August 2026 Summaries

Clerk Billing offers three ways to provide free access to paid plan features: free trials for new evaluators, 100% discounts for temporary complimentary periods on existing commercial subscriptions, and $0 custom prices for long-term exceptions such as employees, partners, or internal users. Free trials are configured at the plan level, generally require a payment method, convert automatically to paid subscriptions if not canceled, and are only available to customers who have not previously paid or used a trial. A 100% discount preserves the customer’s normal catalog price while reducing charges for a specified number of billing cycles or indefinitely, with full-price billing resuming automatically after a finite discount expires, though discounts can be cleared by plan or price transitions. A $0 complimentary custom price gives paid-feature access without placing an account on a public commercial price, but requires manual creation and later transition back to a paid price if needed. The recommended default is to use trials for prospects, time-limited discounts for existing subscribers receiving temporary free access, and $0 prices for ongoing noncommercial accounts.