Kartra Free Trial (2026): Length, Card Rules and What It Costs
The Kartra free trial lasts 14 days as listed in October 2026, and it rolls into monthly billing at $59, $119 or $229 depending on the plan you pick. Kartra's public pages do not say whether a card is needed to start, email is capped at 1,000 sends during the trial, and there is no permanent free plan. A 30-day money-back guarantee sits behind it.
That is the short version. The rest of this guide covers what the trial includes, what happens on day 14, what you pay to stay, and where coaches tend to outgrow Kartra. We make Coachful, a competing platform, so we say where Kartra is the better choice and separate what Kartra publishes from what it leaves unsaid. We have not run this trial ourselves; everything here comes from Kartra's own pages and what public reviewers report.
How long is the Kartra free trial, and what does it include?
The trial is 14 days, and Kartra's trial page offers it on Essentials, Starter and Growth with the line "14-days free. Billed monthly." You get the features of the plan you choose, with one published exception: email is limited to 1,000 sends until the trial ends.
Each plan card on the trial page carries the same note: "Trial limited to 1000 emails. As soon as trial ends increase will apply." That matters more on some plans than others. Essentials lists 10,000 emails a month, and Starter and Growth list unlimited email and SMS, so a coach with a large list cannot test a full broadcast during those 14 days.
Three other details are easy to miss:
- The trial label sits on monthly billing. Switch the page to yearly and the card reads "Billed annually", with a "Get" button in place of "Start for Free". Read the button before you click.
- Professional is not on the trial page. The headline says "Choose Any Plan", but the page we read on October 31, 2026 shows cards for Essentials, Starter and Growth only. If you want to try Professional at $549 a month, ask Kartra first.
- A pop-up can double it. The trial page also contains a limited-time offer reading "Wait! Double Your Trial" and "Get 30 days to start selling online". Kartra does not publish who sees it or how long it runs, so treat 14 days as the term you can count on.
| Trial term | What Kartra's pages say (October 2026) |
|---|---|
| Length | 14 days; a limited-time pop-up offers 30 |
| Plans shown on the trial page | Essentials, Starter, Growth |
| Billing after the trial | "14-days free. Billed monthly" |
| Email during the trial | Limited to 1,000 emails, rising when the trial ends |
| Card to start | Not stated on the pricing or trial page |
| Permanent free plan | None |
| Refund after paying | 30-day money-back guarantee; start date of the 30 days not stated |
| Cancelling | Any time, from the Billing page inside your account |
If you are comparing several trials at once, our roundup of coaching software with a free trial covers the wider field, and our guide to free coaching software separates true free plans from trials.
Does the Kartra free trial need a credit card?
Kartra does not say on its pricing or trial page. Third-party listings such as Capterra mark a card as required, and reviewer sites describe billing starting automatically, so plan on entering a card and treat that as likely rather than confirmed.
Kartra does publish how it takes payment for the subscription. It accepts major credit cards and debit cards backed by a credit house such as Visa or Mastercard, in US dollars, and it does not accept PayPal for subscription payments. Cards issued outside the United States work, but your bank applies its own exchange rate. If you run your business in euros or pounds, budget for the conversion on top of the listed price.
You will also find older articles describing a $1 trial, a 30-day trial or a 60-day trial. Those accounts disagree with one another and with Kartra's current page, which says 14 days free. Trust the checkout screen in front of you, and take a screenshot of the terms it shows before you confirm.
What happens when the Kartra free trial ends?
The published wording is "14-days free. Billed monthly", which points to monthly billing on your chosen plan once the trial ends. Kartra's pages do not spell out the exact charge moment, and reviewers report that billing starts automatically unless you cancel first.
Here is what you can expect on the day it rolls over, based on what is published:
- The first charge is the plan's monthly price. That means $59 on Essentials, $119 on Starter or $229 on Growth, in US dollars.
- The email cap lifts. The 1,000-email limit gives way to the plan's normal allowance.
- The contact rule still applies. Go over your plan's contact limit and Kartra automatically moves you to the next tier and charges a mid-cycle reconciliation fee. The pages do not say whether this rule pauses during a trial, so do not import a list larger than your plan's cap.
