Tips and Tricks #17: How to Programmatically Manage Trials With Zoho Subscriptions
Offering trial subscriptions has become an integral part in gaining a prospective customer's trust, especially in SaaS based businesses. In this post, we'll be taking a look at how you can take control of this using Zoho Subscriptions.
This article is part of a series of tips and tricks that we post every week. Go ahead and check out last week's post about charging a late fee to your subscribers, in case you missed it.
Trial subscriptions can help boost your sales
Zoho Subscriptions provides two methods through which you can sign users up for a trial--hosted payment pages and via the API.
Hosted payment pages let you sign users up for a trial subscription easily. These pages require users to enter their payment details along with some other basic information.
In case you want to allow your users to sign up for a trial without asking for their payment information upfront, you can go for the API route. This can increase potential sign-ups from users that want to try your product with no strings attached. It also gives them the freedom to provide their payment details only after they're satisfied with your product.
If you have a web application where your customers can sign up for a trial, you can setup Zoho Subscriptions in such a way, where one of the APIs programmatically creates a new trial subscription every time a new user signs up from your website. This enables you to track and manage your trial subscriptions with in-depth reports, email notifications for your subscribers and also allows you to collect your subscribers' payment information via secure hosted pages when they're ready to move to a paid plan.
Here's how to set it up:
We'll be using one of our powerful REST APIs to create subscriptions automatically in Zoho Subscriptions.
When your users sign up for a trial from your web application, you can programmatically call the create subscription API to enter them as a customer in Zoho Subscriptions and create a trial subscription for them with a selected plan automatically.
Once this is done, you can configure email notifications in Zoho Subscriptions to remind your customers about their trial subscription's expiry date and other information.
You can also use Zoho Subscriptions' reports, which can help you gain important business insights. Reports like Subscription Details can be customized to view the details of your trial subscriptions with ease.
For added convenience, our trial-specific default view filters let you quickly view your trial subscriptions right from the Subscriptions list page.
Stay tuned for next week's post, where we'll be taking a look at how you can collect your customer's payment information, extend their trials if needed and move their subscription from the Trial status to the Live status in Zoho Subscriptions.
Cheers,
Varun Steven
The Zoho Subscriptions Team
Access your files securely from anywhere
New to Zoho Recruit?
Zoho Developer Community
New to Zoho LandingPage?
Zoho LandingPage Resources
New to Zoho Survey?
New to Zoho CRM Plus?
Deliver unforgettable customer experiences
New to Zoho CRM Plus?
Deliver unforgettable customer experiences
New to Zoho Marketing Plus?
Everything you need to run your marketing
New to Zoho Marketing Plus?
Everything you need to run your marketing
New to Bigin?
Topic Participants
Varun Steven
Sticky Posts
Tip #4 : Refer and Earn Workflow system for your Subscription Business
Hello everyone, We've been coming up with a tip every week to address specific business scenarios which can be implemented for your business. In continuation to the previous post, this week we will be seeing about how you can implement the Refer and Earn Workflow system to acquire more customers. Why are Referrals important? Customer Acquisition is crucial for any business to sustain itself in a constantly evolving market. It involves persuading new consumers to purchase your products. CustomersTip #2 - Cancellation of Offline Subscriptions based on the Expected Payment Date
Hello everyone, As you all know, we are coming up with a custom function workflow every week to address specific business scenarios. In continuation of this previous blog, this week we will be seeing about Cancellation of Offline Subscriptions based on the Expected Payment Date. Business Scenario: In general, for any business, the customers make payments via online as well as offline. In case of subscription where the automatic collection of charge is enabled (aka online subscription), the customer'sTip #3 : Send SMS Reminders for your Subscription Business
Hello everyone, As you all know, we are coming up with a tip every week to address specific business scenarios. In continuation to the previous blog, this week we will be seeing how you can use SMS reminders for your Subscription Business. Using SMS messages for your Subscription Business: While managing your subscription business, more often than not, you need to keep your customers informed about upcoming renewals, payment reminders and cancellations. By keeping them informed in advance, you canTips And Tricks - Announcement
Hello everyone, Every business is unique and each of them follows a specific workflow. While managing your customers' subscriptions with Zoho, you might have some needs unique to your business. Custom Functions helps you address such needs. This is a start to a series of posts, where we will be coming up with a custom function workflow every week that addresses specific business scenarios. Watch this space for further updates! Also, if you have any specific business scenario which needs to be addressed,Tip #6 : Accessing external URLs from Zoho Subscriptions
Hello everyone, We have been sharing a tip every week to address specific business scenarios which you can implement for your subscription business. Last week, we shared a tip about implementing the Approval Workflow system. This week, let's look at how you can access external URLs with the help of Custom Link. Business Scenario: Every business functions differently and has its unique requirements. At times, businesses might want to access other websites or applications by appending specific information
New to Zoho TeamInbox?
Zoho TeamInbox Resources
Zoho CRM Plus Resources
Zoho Books Resources
Zoho Subscriptions Resources
Zoho Projects Resources
Zoho Sprints Resources
Qntrl Resources
Zoho Creator Resources
Zoho CRM Resources
Design. Discuss. Deliver.
