Dubsado Free Trial 2026: Length, Card Rules and What It Costs

As listed in October 2026, the Dubsado free trial lasts 21 days, gives you full access to the Premier plan, and does not ask for a credit card. To stay, you pay $35 a month for Starter or $55 a month for Premier, or $335 or $525 a year if you pay up front. There is no permanent free plan. The catch is simple: the trial shows you the $55 product, so judge your cost against that number rather than the $35 one.

This guide covers what the trial includes, what Dubsado does and does not publish about the day it ends, the fees around the subscription, and what a coach would pay at three sizes. We make Coachful, a competing platform, so we have a stake in this. Every Dubsado figure below comes from Dubsado's own pricing and information pages as read in October 2026, and we say so where something is not published. We have not tested the product hands-on; this is what the vendor documents.

How long is the Dubsado free trial, and do you need a card?

The trial is 21 days and no credit card is required to start. Dubsado's pricing FAQ describes it as "full, unlimited access to our Premier plan", which includes the scheduler, automated workflows and the bookkeeping integration.

Three details are worth knowing before you sign up:

• It is the top plan. Dubsado has two plans and the trial sits on the higher one. Nothing about the experience tells you what Starter feels like with features removed.
• There is a separate free option. Dubsado runs free live demo sessions every two weeks, about 45 minutes long, with live Q&A and no card or subscription needed. You can attend one before your 21 days start.
• Setup uses up the clock. Dubsado says most users are running with core templates and workflows "within a week or two, depending on capacity". On a 21-day trial, that can leave you one week of real use.

If you are still comparing trials across the category, our roundup of coaching software with a free trial puts them side by side, and best free coaching software separates what is actually free from what is only a trial.

What does Dubsado cost after the free trial?

Staying costs $35 or $55 a month, or $335 or $525 a year, as listed in October 2026. Both plans allow unlimited clients and projects, so your bill does not rise as your client list grows.

Dubsado's pricing page shows yearly totals, and the monthly figures come from its official information page. These rates apply to new subscribers since December 1, 2025. Anyone who subscribed earlier keeps their old rate, which is why older blog posts and friends in coaching groups may quote lower numbers than you will be offered. For the full fee breakdown, see our Dubsado pricing guide.

What do you lose if you drop from the trial to Starter?

You lose the scheduler, Flows, unlimited lead forms, public proposals, the QuickBooks Online and bookkeeping tools, and Zapier. For most coaches, the scheduler alone settles the question, because booking calls is a weekly job.

Here is the trap. If you spend your 21 days building Flows and scheduler templates, then pick Starter to save $20 a month, the parts you built around stop being available. Dubsado's own advice is that Starter suits people just starting out and Premier suits owners who want automation and scheduling. A coach who wants Starter should test as if those features did not exist: send contracts and invoices by hand, and book calls some other way. If you would need a separate booking tool anyway, our guide to free booking software for coaches covers the options.

What happens when the Dubsado free trial ends?

Dubsado's pricing page and information page do not spell it out. Neither says how long your account and data stay available after day 21, or whether the trial can be extended, so ask before you put real client information in.

What we can say from the published terms:

• You should not be charged by surprise. No card is requested to start, so there is nothing on file to bill unless you add one. Dubsado has not published wording on this exact point, so this is a reasonable reading rather than a promise.
• You choose a plan to continue. With two paid plans and no free plan, keeping the account active means subscribing.
• Retention and extensions are not published on those pages. Dubsado's help center may cover them, and its Customer Care team can answer directly. Get the answer in writing if your data matters.

The practical safeguard is to keep a copy of anything you enter during the trial. Dubsado documents CSV export of contacts with selectable fields, and invoices and bookkeeping data can be exported. An older profile we hold says forms and templates are not portable, and the information page documents migration into Dubsado only. So assume the work you put into forms and Flows stays where you built it. If you are leaving rather than arriving, read how to migrate from Dubsado.

What fees does Dubsado charge besides the subscription?

Dubsado states no platform fee on client payments, so the extras are your processor's rates plus optional add-ons for brands and users. That is a clean model, and one of the better parts of its pricing.

Dubsado Payments covers cards, ACH, Klarna, Affirm and Tap to Pay, and PayPal and Square can be connected directly. Rules on surcharging vary by location and card network, so check with an accountant or attorney before you turn it on. Dubsado also offers a free 10-form migration service for people moving in, which is worth using during the trial if you have forms elsewhere.

What would a coach actually pay at three sizes?

