Rankbox
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The free trial

How the 7-day Rankbox trial works, from adding a card in Stripe Checkout to automatic conversion, early upgrade, cancelling and a failed card.

On this page
  1. The trial at a glance
  2. Before the trial starts
  3. Start the trial
  4. The card check
  5. What the trial includes
  6. What waits for the first payment
  7. Track the trial in Plan & Billing
  8. When the trial ends
  9. Start the paid plan early
  10. Cancel during the trial
  11. If the card fails at the end of the trial
  12. Troubleshooting the trial
  13. Related

The Rankbox free trial lasts 7 days and lets Rankbox write and publish up to 7 articles for your site before you pay anything. It starts in Stripe Checkout and takes a card. If you don't cancel, it converts automatically to the Business plan at $49.50 a month when the 7 days are up.

The trial at a glance

ItemDuring the trial
Length7 days from the moment checkout completes
CardRequired, entered in Stripe Checkout inside the dashboard
Charged when you start$0. A $1.00 card authorization is placed and released at once (see The card check)
Article credits7 for your plan's own site
Sites1. Studio opens with the first payment
Research, writing, scoring, editingIncluded
AutopilotIncluded, limited by the 7 article credits
Publishing (REST API keys and publishing connections)Included
Backlink exchangeNot included. Opens with the first paid invoice
Reddit PresenceNot included. Opens with the first paid invoice
After 7 daysConverts to the Business plan at $49.50 a month, unless cancelled

Before the trial starts

You don't need a card to sign up or to finish onboarding. Without a trial you can:

  • Set up your site and brand in onboarding.
  • See the keywords, content plan and queued articles Rankbox built for you.
  • Look around every page of the dashboard.

Nothing is written until the trial starts. The check runs on Rankbox's servers, so it applies equally to the dashboard, to autopilot and to API keys. If you try to write an article without a trial, Rankbox refuses with "Start your free trial to generate articles." Autopilot also stays idle, and pages that depend on the plan show a Start 7-day free trial button over a preview of the page.

Start the trial

You can start the trial from any Start free trial or Start 7-day free trial button: the Overview's next-step card, the autopilot bar on Articles, Settings → Autopilot, the Rank, Backlinks and Reddit pages, and Plan & Billing.

  1. Click Start free trial. A dialog opens with the number of articles ready to publish and what the trial includes.
  2. Click Start free trial in the dialog. Stripe's checkout form appears inside the same dialog. It says "Add a card to begin. You aren't charged today — your plan starts at $49.50/month on day 8, and you can cancel before then in one click."
  3. Enter your card details and complete checkout.
  4. Wait for "Starting your trial…" to finish. A confirmation reads "Your 7-day trial is live."

If you started the trial by clicking Write now on an article, Rankbox writes that article as soon as the trial is live.

The card check

When a trial starts, Rankbox asks Stripe to place a $1.00 authorization on the card and then releases it immediately. Nothing is captured or charged. It exists because a card can pass checkout's $0 setup while holding no funds. Your bank may show the $1.00 as a pending authorization for a day or two before it disappears.

If the authorization fails, the trial still exists but can't write articles. Writing an article then shows "We couldn't verify your card. Update it in billing to start generating." This can happen with an empty or prepaid card, and also with a valid card whose bank requires 3-D Secure for the hold. See Troubleshooting the trial for the fix.

What the trial includes

The trial runs the whole content engine for one site:

  • Research and the content plan.
  • Writing up to 7 articles, by clicking Write now or with autopilot.
  • The SEO and GEO score on every article.
  • The editor, including its AI actions on selected text.
  • Publishing to your site, with API keys for the REST API or a publishing connection. See How publishing works.

Everything published during the trial stays on your site, whether or not you continue.

What waits for the first payment

Some parts of the plan open only once an invoice has actually been paid. Plan & Billing lists them under "Waiting on your first payment".