- The refund window is your backstop. Kartra advertises a 30-day money-back guarantee, but the pricing and trial pages do not explain the terms. Ask support whether the 30 days count from sign-up or from the first charge.
What happens to your pages, funnels and contacts after a cancellation is not covered on those pages either. Assume you may lose access and export what you want to keep before you leave.
How do you cancel Kartra during the trial?
Kartra says you can cancel or change your subscription at any time from the Billing page inside your account. To avoid a charge, do it at least a day or two before the trial ends rather than on the last day.
- Note your sign-up date and put a reminder on day 12 in your calendar.
- Export your contacts first. Kartra's contact export produces a CSV with fields, lists and tags, according to its profile data from September 2026.
- Log in, open the Billing page, and cancel the subscription.
- Save the confirmation email or take a screenshot of the cancelled status.
- Check your card statement after the trial date passes. If a charge appears, contact support and cite the 30-day guarantee.
Plan the export carefully if you built anything real during the trial. As of that September 2026 profile, pages and funnels export only as Kartra elements, and memberships have to be rebuilt elsewhere. Anything you build on a trial is work you may have to repeat if you leave.
What does Kartra cost after the free trial?
Kartra costs $59, $119, $229 or $549 a month on monthly billing, or $52, $99, $189 or $429 a month billed yearly, as listed in October 2026. There is no free plan and no add-on that buys extra capacity.
| Plan | Monthly billing | Yearly billing (per month) | Contacts | Pages, products, courses | Email and SMS | Domains | AI uses | Team members |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essentials | $59 | $52 | 500 | 5 pages, 1 product, 1 course or membership | 10,000 a month | 1 | 30 | Not listed |
| Starter | $119 | $99 | 2,500 | Unlimited | Unlimited | 1 | 100 | 5 |
| Growth | $229 | $189 | 12,500 | Unlimited | Unlimited | 3 | 250 (one Kartra table shows 200) | 10 |
| Professional | $549 | $429 | 25,000 | Unlimited | Unlimited | 5 | Not listed on the plan card | Not listed on the plan card |
Yearly billing saves up to 22%. In dollars, that is $84 a year on Essentials, $240 on Starter, $480 on Growth and $1,440 on Professional. For a deeper plan-by-plan breakdown, read our full guide to Kartra pricing.
What does each Kartra plan add?
Essentials is a single-offer starter plan, Starter is where a working coach usually needs to begin, Growth adds automation, and Professional adds real-time analytics and live chat. Booking calendars do not appear until Starter, which is the detail that catches coaches out most often.
- Essentials ($59). Kartra AI with 30 uses, form builder, funnel mapper, analytics, checkouts and 100 pre-built campaigns. It carries a 5% fee on your sales, and it has no calendars or video hosting.
- Starter ($119). Unlimited pages, products, courses and memberships, video hosting, webinars, built-in appointment calendars, 5 team members and 0% transaction fees.
- Growth ($229). Funnel simulation, advanced automations, affiliate management, surveys and quizzes, helpdesk, 10 team members and 3 domains.
- Professional ($549). Everything in Growth, plus real-time funnel analytics, helpdesk live chat, 25,000 contacts and 5 domains.
Pick your trial plan with this in mind. A trial on Essentials cannot show you Kartra's calendars, and a trial on Starter cannot show you its advanced automations. If booking and automated follow-up are the reasons you are looking, start the trial on Growth, then decide whether you can live with less. Moving down is cheaper than discovering a gap after you have committed.
Which fees apply after the trial?
Kartra's FAQ says its subscription is flat-rate with "never any extra fees", which holds for storage and email sends. It does not cover everything a coach may pay: Essentials charges 5% on your sales, your payment processor charges its own rate, and passing your contact limit triggers an upgrade with a reconciliation fee.