The subscription runs from $335 to about $960 a year, depending on plan, billing and team size. The larger number to work out is what you pay beside it, since Dubsado says it does not include website building and is not an email marketing platform, and it has no courses, community, habits or check-ins.

These are worked examples from the listed prices, not quotes. We have left the extra tools unpriced on purpose, because the answer depends on what you pick. Add your own numbers to the last row before you compare totals. Our Wix and Squarespace trial guides cover websites, Mailchimp covers email, and Kajabi covers courses.

Two things stand out. First, Dubsado's flat price is friendly to a coach with many clients, because 5 and 500 cost the same. Second, the same flat price tells you nothing about the cost of delivering your coaching, which is where a client management tool stops. A coach running group programs pays for that delivery somewhere else.

What are the gotchas in the Dubsado free trial?

The main ones are that the trial shows Premier while the headline price is Starter, and that 21 days is short against a coaching cycle. None of this is hidden, but it is easy to miss.

1. The advertised entry price is not the product you tried. $35 a month gets you no scheduler and no automation.
2. A 21-day window is shorter than most coaching engagements. You can test signing up a client, but not a full 12-week program, a renewal or a third month of a payment plan. Walk a test client through all of it with dummy dates.
3. Setup can consume half the trial. Dubsado's own estimate of a week or two leaves little time for real use, so start when you have room.
4. The mobile app is a companion. It handles invoices, emails, viewing projects and notifications, but full functionality needs the desktop web app. It also requires a Dubsado subscription, so it is a tool for you rather than a coaching app for your clients.
5. Your forms may not travel. As noted above, contacts export to CSV, but forms and templates may have to be rebuilt elsewhere.
6. Annual billing is a commitment made soon after a short test. We did not find refund terms for annual plans on the pricing or information pages, so ask before paying.
7. Public ratings are thin. Trustpilot showed 3.7 from a single review on October 25, 2026, which means little. We could not read G2 or Capterra, so we are not quoting them.

How should a coach use the 21 days?

Use them to test one client's whole path, from first enquiry to final invoice, rather than exploring features. Block the time on your calendar first, and pick a decision date around day 18 so you are not choosing under pressure.

Before day 1. Attend a live demo, write down the five steps every client goes through, and gather your contract, intake questions and price list.

Days 1 to 5. Set up your brand, your contract, one intake form and one invoice. Use the free 10-form migration if your forms live elsewhere, and ask Customer Care what happens to your data after day 21.

Days 6 to 12. Build the scheduler and one Flow for your onboarding. Note how long it takes, since this is the work you would redo for every new offer.

Days 13 to 17. Sign up a friend as a test client, from your phone and theirs. Have them complete the form, sign the contract, pay a small real invoice if possible, and book a call. Ask what they found confusing in the portal.

Days 18 to 21. Decide. Ask yourself four questions:

• Did the test client know what to do next without a message from me?
• Would I use Flows and the scheduler every week? If so, my real number is $55 a month, not $35.
• What will I still pay for beside this, and what is that total?
• Where will a client do the work between sessions?

The last question is where coaches tend to find the gap. Our guide to running client onboarding without Dubsado shows another way to build the same path.

What does Dubsado do well?

Dubsado is a mature client workflow tool with deep customization and a clean pricing model. Founded in 2015 and self-funded by its own account, it launched version 3.0 in November 2025, and says all future development will happen there.

• Unlimited clients on every plan. Your bill stays flat however many people you work with.
• No stated platform fee on payments, and a real choice of processors, including PayPal and Square.
• Serious workflow depth. Forms, contracts, proposals, invoices and Flows can be shaped to your process.
• Generous multi-user terms. Up to 3 additional users are included, and add-on tiers cover large teams cheaply.
• A real no-card trial, with full Premier access rather than a cut-down version.

For a coach who sells mostly 1:1 sessions and has a website and email tool they like, this is a sensible setup. Our full Dubsado review goes further into its strengths and limits.

Where do coaches outgrow Dubsado?

Coaches outgrow it when the job moves from admin to delivery. Dubsado handles getting a client signed, paid and booked, then has little to offer for the weeks of change that the client actually bought.

As documented in October 2026, it has no courses, client community, habits or check-ins, and it says it is not a website builder or an email marketing platform. So a coach who runs a 90-day program usually ends up holding Dubsado, a course host, a community tool, a website and an email tool together, with clients logging into more than one. That is the point where a client management tool stops being the center of the business. If that sounds like your practice, see our Dubsado alternatives for coaches or the Dubsado alternative page.