FeatureWhy it isn't part of the trial
The full 30 articles a monthA trial that handed over 30 articles up front would be worth abusing with a card that later declines, so the trial allowance is 7
Backlink exchange (30 credits a month)Links in the exchange carry real value to other members. Keeping it paid-only stops throwaway accounts from minting links out of the network
Reddit Presence (30 reply drafts a month)Replies go out under your own name, in threads that outlive any trial
Studio (more sites)The trial covers one site. Studio adds sites to a paid plan

The Backlinks and Reddit pages say "Part of the paid plan" during the trial, with the date of your first invoice.

Track the trial in Plan & Billing

Dashboard → Plan & Billing shows the trial while it runs:

  • Your plan shows the Free trial status, "N days left in your free trial" and the trial's start and end dates.
  • Trial articles shows how many of the 7 credits you've used.
  • First charge shows $49.50 and the date it will be taken, with "Cancel before {date} and you pay nothing."

When the trial ends

If the trial isn't cancelled, Stripe charges the card $49.50 when the 7 days are up, and the subscription becomes active. At that moment:

  • Your site's article balance resets to 30 for the new period.
  • The backlink exchange opens and the site receives 30 backlink credits.
  • Reddit Presence opens with 30 reply credits.
  • Studio opens, so you can add more sites.
  • The plan renews monthly from that date.

Start the paid plan early

You don't have to wait out the 7 days. Starting early is the only way to get the full allowance, the backlink exchange, Reddit Presence or Studio during the first week.

  1. Open Dashboard → Plan & Billing.
  2. Click Unlock everything now. On the Studio page, the same action is labeled Start paid plan now.
  3. Read the confirmation, "Start your paid plan today?". It explains that the trial ends now, your card is charged $49.50 for the first month, and the plan renews monthly from today.
  4. Click Start plan · $49.50.

If the charge goes through, you get the full allowance immediately: 30 articles, backlinks and Reddit Presence, and Studio opens. If the charge fails, nothing changes and you stay on the trial. If the result can't be confirmed straight away, you see "The payment is still being confirmed. Check back in a minute."

Cancel during the trial

  1. Open Dashboard → Plan & Billing.
  2. Click Card & invoices (top right) or Manage in Stripe. The Stripe billing portal opens in a new tab.
  3. Cancel the subscription in the portal.

After you cancel, the plan's status shows Ending and the page says "Your trial ends {date} and won't convert." You keep the trial, including any of the 7 article credits left, until that date, and your card is not charged. The trial's articles stay on your site. If you change your mind before the end date, click Keep my plan on the "Your plan ends" banner in Plan & Billing, which opens the portal, and renew the subscription there.

If the card fails at the end of the trial

If Stripe can't take the first $49.50 when the trial ends, the subscription becomes Payment due:

  • Plan & Billing shows "Your last payment didn't go through" with an Update card button that opens the Stripe portal.
  • For the first 48 hours after the failed payment, you can still use whatever trial article credits are left. No new credits are granted.
  • After 48 hours, writing and autopilot stop until the invoice is paid.
  • The backlink exchange, Reddit Presence and Studio stay closed, because no invoice has been paid.

Once the invoice is paid, the subscription becomes active and the site is refilled to 30 article credits, with backlinks, Reddit Presence and Studio unlocked.

Troubleshooting the trial

What you seeWhat it means and what to do
"We couldn't verify your card. Update it in billing to start generating."The $1.00 card check failed. Updating the card in the Stripe portal doesn't rerun the check. Either update the card and then start the paid plan with Unlock everything now, or contact support
"Your payment went through, but we couldn't start the trial."Checkout finished but Rankbox couldn't confirm it straight away. Reload the dashboard after a minute. Stripe's own notification usually completes it
Rankbox asks you to start a trial you just startedThe confirmation from Stripe hadn't arrived when the page loaded. Reload the page
A pending $1.00 on your statementThe card check. It's released, never captured