| Cost | Who pays it | How much |
|---|---|---|
| Kartra transaction fee | Essentials | 5% of your sales |
| Kartra transaction fee | Starter and Growth | 0% |
| Kartra transaction fee | Professional | Not stated in October 2026; 0% in the September 2026 profile |
| Payment processing | Every plan | Set by your processor, separate from Kartra |
| Contact overage | Any plan past its contact cap | Automatic upgrade to the next tier that fits, plus a mid-cycle reconciliation fee (amount not stated) |
| Extra domains, team members or languages | Any plan at its limit | No fee and no automatic upgrade; Kartra shows a limit message, and you upgrade if you want more |
| Add-ons for capacity | Nobody | Not sold; Kartra says there are no add-ons to raise individual limits |
| Currency conversion | Coaches paying with non-US cards | Set by your bank |
The 5% fee is easy to underrate, so run the numbers. The gap between Essentials and Starter is $60 a month on monthly billing, and 5% of $1,200 is $60. Once you sell more than $1,200 a month through Kartra, Essentials costs more than Starter while giving you less. On yearly billing the gap is $47 a month, so the crossover falls at $940 in monthly sales. Even one small coaching package can get you there.
What does a coach actually pay on Kartra after the trial?
Most working coaches land on Starter or Growth, which means $99 to $229 a month before processing, plus whatever they need beside Kartra for client delivery. The figures below are illustrative examples, and the contact counts are what move the price, because Kartra's caps count leads as well as clients.
| Tool | New coach: 5 clients, 300 contacts, $2,000 monthly sales (example) | Established: 20 clients, 2,000 contacts (example) | Small team: 40 clients, 8,000 contacts, a second coach (example) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coachful | Lite: $29/month for up to 5 clients; processing through your own Stripe or Razorpay account | Solo: $49/month for up to 20 clients; processing through your own Stripe or Razorpay account | Pro: $99/month with unlimited clients; team plans add coach seats; processing through your own Stripe or Razorpay account |
| Kartra plan that fits | Essentials: $59 + 5% of $2,000 = $159 a month. Starter at $119 is cheaper and adds calendars. | Starter: $119 monthly or $99 billed yearly | Growth: $229 monthly or $189 billed yearly |
| Yearly total on Kartra | $1,428 on Starter monthly, or $1,188 billed yearly | $1,428, or $1,188 billed yearly | $2,748, or $2,268 billed yearly |
| Still needed beside Kartra | A contracts tool and a way to deliver habits and check-ins | A contracts tool, habit and check-in delivery, and a client app if you want one | The same, plus a way to see each coach's clients and their progress in one place |
We have not priced the tools in the last row because the cost depends on which you choose. Do add them to your own sum. Contracts and e-signature are not listed on Kartra's pricing or trial page, so confirm during the trial whether what you need is there. Habits, check-ins and per-client coaching plans are not part of Kartra, and its September 2026 profile lists no mobile app for students or admins.
Watch the small-team column in particular. A coach who gives away a lead magnet can pass 12,500 contacts while still serving only 40 clients. The next tier is $549 a month, and the upgrade happens automatically.
What should you test during the 14 days?
Test the path a real client takes, from first page view to paying and being coached, because two weeks is not enough to learn every feature. If you are still rebuilding that path on day 10, you have your answer about setup effort.
- Days 1 to 2: choose the right plan. Start on the plan that includes what you want to evaluate. Calendars need Starter, and advanced automations need Growth.
- Days 2 to 4: build one real sales page. Use your actual offer, connect a domain if you can, and time how long it takes.
- Days 4 to 6: run a test purchase. Connect your processor and buy your own offer. Check the receipt, the access email and where the customer lands.
- Days 6 to 8: test booking. Book a session as a client across time zones, and check reminders and how the calendar syncs with yours.
- Days 8 to 10: send a client through your program. Try to assign weekly tasks, collect a check-in and see one client's progress in one view. This is the step most likely to reveal a gap.
- Days 10 to 11: test export and email. Export your contacts. Send to a small segment, keeping in mind the 1,000-email limit.
- Day 12: decide. Keep it, move down a plan, or cancel from the Billing page. Do not leave this for day 14.
Ask one extra question while you are still deciding: write to support and request the guarantee terms and the amount of the reconciliation fee in writing. Kartra's pricing page says you can reach its team from the Help button once you are logged in.
What does Kartra do well?
Kartra is a capable all-in-one marketing suite. It puts pages, funnels, email, SMS, memberships, calendars and helpdesk under one login, which is a real saving for a coach whose business depends on selling through funnels.