Zoho Show Resources
Get Started. Write Away!
Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.
Zoho CRM コンテンツ
-
オンラインヘルプ
-
Webセミナー
-
機能活用動画
-
よくある質問
-
Ebook
-
-
Zoho Campaigns
- Zoho サービスのWebセミナー
その他のサービス コンテンツ
Nederlandse Hulpbronnen
ご検討中の方
Recent Topics
Cannot connect to 365 business calendar and Teams, says personal but it is not.
hi I have a number of users connected to their 365 business accounts. Adding a new user and it thinks hes got 365 personal edition. He does not.... Anyone know what's going on. Trying for days now. Bookings go into his MS calendar but as its thinks itsLimited review (/questions) for Bookings 2.0
Hi all, I'm writing this review of Bookings 2.0 for two reasons: 1) it may be of interest to others, and 2) I'd like to be corrected if I'm wrong on any points. It's a very limited review, i.e. the things that have stood out as relevant, and particularlyZoho Bookings - Reserve with Google
Does Zoho Bookings plan to to integrate with Reserve with Google?Tip #3: How to change your booking page language
Displaying your booking page in your target audience's language can greatly increase customer satisfaction. By speaking their language, you will help customers feel more comfortable scheduling with you and create a stronger connection with them. Let'sBigin Android app update: Alerts while creating tasks outside of working days, conflicting events and calls.
Hello everyone! In the most recent version of the Bigin Android app, we have brought in support to display an alert if task is being scheduled outside of the working days. Also, when scheduling an event or call in the Activities module, a conflict alertBigin update: Link email messages to pipeline records.
Hello everyone! In the latest version of the Bigin iOS(v1.11.9) and macOS(1.8.9) app, we have brought in support for an option to link email to pipeline records. This helps you to view emails specific to a deal, especially when a contact is associatedBigin Android app update: Custom buttons and widgets
Hello everyone! We are excited to introduce custom buttons and widgets on the Bigin Android app. Widgets: A widget is a customizable UI component in Bigin that improves efficiency and user experience. It lets businesses embed components, streamline interactions,Biometric Access Support on Zoho Vault Desktop App
Is there any plans to add biometric authentication (fingerprint, face recognition) for Vault desktop apps (Windows/macOS) to enhance security and ease of access. I would love to hear other members view on thisZoho Sheet for Desktop
Does Zoho plans to develop a Desktop version of Sheet that installs on the computer like was done with Writer?Zoho Sheet - Desktop App or Offline
Since Zoho Docs is now available as a desktop app and offline, when is a realistic ETA for Sheet to have the same functionality?I am surprised this was not laucned at the same time as Docs.Collective-booking event not added to all staff calendars
We assign two staff to certain events. When the client books this event, it adds it to one staff calendar (the 'organiser') but not the other. How can I ensure all staff assigned to a collective booking get the event in their calendar? (A side note: itProject Management Bulletin: October, 2025
Every need leads to innovation. Project Management tools were developed out of sheer necessity to drive large projects. With wide usage, the specifications grew precise, and so did the refinement. Over years we’ve crafted one of the best project managementZoho Sheets saying locked when not locked
Zoho Sheets won't let me add more rows to sheet because it's saying the sheet is locked, but the sheet is not locked. I tried using a different browser but I still have the same issue.Identifying and Merging Accounts with Similar (Non-Exact) Names
Hello everyone, I’m aware of the built-in deduplication feature in Zoho CRM that allows merging records with exactly matching values for selected fields. However, I’m running into a situation where our migrated data contains multiple variations of theOption for super admin to recover the deleted chats in Zoho Cliq
Currently, in Zoho Cliq, if a user accidentally deletes their chats, there is no option for the Super Admin to recover or view those deleted messages. I believe it would be helpful if Super Admins had a recovery option, perhaps within a certain time frame,Zoho CRM iOS app updates: the Homepage, Zoho Survey integration, and support for multiple file uploads in subform
Hello everyone! The Zoho CRM mobile app continues to evolve to bring you a smoother and more powerful CRM-on-the-go experience. We're excited to share some important updates now available in the iOS app. Here's what's new: Homepage support Zoho SurveyI am trying to integrate my module in sandbox environment to add data via API
I went through the documents and tried to setup the API for adding the module via the api but the problem is the token setup is done on "https://accounts.zoho.in/oauth/v2/token" domain and the bulk write is done on "https://content.zohoapis.com/crm/v8/upload"Setting up primary mobile number.
Hi Sir Earlier I joined IIFL team and got an organizational email of zoho services. Later i quit and now my account is deactivated with IIFL but i am unable to link my mobile number to my own email id with zoho.Zoho sheet for desktop
Hi is zoho sheets available for desktop version for windowsTables for Europe Datacenter customers?
It's been over a year now for the launch of Zoho Tables - and still not available für EU DC customers. When will it be available?Guided Conversations - Ticket Creation
Hi there, Using Guided Conversations to Take Customer Data and apply it into a Support Ticket for internal use, Is there a way to take multiple Textual Variables Inputs (A series of questions), and have the answers all appear in the Description of theHow to send certain invoices for Approval based on condition?
