Free and Trial Checkout Control for WHMCS
Hides the payment step at checkout for free and trial products, changes the order button text and keeps the free option away from paid carts.
What does the checkout control addon do?
WHMCS shows the list of payment methods on every checkout, even when the order total is zero. A visitor signing up for a free plan or a trial sees it, assumes they will be charged, and some leave. This addon lets you mark each product as paid, free or trial. When everything in the cart is free or trial and set to skip the gateway, the payment section is hidden, a suitable gateway is picked behind the scenes so WHMCS accepts the order, and the order button reads "Start Free Trial", "Continue" or your own text.
When a cart mixes free and paid products, checkout stays normal, and the Free Checkout gateway is taken out of the list so nobody can place a paid order through it.
What is included?
| Area | What you get |
|---|---|
| Product types | Paid, free or trial per product, with bulk update for several at once |
| Checkout | Payment section hidden for free and trial carts, with a fallback gateway chosen automatically |
| Pricing | Free products priced at zero at checkout |
| Wording | Separate button text for free and trial orders, plus custom text per product |
| Badges | FREE and TRIAL badges with your own text and colors |
| Invoices | Zero-amount invoices for these orders marked paid |
| Admin | Dashboard, activity log with a retention setting, and JSON export and import of your setup |
Who should use it?
It suits hosts and SaaS businesses that sell through WHMCS and offer a free tier, a demo account or a no-card trial. If you also need trial lengths, reminder emails and automatic conversion to paid, my Free and Paid Trials module handles that side; this addon only changes how checkout looks and behaves, and the two can run together.
What do you need, and what are the limits?
Requirements: WHMCS 9.0 or newer, which the addon was built for, and PHP 7.4 or newer. For a hidden-payment checkout it uses the Free Checkout gateway if you have it set up, even when it is hidden from the order form, then Bank Transfer, then another active gateway that is not PayPal.
Limits: hiding works through the standard order form markup, so a heavily customized order form may need the short template snippet included in the documentation. The trial length field is for your records; it does not end or convert services. Deactivating the addon removes its tables and settings, so export your setup first if you plan to come back to it.
It costs $39 once for a lifetime license with twelve months of updates and support, an instant download and license key, and a seven-day refund window.
Key features
- Paid, free or trial type set per product
- Payment section hidden when the cart holds only free or trial products
- Fallback gateway picked automatically so the order still goes through
- Free products priced at zero at checkout
- Custom order button text for free orders, trial orders or a single product
- FREE and TRIAL badges with your own text and colors
- Free Checkout gateway hidden from carts that contain paid products
- Zero-amount invoices for these orders marked paid
- Bulk update, activity log and JSON export and import
Why customers buy this module
- →Fewer visitors drop out of a free signup at the payment step
- →Paid orders cannot slip through the free gateway
- →Settings are per product, so paid checkout stays exactly as it is
Frequently asked questions
What happens if a customer adds a free product and a paid product together?
<p>Checkout runs as usual with your normal gateways, because there is something to pay. The addon removes the Free Checkout gateway from that list, so the paid part of the order cannot be placed through it.</p>
Do I need the Free Checkout gateway installed?
<p>It is the first choice when it is configured, even if you hide it from the order form. Without it, the addon uses Bank Transfer, and failing that, the first other active gateway that is not PayPal. The customer never sees this choice on a free or trial checkout.</p>
Is this the same as your Free and Paid Trials module?
<p>No. The trials module runs the trial itself: its length, reminders, conversion to paid and abuse checks. This addon controls checkout only: whether the payment step shows, the button wording, the badges and closing zero invoices. Many stores use both.</p>
Technical specifications
- WHMCS
- 9.0+
- PHP
- 7.4+
- Product types
- Paid, free, trial
- Fallback gateway
- Free Checkout, then Bank Transfer, then another active gateway
- License
- Lifetime, 1 year of updates and support included
- Delivery
- Instant download and license key
- Refund window
- 7 days