- Marketing depth. Funnel mapping, funnel simulation, automations, surveys and affiliate management are all built in, depending on the plan.
- Unlimited sending from Starter up. Unlimited email and SMS is generous at $119 a month, especially against tools that meter sends.
- Payment choice for your sales. Kartra's trial page describes checkouts for both credit card and PayPal payments. That helps if your buyers expect PayPal.
- A HIPAA statement. Kartra's pricing FAQ says it is HIPAA compliant at no additional cost. If that matters to your work, ask for the documentation in writing.
- No surprise charge for some limits. Hitting a domain, team member or language limit only shows a message, and nothing is billed until you choose to upgrade.
The caution is sentiment. Kartra showed 3.2 on Trustpilot from 129 reviews when we checked on October 25, 2026. That is one data point, and it is worth reading the recent reviews yourself. For a full assessment, see our Kartra review.
Where do coaches outgrow Kartra?
Coaches outgrow Kartra when their work shifts from selling to delivering. It is built to get a client through a funnel and into a membership, and it has no habits, check-ins or per-client coaching plans for what happens over the following 12 weeks.
- No client progress layer. Kartra can host your course, but it does not track a client's daily habits, morning and evening check-ins or weekly goals.
- No client app. The September 2026 profile lists no mobile app for students or admins, so between-session contact falls back on email, SMS and the browser.
- A price tied to your list. Contact caps follow your marketing, not your client load. A successful lead magnet can raise your bill while your coaching revenue stays flat.
- Automation sits on Growth. The automations that make a funnel run on its own are listed from the $229 plan.
- Low portability. Funnels and memberships are not portable to other platforms, according to the same profile. The longer you stay, the more you would have to rebuild.
If this describes where you are heading, our guide to running coaching programs without Kartra maps the client journey step by step, and our list of Kartra alternatives ranks the other options.
Coachful: the alternative built for delivering coaching
Coachful is the platform we recommend for a coach deciding what to do after a Kartra trial, particularly one who delivers programs rather than just selling them. One subscription covers booking, payments, contracts, program delivery, courses, a community, a website with funnels and email, and an AI assistant. The coach has one login, and the client gets one branded app.
Who it is for. Coachful is built for coaches who deliver programs, not just sessions; solo coaches growing into a small team; and coaches replacing 4 to 6 tools. Start with the page for new coaches, established coaches or coaching teams, or read the overview of our coaching software.
What it costs. Plans are flat and monthly, lower plans cap the number of clients, and Pro is unlimited. 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. Coachful charges a 0% platform fee, so only Stripe or Razorpay processing comes off your sales. Monthly plans cancel in one click. Where Kartra caps contacts, Coachful's lower plans cap clients.
The difference from Kartra shows up after the sale. Multi-week programs carry weekly goals, daily tasks, habits, morning and evening check-ins, goals with progress bars and streaks, all included in your Coachful membership. This short walkthrough shows how a program comes together.
Your client record then holds goals, check-ins, habits, notes, intake answers, tags, payments, sessions and an AI briefing per client, with a status of thriving, active, quiet or at risk. That answers the question Kartra leaves open: which clients need you this week?
Booking pages handle availability rules, buffers, minimum notice and time-zone detection, with two-way Google, Apple and Outlook calendar sync, and built-in video or automatic Zoom, Meet and Teams links.
Coaching agreements with e-signature go out before the first call and are stored on the client record. Payments run through your own Stripe Connect or Razorpay account, with subscriptions, payment plans, order bumps, coupons, refunds, Apple Pay and Google Pay.
The marketing side covers a section-based website builder with 30 designed homepage templates, booking, application, lead-magnet and checkout funnels, and email sequences with triggers, delays, branching and A/B splits. Michelle, the built-in AI assistant, works from your live practice data, builds programs, drafts emails and briefs you before sessions. Questions and planning are included in the membership, while confirmed builds and changes use AI credits.
| Platform | Price to serve 20 clients | Fee on your sales | Booking | Habits and check-ins | Client app | Contracts with e-signature |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coachful | Solo: $49/month for up to 20 clients | 0% platform fee; processing only | Included | Included | Your branding inside the Coachful app | Included |
| Kartra | $119 on Starter, depending on contacts | 0% on Starter; 5% on Essentials | From Starter | Not offered | None listed (September 2026 profile) | Not listed on its pricing or trial page |
What Coachful does not do. Coachful is not HIPAA-certified and offers no BAA, so clinical records and insurance billing belong in a clinical system. It has no PayPal and no permanent free plan. The client app ships under the Coachful listing with your branding, not under your own App Store account. It has no multi-stage sales deal board for large teams, no Salesforce or HubSpot integration, and no third-party plugins. The affiliate program tracks links, clicks, conversions and revenue, but payouts are recorded manually rather than sent by Coachful.
