How to set up a Trial to subscription automated flow

Use the Trial to Subscription Automate template to offer customers a trial version of the product at a discounted price. After the initial order, seamlessly transition customers’ subscriptions so that they receive the actual product at its full price.

This guide explains how to set up an automated Trial to subscription flow, which provides customers with flexibility and a frictionless subscription flow.

How it works

Offer customers a trial version of your product, then automatically switch them to a subscription. The automated subscription flow swaps the customer’s subscription from the trial kit to a different product after a set number of days, so customers can try the product before committing.

After orders enter the flow, the Conditional Branch node routes customers based on the product in their processed order.

When you add a branch to the template, a subscription node is assigned to each branch. The Subscription node defines the action in the automated flow: swapping the trial product to the recurring product for all recurring orders. Customers receive the recurring subscription products on every order until they cancel their subscriptions.

Example

A company selling protein powder offers a 14-day free trial of its famous protein powder. The company uses the Trial to subscription automated flow to offer two products: a 14-day free trial of the protein powder upfront and a 30-day supply that customers are charged for immediately after their 14-day free trial and receive on a recurring basis.

Recharge designed the Trial-to-subscription automated flow to make online shopping more convenient for your customers. This allows them to try your products before committing to a subscription.

The Trial to subscription automated flow is designed to set your customers up for success. It provides everything they need to get started while streamlining the process for ongoing orders.

Editing Automate flows

You can edit an Automate flow at any time. Once a flow has been activated at least once, saving changes creates a new version of the flow. This lets you update the flow without rebuilding it from scratch.

To learn how flow versions behave and how analytics are affected, see How to edit Automate flows using flow versioning.

Step 1 - Create your products in Shopify and add subscription plans

Create two products in Shopify: the trial product, and the recurring subscription product.

Create the products in Shopify, and add a subscription plan to both in Recharge:

1. Log in to your Shopify admin and add the new products:
   • Free trial product: Create the free trial product with discounted pricing to encourage customers to participate in the trial.
   • Subscription product: The product that the customer receives on a recurring basis after finishing the trial.
     • Tip: To prevent customer confusion, Recharge recommends keeping the products unpublished in Shopify until you’ve activated the automated flow.
2. After creating the products in Shopify, navigate to your Recharge merchant admin and select Products from the Products menu.
3. Locate the new products from the product list, and add a subscription plan.

Step 2 - Create the automated flow

Create the Trial to subscription automated flow in your Recharge merchant portal:

1. In the merchant portal, click Products, then select Automate.
2. Select Create from template under Trial to subscription, and click Get started!
3. Select Manage settings to add a title and a description.

You can now access the flow canvas and build the automated flow. This flow uses a standard template designed by Recharge.

By default, you cannot change the Smart loop node.

Step 3 – Configure trigger conditions

Trigger conditions determine which orders can enter the flow. Recharge recommends configuring trigger conditions so only orders containing the trial product enter the automation.

To configure trigger conditions:

1. On the flow canvas, click the Trigger node.

2. Click Add to create a trigger condition.

3. Select Processed charge line item.

4. Choose the appropriate operator (for example, Equals).

5. Select the trial product.

6. Click Apply, then Save.

Only orders that meet these conditions will enter the flow.

Step 4 - Configure the Conditional Branch node

 After setting trigger conditions, use the Conditional Branch node to route qualifying orders through the correct swap behavior.

Create multiple branches for the automated flow using the Conditional Branch node, which assigns customers to specific branches based on their product subscriptions. The default Trial to subscription template has three branches, Branch 1, Branch 2, and Else.

• Branch 1: This branch checks if the customer’s order contains a specific product. If the customer is subscribed to the product, the automated flow is applied.
• Branch 2: This branch checks if the customer’s order contains a specific product. If the customer is subscribed to the product, the automated flow is applied.
• Else: This branch checks if the customer’s order does not contain the specified product. If the customer is not subscribed to the product, the automated flow is not applied.