Is the Dubsado free trial worth starting?

Yes, if you sell sessions and care mainly about contracts, invoices and workflow. It costs nothing but setup time. Coaches who deliver structured programs should compare first, since the features they most need are missing regardless of plan.

• New coach with a few 1:1 clients: worth trying, but budget $55 a month, not $35, if you want booking in the same place. See also our page for new coaches.
• Established 1:1 coach with a website and email tool: a good fit. Premier on annual billing is the sensible choice, and you should test Flows hard.
• Program or group coach: probably not your main platform. Look at group coaching software first.
• Coach with a small team: worth trying for the included users, but check who delivers what. Coachful's team plans add coach seats with per-coach availability and staff permissions.
• Coach running two brands: Dubsado's $10 per extra brand is a real plus, and worth testing specifically.

How does the Dubsado trial compare with other tools?

It is a middle-of-the-pack trial on length, and strong on terms because it needs no card and opens the top plan. Compare what you would be paying for at the end, though, since these tools do quite different jobs.

You can read deeper comparisons in Coachful vs Dubsado, Paperbell vs Dubsado and Dubsado vs Practice Better.

HoneyBook

HoneyBook gives you the longest trial here at 30 days, also with no card. It is the closest like-for-like tool, covering proposals, contracts, invoices, a scheduler and a client portal, though payments must run through its own processing and the scheduler and automations start on Essentials. It has no programs, courses, habits, check-ins or community. See HoneyBook vs Dubsado.

Bonsai

Bonsai's trial is the shortest at 7 days, and you enter card details at the end if you have not already. It suits freelancers and agencies who bill time and projects, and it charges per user on every plan. Its Basic plan has no invoicing or payments, so look at Essentials and up. See Bonsai vs Dubsado.

HubSpot

HubSpot has no timed trial. Its free CRM has no expiry for up to 2 users and 1,000 contacts, with a branded meetings link. It is a general sales and marketing suite rather than a coaching tool, and the costs climb with seats and contacts. See Dubsado vs HubSpot.

Keap

Keap's 14-day trial needs no card, but it is capped at 25 emails and cannot process payments or send texts, so you cannot test a real client path on it. It starts far higher than Dubsado, with an implementation package and a $299 early termination fee on an annual contract. It makes sense for businesses that rely on heavy sales automation.

What is Coachful, and why do we recommend it over Dubsado for coaches?

Coachful is a coaching platform where one subscription covers booking, payments, contracts, program delivery with habits and check-ins, courses, a community, a website with funnels and email, and an AI assistant. It is built for coaches who deliver programs, not just sessions, for solo coaches growing into a small team, and for coaches replacing 4 to 6 tools. The coach has one login and the client has one branded app.

The difference from Dubsado is what happens after the contract is signed. Dubsado documents the admin side. Coachful also runs the admin side, then carries on into the coaching:

• Before the first call: booking pages with availability rules, buffers and time-zone detection, two-way calendar sync, intake questions on booking, and coaching agreements with e-signature stored on the client record.
• Payments: one-time, subscriptions, payment plans, coupons and refunds through your own Stripe Connect or Razorpay account, with a 0% Coachful platform fee.
• Between sessions: multi-week programs with weekly goals, daily tasks, habits, morning and evening check-ins, and streaks.
• Around the coaching: courses, a community feed, group chat, cohort groups created automatically on enrollment, and group calls.
• Getting clients: a website builder with blog and custom domain, funnels, email lists, broadcasts and sequences.
• Help from AI: Michelle, the built-in AI assistant, works from live practice data to build programs, draft emails, summarize recorded sessions and brief you before sessions. Questions and planning are included in the membership; confirmed builds and changes use AI credits.

Here is a walkthrough of how a client journey is put together:

Why Coachful stands out: a free white-glove service. On any plan, you can describe what you want from Create > We'll build it for you, attach up to 8 reference links and up to 10 files, and the Coachful team builds it inside your own account, usually within about 24 hours. That can be a website, funnel, sales page, program, course outline, email sequence and more. Nothing gets invented, so there are no fake credentials, testimonials or prices, and gaps are left for you to fill. It does not include recording videos, logo design, ad management or ongoing marketing. This matters during a trial, because the setup burden that eats into your days is the thing being handled. A leadership coach with a Squarespace renewal days away got one clean homepage with a repeated "talk with me" button. Read more about the white-glove build service.

