messages, and check everything from a member's point of view.
- Review your analytics and statistics pages.
- Build your content and settings so the forum is ready to launch the day you subscribe.
Features that require a paid plan
A small number of advanced features require a paid plan. When you try to set one of them up during the trial, its settings page shows an upgrade notice such as "Available to Growth plan and higher". The features that are not active during the free trial are:
- Done-for-you Single Sign On setup - not available during the free trial. Our team sets it up for you on the Growth plan or higher plus a one-time setup fee.
- Zapier integration (Integrate → Integrations) - Growth plan or higher.
- Webhooks created through the API - Growth plan or higher.
Single Sign On methods you configure yourself work during the free trial: OAuth2, JWT, Google, Microsoft, and LinkedIn sign-in, plus third-party logins that use OAuth2 such as MembershipWorks. After the trial, OAuth2, JWT, and Google sign-in require the Growth plan or higher, LinkedIn and Microsoft sign-in require the Pro plan, and SAML requires the Pro plan.
If a feature is not listed here, you can use it during the trial. Plan requirements after the trial vary by feature, and each feature's settings page always states the plan it requires.
Subscribing during or after the trial
You can subscribe at any time, before or after the trial ends. When you subscribe during the trial, your paid plan starts as soon as the payment completes, and every feature included in that plan unlocks immediately.
When the trial ends without a subscription, your service is paused until you purchase a plan. All of your forum settings and data are kept. Need more time? Contact support to extend your trial.
Do I need a credit card to start the free trial?
No. The trial starts without a credit card, and nothing is charged while it is active.
Will Single Sign On work while I am in the free trial?
Yes, for the methods you configure yourself. OAuth2, JWT, Google, Microsoft, and LinkedIn sign-in all work during the trial, so you can set them up and test them before you subscribe. The done-for-you SSO setup service is not available during the trial; it requires the Growth plan or higher plus a one-time setup fee after you subscribe. See Single sign on methods for a comparison of the options.
What happens when my free trial ends?
Your service is disabled until you purchase a subscription. Read What happens when my free trial ends? for the details.
Can I extend my free trial?
Yes. Contact support to request an extension of an existing trial or to reactivate an expired one, and your settings and data will be retained. See How do I extend my free trial?