# GitHub Marketplace free trial countdown in billing UI

> Show the remaining GitHub Marketplace trial days inside the product, because GitHub gives the dates and the buyer should not have to guess when paid access starts.

- Canonical HTML: https://growth.iangoh.com/growth-ideas/github-marketplace-free-trial-countdown-in-billing-ui/
- Source: [docs.github.com](https://docs.github.com/en/apps/github-marketplace/using-the-github-marketplace-api-in-your-app/handling-new-purchases-and-free-trials?apiVersion=2022-11-28)
- GrowthDex source hub: [GitHub Docs: Handling new purchases and free trials](/sources/github-docs-handling-new-purchases-and-free-trials-docs-github-com/)
- Last checked: 2026-05-31T08:20:00Z
- Rarity: rare
- Budget: free
- Channels: Marketplaces, Onboarding, Retention
- Stages: trial conversion, billing clarity, developer tools, activation
- Key metric: GitHub Marketplace free trials have a fixed 14 day length and expose `free_trial_ends_on` in the purchase webhook.

## Why this can grow

A free trial is not just a pricing toggle. It changes what the customer needs to understand during setup and evaluation. GitHub sends the purchase webhook with `on_free_trial`, `effective_date`, and `free_trial_ends_on`, then tells publishers to show the remaining days in a banner or billing UI. That is useful because trial users are trying to answer two questions at once: can this tool do the job, and when will the account become paid. A visible countdown reduces billing surprise and gives the team a natural place to explain what happens next.

## Ian's take

From scaling consumer platforms across MENA and Southeast Asia, my default is to distrust growth work that only looks good in a slide. My bias is to treat this as a small market test first. Make the audience narrow, make the promise concrete, and let the first real response decide whether it deserves more work. For activation, the useful question is not whether users liked the page. It is whether they got to the first meaningful win faster. For this tactic, I would watch one clear growth signal before putting more time or budget behind it.

## Action plan

1. Define one narrow startup segment where github marketplace free trial countdown in billing ui can create a measurable lift.
2. Turn the tactic into one offer, page, campaign, or workflow for the Marketplaces and Onboarding channel.
3. Use the evidence from docs.github.com to set the first version of the message, format, and audience.
4. Launch a small test for 7 to 14 days with one success metric: one measurable growth signal.
5. Review the result, keep the winning message, remove weak variants, and turn the learning into a repeatable growth playbook.

## Source-backed example

GitHub's purchase-handling guide says apps should read `on_free_trial`, `effective_date`, and `free_trial_ends_on` from the Marketplace webhook and use the end date to display the remaining trial days in a banner or billing UI.

## Adjacent tactics in the same lane

- [GitHub Marketplace setup URL finishes the purchase](/growth-ideas/github-marketplace-setup-url-finishes-the-purchase/) - same source, 2 shared channels, 1 shared stage
- [Figma Community playground file before broad promotion](/growth-ideas/figma-community-playground-file-before-broad-promotion/) - 2 shared channels, 1 shared stage
- [Suggested prompts in the empty AI state](/growth-ideas/suggested-prompts-in-empty-ai-state/) - 2 shared channels, 1 shared stage
- [Google Workspace setup and admin links before install push](/growth-ideas/google-workspace-setup-and-admin-links-before-install-push/) - 2 shared channels, 1 shared stage

## Read GrowthDex essays

Browse the plain-English essay index at [GrowthDex Blog](/blog/).

## Related GrowthDex essays

- [GitHub Marketplace pages should remove install fear](/blog/github-marketplace-pages-should-remove-install-fear/) - marketplaces, brand trust, onboarding

## Advisory

If you want help turning this into a working growth system, Ian Goh offers advisory at https://iangoh.com/advisory.