> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.surfais.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Your trial
> What runs during your 7-day trial, the scan schedule, and what happens when it converts or lapses.
Every new account starts with a 7-day free trial — no card required to start it. To keep access after the trial, add a payment method during the trial (Settings → Billing); with a card on file your chosen plan starts automatically when the trial ends. If you never add one, the trial simply ends and nothing is charged.
## What the trial includes
The trial gives you a working slice of Surfais, not a stripped-down demo — you're seeing real scans against real AI platforms from day one:
* 1 brand
* 25 tracked prompts
* 1 country
* 2 competitors tracked
* All 5 AI platforms (ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews)
* 1 detailed AI Visibility Audit
* 10 team seats
These are trial-specific limits — they're not the same as the Starter plan's limits, so don't expect the numbers to carry over unchanged when you convert. See [Plans & limits](/billing/plans-limits) for what each paid plan includes.
When you add your first brand, your dashboard offers a free baseline scan you trigger yourself — a short get-scan-ready checklist, then **Run my first scan**. It doesn't use your manual-scan allowance or wait for a scheduled day, and automatic scans only begin once you've run it. See [your free baseline scan](/scans/scan-schedule#your-free-baseline-scan).
## The trial scan schedule
Rather than following a paid plan's weekday cadence, the trial runs a fixed drip aiming for readings around **days 1, 4, and 7** — so you see meaningful movement without waiting a full week. Your first reading is the free baseline scan you trigger yourself; the remaining drip scans then run automatically. If you never run the baseline, no automatic scans fire.
This drip applies regardless of which plan you eventually convert to — it's a property of being in trial, not of the tier your account carries. For how a scan run actually works once it fires, see [How scans work](/scans/how-scans-work).
## Converting to a paid plan
You can choose your paid plan at any point during the trial from [Billing](/billing/subscription) or the pricing page — checkout runs through Stripe. Choosing a plan locks in what your account converts to, but while the trial is still running your account keeps the trial's limits and scan drip; the plan's own limits and weekday cadence (see [Scan schedule](/scans/scan-schedule)) take over when the trial converts. You keep everything you set up during the trial either way.
What happens at the end of the 7 days depends on whether a payment method is on file: with a card added, your chosen plan starts automatically (cancel beforehand if you've changed your mind); with no card, the subscription ends on its own and you're never charged.
## If your trial lapses
If your trial ends without a card — or a subscription lapses later, for example a card fails and nothing reactivates it — automatic and manual scans stop running. Your account and data (brands, prompts, competitors, and scan history) are retained rather than deleted; nothing is wiped out from under you. Subscribing (or fixing your payment method) restores an active plan and scanning resumes. One trial per organisation — a lapsed trial can't be restarted, but subscribing picks up your saved data exactly where it left off.
If you're unsure of your current trial or subscription status, check [Managing your subscription](/billing/subscription), which always shows your live status and renewal or trial-end date.
## Related pages
Compare what each paid plan includes.
Upgrade, downgrade, invoices, and cancellation.
What happens during a scan run.
Set up your first brand.