---
title: "How card-backed free trials work"
url: "https://trialvalid.com/product.md"
canonical_url: "https://trialvalid.com/product"
last_updated: "2026-10-19"
type: "guide"
summary: "Hold the plan price on the card at sign-up, run the trial in your Stripe account and capture before it ends, so every trial starts with a card that can pay."
related: ["https://trialvalid.com/product/trial-holds.md", "https://trialvalid.com/product/trial-pages.md", "https://trialvalid.com/product/attribution.md", "https://trialvalid.com/product/alerts.md", "https://trialvalid.com/product/trial-reminders.md", "https://trialvalid.com/product/ai-optimization.md", "https://trialvalid.com/product/high-value-alerts.md", "https://trialvalid.com/product/custom-statement-descriptors.md", "https://trialvalid.com/product/dispute-readiness.md"]
---

# How card-backed free trials work

> **For AI agents:** the complete index of TrialValid pages is [llms.txt](https://trialvalid.com/llms.txt). Every page is also served as markdown at its URL plus .md.

Hold the plan price on the card at sign-up, run the trial in your Stripe account and capture before it ends, so every trial starts with a card that can pay.

Hold the card first. Then let the trial run.

- [Get started](https://trialvalid.com/signup)
- [Read the lifecycle](https://trialvalid.com/docs/trial-lifecycle.md)

1. Hold the plan price
2. Confirm the card covers it
3. Start the trial on that card
4. Capture before the trial ends

## Trial abuse shows up at sign-up. So the check happens there.

A trial that starts with an unverified card can end with nothing to charge. TrialValid places the hold before the trial starts, then keeps the hold, the reminder and the capture on one schedule.

## Product pages

### Card holds for free trials

How TrialValid holds the plan price at sign-up, starts the trial, captures before it ends, and what happens when a step fails.

[Learn more](https://trialvalid.com/product/trial-holds.md)

### Trial pages and variants

Hosted trial pages with a price from your Stripe price, one to 90 trial days, and variants that split traffic evenly.

[Learn more](https://trialvalid.com/product/trial-pages.md)

### Attribution and analytics

First-touch campaign data on every signup, plus visits, signups, conversions and revenue per page variant.

[Learn more](https://trialvalid.com/product/attribution.md)

### Alerts and statement descriptors

Slack alerts for high-value trials, failed captures, lost holds and disputes, and card statement descriptors derived from your brand.

[Learn more](https://trialvalid.com/product/alerts.md)

### Trial reminders and records

Every buyer gets a reminder before the first charge, and every trial keeps a time-stamped record of what the buyer was shown, ready if a charge is questioned.

[Learn more](https://trialvalid.com/product/trial-reminders.md)

### AI page variants for trial signup

A model writes new versions of your trial page, traffic splits evenly between the ones you switch on, and you promote the winner.

[Learn more](https://trialvalid.com/product/ai-optimization.md)

### High-value trial alerts in Slack

Set a plan price threshold and get a Slack message when a trial at or above it starts, plus alerts for failed captures, lost holds and disputes.

[Learn more](https://trialvalid.com/product/high-value-alerts.md)

### Custom card statement descriptors

TrialValid builds a card statement suffix of up to 10 characters from your brand, or checks one you set against the 5 to 22 character rules.

[Learn more](https://trialvalid.com/product/custom-statement-descriptors.md)

### Dispute readiness for free trials

Every trial keeps a record of what the buyer saw, flags a dispute on the trial and alerts you; a calculator shows what disputes cost.

[Learn more](https://trialvalid.com/product/dispute-readiness.md)

## Related

- [Card holds for free trials](https://trialvalid.com/product/trial-holds.md)
- [Trial pages and variants](https://trialvalid.com/product/trial-pages.md)
- [Attribution and analytics](https://trialvalid.com/product/attribution.md)
- [Alerts and statement descriptors](https://trialvalid.com/product/alerts.md)
- [Trial reminders and records](https://trialvalid.com/product/trial-reminders.md)
- [AI page variants for trial signup](https://trialvalid.com/product/ai-optimization.md)
- [High-value trial alerts in Slack](https://trialvalid.com/product/high-value-alerts.md)
- [Custom card statement descriptors](https://trialvalid.com/product/custom-statement-descriptors.md)
- [Dispute readiness for free trials](https://trialvalid.com/product/dispute-readiness.md)