Pick Kartra over Coachful if your buyers need PayPal at checkout, Kartra's HIPAA statement is a requirement for your work, or your business is mainly funnels and list marketing, with little ongoing client delivery.
Why Coachful stands out: a free white-glove service. On every plan, you can ask the Coachful team to build things for you from Create > We'll build it for you. That covers a website, funnel, sales page, program, course outline and written material, email sequence, form and more. You can attach up to 8 reference links and up to 10 files, and the team builds inside your own account, usually within about 24 hours. Nothing gets invented: no fake credentials, testimonials or prices, and any gaps are left for you to fill. It does not include recording videos, logo design, ad management or ongoing marketing. Read more about the white-glove service.
Compare that with day 3 of a Kartra trial, where the sales page is yours to build. One recent build gave a business mentor for beauty professionals a 12-week mentorship sales page, a free start-up-guide funnel and rewritten follow-up emails. A somatic coach leaving Kajabi had the homepage and About page rebuilt and the contact form connected.
How to start. Open a free trial, describe what you want built or pick a template, and move your clients across. Clients, programs and content are imported for you during onboarding, and full client data exports as a ZIP.
Is Kartra worth paying for after the trial, by coach type?
Kartra is worth paying for if marketing is the center of your business and you already have somewhere to deliver the coaching. For most coaches who sell 1:1 work or programs, it covers the front half of the business and leaves the back half to other tools.
- New coach with a handful of clients. Usually no. Essentials lacks calendars and takes 5%, and Starter is $119 a month before you have much to market. Our page for new coaches shows a lighter way to begin.
- Established 1:1 coach. Only if funnels bring in your clients. You will still need delivery, contracts and progress tracking elsewhere, or you can consolidate them on one platform.
- Group program or cohort coach. Kartra can host the content, but it has no check-ins or habits. See our guide to group coaching software.
- Course and membership seller with a big list. Yes, this is a strong fit, especially at Growth, where automations and affiliates arrive. Compare it first with Kajabi and Thinkific.
- Funnel-led info business. Yes, if you value funnel mapping and simulation. Our Kartra vs ClickFunnels comparison covers that decision.
- Health or wellness coach. Maybe. Kartra's HIPAA statement is worth checking, but neither platform makes coaching a clinical service. Coaching is not medical treatment, so refer clients with symptoms, diagnoses or medication questions to a licensed clinician, and see our page for health coaches.
How does the Kartra free trial compare with other platforms?
Kartra's 14 days is the standard length among all-in-one tools, but its email cap and unstated card rule make it less transparent than the best trials. Coachful leads this table because it covers the whole client journey in one login, and the other figures are as listed in October 2026.
| Platform | Trial or free plan | Entry price | Platform fee at entry | Client habits and check-ins |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coachful | A free trial | Lite: $29/month for up to 5 clients | 0% | Included |
| Kartra | 14 days; card not stated on its pages; 30-day guarantee | $59 a month | 5% | No |
| Kajabi | 14 days; card optional; some features locked until paid | $179 a month | Extra 2% with providers other than Kajabi Payments or PayPal | No |
| ClickFunnels | 14 days; card charged afterward per its help center (September 2026 profile); 30-day guarantee | $97 a month | 0% | No |
| GoHighLevel | 14 days; billing starts automatically unless cancelled | $97 a month, with metered usage on top | None shown | No |
| Podia | 14 days; no card needed | $49 a month | 5% | No |
| Systeme.io | Free plan that never expires; no card needed | $0, then $17 a month | 0% | No |
Three takeaways stand out. First, Systeme.io's free plan is the lowest-risk way to try funnels, since there is no clock and no card, and our Kartra vs Systeme.io comparison weighs it up. Second, Podia is the clearer trial if card rules are your concern, because it says no card is needed; see Kartra vs Podia. Third, GoHighLevel says plainly that billing starts automatically and that usage fees can apply during the trial, which is worth reading alongside our GoHighLevel free trial guide and GoHighLevel vs Kartra comparison.