You can either use the default template and configure both branches or simplify it by removing Branch 2 and keeping only Branch 1:

1. Select the Conditional Branch node on the flow canvas.
2. Optional: Click the trash can icon next to Branch 2 to remove it if necessary.
3. Click on the pencil icon next to Branch 1 to edit the branch.
4. Add a Branch name.
5. Select Processed charge line item from the object dropdown menu.
6. Select Variant from the attribute dropdown menu.
7. Select Equals, Doesn’t equal, or Only equals from the operator dropdown menu.
8. Click + Add product to select the product that Recharge needs to look for when processing the order.
9. Search for the product, select it, and click Apply.
10. Click Apply to save your configuration.

You should now have at least two branches configured on the template, one for customers who purchase the starter kit, and one branch for customers who do not.

Duplicate a branch

If your branches use similar logic, you can duplicate an existing branch instead of creating a new one from scratch.

To duplicate a branch:

1. Open the Conditional Branch node.

2. Select the branch you want to copy.

3. Click Duplicate branch.

4. Update the condition values as needed.

5. Click Apply.

The duplicated branch appears directly below the original and includes all associated nodes on the canvas.

Step 5 - Configure the Subscription node

The Subscription node swaps the customer’s trial product to the recurring subscription product.

Update the Subscription node to set the automated action:

1. Select the Subscription node on the flow canvas.
2. Choose the Swap action to swap the trial product to the subscription product.
3. Click +Add product to select the subscription product.
4. Set the subscription properties, such as the order frequency, product price, quantity, and product and variant title. You can also add one of the following options under Order date:
   • Frequency-based delay: Adds a delay to the next charge date based on the subscription’s set frequency (e.g., every 30 days, every 2 months).
     • Use this when you want the delay to maintain alignment with the customer’s subscription cadence. For example, if a customer is on a monthly subscription, a frequency-based delay of one period will schedule the next charge for one full subscription cycle after the triggering event.
   • Order-based delay: Schedules the next charge to occur a set number of days after the triggering order is placed.
     • Use this when you want to control the delay in absolute time (e.g., 10 days), regardless of the subscription’s billing frequency. This is useful when fulfillment time or product usage needs dictate the timing of the next charge.
   • Date-based delay: Sets the next charge to occur on a specific calendar date.
     • Use this when the next charge must happen on a fixed date, such as the 1st of the month or a seasonal deadline. It’s ideal for aligning charges with events, holidays, or custom billing schedules.
5. Click Apply to save your changes.

After a customer purchases the initial product and starts the automated flow, the Subscription node swaps the initial trial product with the selected subscription product for the customer's upcoming order. These updates stay active until you or the customer change the subscription.

Optional - Select a plan

If the selected product variant has subscription plans, you can choose a subscription or quantity upsell plan instead of setting a custom order frequency. When you select a plan, the plan determines the price, and Recharge disables price overrides. If the selected plan is a quantity upsell plan, Recharge also disables the quantity input.

To select a plan:

1. In the Order frequency dropdown, select Choose a plan.
2. Select a plan from the dropdown.

Optional - Add additional actions to the canvas

Step 6 - Set your products to active in Shopify

Make sure your products are available for purchase:

1. Set the product status to Active for both products.
2. Set the inital trial product to available on your online store.

Step 7 - Save and test the automated flow

Click Save in the top-right corner to save your flow.

You can test the automated flow before activating it to ensure it works as intended. See How to test Automate flows for detailed instructions.

Step 8 - Activate the flow

Select Activate in the top right corner to enable the flow.

Once you activate the flow, Recharge evaluates eligible charges against the flow’s trigger conditions and applies the flow when conditions are met.

Considerations

Resources

Getting started

• Getting started with Automate

Additional template set-up instructions

• How to set up a Kit unpacking automated flow
• How to set up a Starter pack to refill swap automated flow
• How to set up an Ongoing sequence automated flow
• How to set up a Fixed sequence automated flow
• How to set up a Welcome offer automated flow
• How to set up a Scheduled quarterly shipments experience