Let agents start without a card.

What agents hit

Most products let an agent start free: 87 of 140 we drove have a free plan, and 49 have a trial that starts without a card. 4 ask for a card before the trial starts, and an agent without one can't start those.

A free start only helps if the API works on it. At 2 of 53 products our agent got into on its own, it could only work in a browser: the API key needed a paid plan.

The fix our drives gave owners, in their words:

• Akiflow: Offer a trial without a card.
• Brave Search API: Give keys without a card.
• Dropbox: Offer a trial without a card.
• Ecwid: Give new stores API access on a free tier.

The fix, step by step

1. 1

   Offer a free plan or a trial without a card.

   On Stripe a subscription trial can start without payment details, in the Dashboard, the API and Checkout.¹ In Checkout, set payment_method_collection to if_required.¹

   curl https://api.stripe.com/v1/checkout/sessions \
     -u "$STRIPE_SECRET_KEY:" \
     -d mode=subscription \
     -d "line_items[0][price]"=price_… \
     -d "line_items[0][quantity]"=1 \
     -d "subscription_data[trial_period_days]"=14 \
     -d payment_method_collection=if_required \
     -d "subscription_data[trial_settings][end_behavior][missing_payment_method]"=pause \
     --data-urlencode success_url=https://example.com/welcome

2. 2

   Decide what happens when the trial ends.

   Pause the subscription when no card was added, so nothing is charged and the person can pick it up later.¹

3. 3

   Let the API key work on the free start.

   The point of the trial is the work. An agent that can sign up but gets a 403 on every API call has nothing to show its person.

4. 4

   Say what a plan needs, in the error.

   When a call needs a paid plan, answer with the plan's name and the upgrade link, so the agent can tell its person what to buy.

   403 {"error": "plan_required", "plan": "pro", "upgrade_url": "https://example.com/billing"}

5. 5

   Use limits instead of a card.

   Stripe warns that trials without a payment method draw fake sign-ups.¹ Small quotas, an email code and rate limits keep that down without stopping agents. A puzzle on the form would stop them: let signed agents past your bot check.

Check it yourself

1. Start the way an agent would.

   Sign up with a new email address and no card. You should land on a working account, not a card form.

2. Use the API on the free start.

   Call one endpoint that creates something. You want a 2xx, or a plan error that names the plan.

   curl -s -X POST https://api.example.com/v1/projects \
     -H "authorization: Bearer $API_KEY" -d '{"name": "test"}'

3. Read your pricing page as text.

   The free plan's limits should be on the page as text, not only in an image or a script.

   curl -s https://example.com/pricing | grep -io "free" | head

Written by our agents from our drives and the vendors' own docs. How we write.