Trial terms differ, but the larger question is the same across all of them: what do you still need to buy after the trial ends? Kartra, Kajabi, ClickFunnels, GoHighLevel, Podia and Systeme.io all stop short of per-client habits and check-ins. That is the gap Coachful was designed to close, and you can see it for yourself on our comparison page.
How can you save money on Kartra after the trial?
The biggest savings come from yearly billing, keeping your contact list clean, and skipping Essentials once your sales pass about $1,200 a month. Kartra has no add-ons to trim, so the plan and the list size are the two main things you control.
- Pay yearly only after you are sure. Yearly billing saves $240 on Starter and $480 on Growth, but the trial label sits on monthly billing. Test first and then switch.
- Prune your contacts on a schedule. The cap counts leads and customers, so removing cold contacts can keep you from a tier jump. Do this before a launch, not after it.
- Watch the list before a lead magnet goes live. If you are within a few hundred contacts of your cap, a good promotion can trigger the automatic upgrade and the reconciliation fee.
- Do the Essentials math. At $1,200 in monthly sales, the 5% fee equals the gap to Starter on monthly billing.
- Use the guarantee deliberately. Confirm the 30-day terms in writing during the trial, so that you know your real exit date.
- Add up the whole stack. A lower Kartra plan saves little if you are paying separately for contracts, delivery and a client app. Compare the total, not the headline price.
Yearly billing is the only standing discount we saw on Kartra's pricing and trial pages, so we would not rely on the coupon codes promoted by third-party sites.
Kartra free trial FAQ
How long is the Kartra free trial?
It is 14 days as listed in October 2026. The trial page also includes a limited-time pop-up offering 30 days, but Kartra does not say who sees it or for how long, so plan around 14 days.
Does Kartra require a credit card for the free trial?
Kartra's pricing and trial pages do not say. Third-party listings such as Capterra mark a card as required and reviewers report automatic billing, so expect to enter a card and check the checkout screen before you confirm.
Does Kartra have a free plan?
No. Kartra has a free trial but no permanent free plan, and its cheapest paid plan is Essentials at $59 a month. If you want something with no clock, see our guide to free coaching software.
Will Kartra charge me automatically when the trial ends?
Expect it to. The trial page reads "14-days free. Billed monthly", and reviewers report that billing starts unless you cancel first. Cancel from the Billing page a day or two early if you do not plan to stay.
Is the email limit different during the trial?
Yes. Each plan card says the trial is limited to 1,000 emails, with the increase applying as soon as the trial ends. After that, Essentials allows 10,000 emails a month, and Starter and Growth list unlimited email and SMS.
Can I get my money back after the trial?
Kartra advertises a 30-day money-back guarantee. Its pricing and trial pages do not explain when the 30 days begin or what the conditions are, so ask support for the terms in writing while you are still on the trial.
What happens if I go over my contact limit?
Kartra automatically upgrades you to the next tier that fits your list and charges a mid-cycle reconciliation fee, whose amount is not published. Domain, team member and language limits work differently: you see a message, and you are not charged unless you choose to upgrade.
Which Kartra plan should I choose for the trial?
Choose the plan with the features you most need to evaluate. Starter is the first plan with calendars and has no transaction fee, and Growth is where advanced automations appear. Essentials only suits a single simple offer with low sales.
What is the white-glove service at Coachful?
It is a free service, available on every plan, where the Coachful team builds things like a website, funnel, program or email sequence inside your account, usually within about 24 hours. You describe what you want and attach references. It does not include video recording, logo design, ad management or ongoing marketing.
Is Coachful a good alternative after a Kartra trial?
It is a strong choice if you deliver programs and want booking, contracts, habits, check-ins and payments in one place, with a 0% platform fee. It is less suitable if you need PayPal, clinical record-keeping or a large sales team's deal board. 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.