To streamline operations, I need the invoices to go for approval when certain conditions are met. For example, if my staff gives a discount of x amount, it must go for approval. If there is no discount, then the invoice will be approved automatically.Unable to continue payment
Hi, I want to make a payment for my email subscription, but I cannot proceed with the payment because my NITKU is invalid. In Indonesia, the NITKU consists of 22 digits, but Zoho only provides 20 digits, causing my NITKU to be invalid. Please help meIs there a way to show contact emails in the Account?
I know I can see the emails I have sent and received on a Contact detail view, but I want to be able to see all the emails that have been sent and received between all an Accounts Contacts on the Account Detail view. That way when I see the Account detailMassive spam pretending to come from our address – is this a Zoho security issue?
Hi, We’ve been receiving more and more suspicious emails lately — many of them clearly look like scams. But yesterday, we got an email that appeared to be sent from our own address, which was very concerning. We're starting to wonder if this might beCant recieve mails
I’m having an issue with my external IMAP account not fetching any emails into Zoho Mail, even though the connection test says “Success”. I can send, if someone sends an email to me. my original directory (home.pl host) recieves it in their portal butZoho Sheet Autofit Data
While using Autofit Data function in Zoho Sheets with Devnagri Maratji or Hindi Fonts, a word or a number, it keeps couple of characters outside the right side border.Enhancements to finance suite integrations
Update on the migration (October 28, 2025): Starting this week (October 29 tentatively), we’ll begin migrating Zoho CRM users to Zoho Books as integration users. This means actions will now run under each user’s own Zoho Books access, instead of the admin’s.Edit 'my' Notes only
The permissions around Notes should be more granular, and allow to user to be able to edit the notes he created only. The edit Notes permission is useful as it allows the user to correct any mistakes or add information as needed. However, with this sameHow do I filter contacts by account parameters?
Need to filter a contact view according to account parameter, eg account type. Without this filter users are overwhelmed with irrelevant contacts. Workaround is to create a custom 'Contact Type' field but this unbearable duplicity as the information alreadyJob Alerts for Candidates
hi All, I have 2 questions relating to sharing job details with candidates. 1. is there a way to notify candidates that meet certain criteria of current jobs available? eg. I run a candidate search, and identify 50 candidates that might be suitable. CanAdd multiple users to a task
When I´m assigning a task it is almost always related to more than one person. Practical situation: When a client request some improvement the related department opens the task with the situation and people related to it as the client itself, the salesmanEnhancing Task Accuracy: Automatically notify the owners upon Task duplication.
Hello Everyone, A Custom function is a user-written set of code to achieve a specific requirement. Set the required conditions needed as when to trigger using the Workflow rules (be it Tasks / Project) and associate the custom function to it. The requirementShow/ hide specific field based on user
Can someone please help me with a client script to achieve the following? I've already tried a couple of different scripts I've found on here (updating to match my details etc...) but none of them seem to work. No errors flagged in the codes, it justWhere are Kanban swimlanes
So i've been playing with Zoho Projects Kanban view a bit more. It appears that task lists are being used as the Kanban columns, which makes sense from the implementation point of view but not the logical one. Kanban columns are statuses that a task can flow through, while a task list has been a logical way to organize related tasks and relate them to a mislestone. In other words a task in a particular task can go through several stages while remaining in the same task list. After doing some researchTip 19: How to display images in Pages using ZML snippets
Hi folks, We're back with another tip on how to use Zoho Markup Language (ZML) to create interactive pages in Zoho Creator. You can use ZML snippets to add various kinds of components to your pages and structure them in meaningful ways. That's not all, though—using ZML you can ensure your application is automatically compatible with all kinds of devices without any inconsistencies. We often get questions from users about how to invoke Deluge scripts within ZML code. Here's a simple use case for addingCan zoho swign format block text spacing automatically when prefilled from zoho crm?
I'm sending zoho sign template from zoho crm, so that zoho crm pre-populates most fields. I have existing pdf documents that i am having signed. I have no ability to change the pdf documents, they are standardized government forms. The problem I am facingZoho Inventory / Finance Suite - Add feature to prevent duplicate values in Item Unit field
I've noticed that a client has 2 values the same in the Unit field on edit/create Items. This surprised me as why would you have 2 units with the same name. Please consider adding a feature which prevents this as it seems to serve no purpose.Reference lookup field values in Client script
hello all, I'm using a "ZDK.Apps.CRM.Products.searchByCriteria" function call, which is returning the matching records correctly; however, one of the fields is a lookup field which I need the associated data. I believe there is a way to get this dataIn App Auto Refresh/Update Features
Hi, I am trying to use Zoho Creator for Restaurant management. While using the android apps, I reliased the apps would not auto refresh if there is new entries i.e new kitchen order ticket (KOT) from other users. The apps does received notification but would not auto refresh, users required to refresh the apps manually in order to see the new KOT in the apps. I am wondering why this features is not implemented? Or is this feature being considered to be implemented in the future? With theNext Page