Your free trial: what's included and what happens when it ends

Every new organisation gets a 14-day free trial with 25 free text messages and a real, working virtual number, so you can try emu.chat before you subscribe. The trial starts automatically when your organisation is created. This article explains what's included, what changes during the trial, and what happens when it ends.

What's included

• 14 days from the day your organisation is created.
• 25 free text messages to send during that window.
• A virtual number shared from a trial pool, so you can send and receive on a real number.

You get one trial per organisation. If you need more time or more trial credit, contact our team using the in-app chat or the support link in the right sidebar, and we can help.

When the trial starts

Your trial begins automatically the first time your organisation is created, when you sign up with Microsoft. You do not need to enter card details to start it. During onboarding you will see the step Activate your free trial.

To set up the rest of your organisation, see Getting started with emu.chat. When you are ready to send, see Sending your first text message.

During the trial

A few things behave differently while you are on the trial. You can review them in the app by opening the trial banner and choosing More info, which opens the About your trial panel.

• A trial signature is added to every message. During your trial, a signature is appended to every outbound message to identify it as a trial send.
• Verification codes are masked. Inbound messages containing OTP or verification codes will have those codes masked for security. The message itself will still be delivered to your conversation.
• Your number is shared. Your trial virtual number is shared from a pool and will be reclaimed when the trial ends or you upgrade to a paid plan.

The trial banner

While the trial is active, a banner shows how long is left. It reads Trial followed by the days remaining, for example 1 day remaining when one day is left, or 10 days remaining otherwise. Select More info to open the About your trial panel, then Got it to close it.

Before the trial ends

We send a reminder to workspace administrators 3 days before your trial ends, so you have time to subscribe if you want to keep sending.

What happens when the trial ends

A trial is active only while it has started, has not been consumed, and has not yet reached its end date. The trial ends in one of two ways:

• When you subscribe. Starting a paid subscription ends the trial straight away and moves you onto the Standard plan.
• At expiry. If you do not subscribe, the trial ends once the 14 days are up.

When the trial ends, the following happens:

• Unused trial credit is reclaimed. Only the unused portion of your trial allowance is removed.
• The shared trial number is released. The pooled virtual number is unassigned from your organisation and its inbox is disabled.

Keep sending: subscribe to a plan

Once the trial ends and you have no active subscription, sending is blocked until you subscribe. To carry on, start a subscription from Billing. Once you subscribe, you move onto the Standard plan, get a new permanent number, and can buy credit and add inboxes. For the full walkthrough of plans, seats, and checkout, see Managing your billing and seats.

You can buy credit and top up your balance once you are on a paid plan. Credit top-ups are not available during the trial. See Buying credits and setting up auto top-up.

New to emu.chat? Start with Getting started with emu.chat.