Every new Gold Silver Ledger account on a monthly plan starts with a 14-day free trial. The trial is the full app at your chosen tier — not a stripped-down preview — so the only thing changing on day 14 is that the card on file actually gets charged.
This article covers what the trial includes, how it ends, and the easy ways out if you decide the app isn't for you.
How the trial starts
The trial begins automatically the moment you complete sign-up. There's no "Start trial" button to click separately — picking a plan, creating your login, verifying your email, and entering a card during Stripe Checkout is the whole flow. Once Checkout completes, you're in.
A few things worth knowing about the start:
A card is required upfront. The card isn't charged until day 14, but it's collected at signup so the transition to paid is seamless if you decide to stay.
Day 1 is the day you sign up. The 14 days are calendar days, counted from the moment you complete Checkout. If you sign up at midday on a Wednesday, your trial ends roughly 14 days later, regardless of how much you've used the app in between.
You can see your trial end date at any time on the Subscription tab of Settings.
What you get during the trial
Full access to every feature of the plan you chose at signup, the only exception is that the Annual Report is only accessible to active plans.
If you picked Starter, you have the Starter feature set and limits for 14 days.
If you picked Pro, you have the Pro feature set and limits — including Advanced Analytics.
If you picked Premium, you have the Premium feature set and limits.
The trial is designed to be a real test drive. Record transactions, build out your portfolio, the things you'd do as a paying user.
Anything you record during the trial is your data, and it stays with the account whether you convert to paid or come back later. Nothing gets reset at the end of the trial except the billing relationship.
Changing your plan during the trial
You can move between plans during the trial without restarting the clock.
Picked Pro at signup but want to test Premium's Annual Report? Upgrade mid-trial; you've still got the rest of the original 14 days.
Started on Premium and decided Pro is enough? Downgrade mid-trial; the timer is unaffected.
Changed your mind twice? Go ahead. The trial period is anchored to your account, not to a specific plan.
The card on file stays in place across plan changes. What you'll be charged for on day 14 is whichever plan you're sitting on at the moment the trial ends.
To change plan, head to Settings → Subscription and follow the link to the Stripe billing portal.
The 7-day heads-up email
A week before your trial ends, we send a reminder email letting you know your subscription is about to begin. The email is meant as a courtesy — it's not a chase, and there's nothing you have to do in response if you intend to stay on as a paying user.
If you intended to cancel and the reminder is the moment you remember to do it, you've got a full week to act with no impact on access for the remaining trial days. That's the whole point of sending it a week early.
What happens on day 14
If you've done nothing, two things happen automatically:
The card on file is charged for the first billing period of whichever plan you're on.
Your account transitions from "trialing" to "active." You'll get a confirmation email letting you know the first payment went through.
The transition is silent from a feature perspective — nothing changes in the app, you don't get signed out, your data stays put. The only practical difference is that your subscription is now paid.
Cancelling during the trial
If you decide the app isn't for you, you can cancel any time before day 14. Two paths, both fine:
From inside the app: Go to Settings → Subscription and use the cancel control there.
From the Stripe billing portal: Also reached from Settings → Subscription, via the link to the portal. The portal has a full cancel-subscription flow.
Both paths produce the same outcome: your subscription is cancelled and no charge will be made on day 14.
Here's the important part: cancelling does not end your access immediately. You keep using the trial — full features, your chosen tier — for the rest of the 14-day period. The cancellation just stops the auto-charge that would otherwise happen at the end.
In other words: cancel as soon as you decide, even if that's on day 2. You'll lose nothing in terms of remaining trial time, and you don't need to "wait until closer to day 14" to do it. The earlier you decide, the less risk of forgetting.
Annual plans don't have a trial
One small but important detail: the 14-day free trial is for monthly plans only. If you choose annual at signup, you pay for the year upfront and your subscription is active from day one.
The reason is simply that annual is the discounted commitment — at 18% off the monthly equivalent, the annual price is already built around the assumption that you've committed to a year.
If you want to trial the app before paying for a year, start on a monthly plan, use the 14-day trial, and switch to annual later (you can do this from the Stripe billing portal any time).
A note on what we don't store
We don't store your card. Card data lives with Stripe end to end — the entry form during signup is hosted by Stripe, not by Gold Silver Ledger, and we only ever see a customer reference, never a card number. The trial ending in a charge, or the cancel button preventing one, is all done by Stripe.
Where to go next
The three plans compared: Starter, Pro, Premium: If you haven't picked a plan yet, this is the side-by-side.
[Choosing a plan after your trial]: For the post-trial decision, including switching from monthly to annual.
[Cancelling your subscription]: For cancellations after the trial has converted to a paid subscription.
[Updating your payment method]: How to swap the card on file via the Stripe billing portal.