The same record holds the sessions, the agreement and the invoices, so you are not cross-checking tools:

What Coachful does not do. It is not HIPAA-certified and has no BAA, so it is not for clinical records or insurance billing. It has no PayPal and no permanent free plan. The client app ships under the Coachful listing with your branding, not your own App Store account. There is no multi-stage deal board for large sales teams, and no Salesforce or HubSpot integration. Lower plans cap client numbers, which Dubsado's plans do not.

Pick Dubsado over Coachful if you sell mainly 1:1 services, need PayPal or Square, want deep custom proposals and Flows, and are happy with your existing website and email tools.

How to start. Start a free trial of Coachful, then ask the team for a white-glove build of whatever would take you longest. Your clients, programs and content are imported for you during onboarding. Current plans: Lite: $29/month for up to 5 clients; Solo: $49/month for up to 20 clients; Pro: $99/month with unlimited clients; Studio: $199/month with unlimited clients. For a wider view, see our coaching software overview.

How can you save money on Dubsado after the trial?

The biggest saving is annual billing, about 20% off, but only commit after you are sure. These moves are all based on terms Dubsado lists.

• Pay annually once you are confident. Starter saves $85 a year ($420 versus $335) and Premier saves $135 ($660 versus $525). Annual pays for itself in about 10 months, so if you might leave sooner, stay monthly.
• Check for a referral discount. Dubsado says people referred through its affiliate program get 20% off their first month or year. On a first year of Premier that would be $420 rather than $525, as a worked example. It also says there is no time limit between clicking a referral link and signing up, but confirm the discount applies before you subscribe.
• Use what is free first. The live demo, the 10-form migration and the help center all cost nothing, so try them before paying a specialist.
• Stay within the included users. Up to 3 additional users come included, and crossing that line adds $25 a month.
• Merge brands if you can. Each extra brand is $10 a month, or $120 a year.
• Consider surcharging. It can offset card costs, though the rules vary by location, so check first.
• Add up the whole stack. The largest saving may be cutting tools you pay for beside Dubsado rather than trimming the subscription.

Dubsado free trial FAQ

How long is the Dubsado free trial?

It lasts 21 days, as listed in October 2026. Dubsado describes it as full, unlimited access to the Premier plan. It does not publish an extension policy on its pricing or information pages, so ask Customer Care if you need more time.

Does the Dubsado free trial need a credit card?

No. Dubsado's pricing page states that no credit card information is required. With no card on file at the start, there should be nothing to bill unless you add one, though Dubsado does not publish wording on that exact point.

Does Dubsado have a free plan?

No. There are two paid plans, Starter and Premier, plus the 21-day trial. The free live demo sessions are the only other no-cost way to look at the product.

How much is Dubsado after the free trial?

Starter is $35 a month or $335 a year, and Premier is $55 a month or $525 a year, as listed in October 2026. These rates apply to new subscribers since December 1, 2025. Earlier subscribers keep their previous pricing.

Is the trial the Starter or the Premier plan?

It is Premier. So you will have the scheduler, Flows, unlimited lead forms, public proposals, bookkeeping integration and Zapier during the trial, and you lose all of those if you move to Starter. Test accordingly.

What happens to my data when the trial ends?

Dubsado's pricing and information pages do not say how long trial data is kept. Export your contacts to CSV before day 21, keep your contract and form text somewhere of your own, and ask Customer Care about retention before you enter real client information.

Is 21 days enough to test Dubsado?

It is enough to test signing up a client, if you plan the time. Dubsado estimates a week or two for setup, which leaves about one to two weeks of use. It is not enough to see a full 12-week program or a renewal, so run those with test dates.

Can coaches run programs in Dubsado?

Dubsado handles contracts, forms, invoices, scheduling and workflows, and it has a client portal. It has no courses, community, habits or check-ins, so program delivery would need other tools or a platform such as Coachful.

What is Coachful's free white-glove service?

On any plan, you describe what you want built, such as a website, funnel, program or email sequence, and the Coachful team builds it inside your account, usually within about 24 hours. It does not include recording videos, logo design, ad management or ongoing marketing. Nothing gets invented, and gaps are left for you to fill in.

Which is better for a coach, Dubsado or Coachful?

Dubsado fits coaches who mainly need client admin for 1:1 work and already have a website and email tool, or who need PayPal or Square. Coachful fits coaches delivering programs who want booking, payments, contracts, delivery, community, website and email under one login. The second group is why we built it, and our full comparison covers the details.