Smallstep trials provide complimentary access to the hosted platform's most sophisticated features, including dedicated support. Please read below to understand the trial and subscription process.

Trial Perks

Smallstep offers a 30-day trial of our Team and Business Account, including all access to features that fall under each specific plan. For example, if you try the Team or Business Account, you can also set up an SSO login to your Smallstep Dashboard for administration during your trial.

Trial Support

During your trial, you'll have access to Support resources (ticketing, knowledge base) to keep things moving so that you can feel confident about which plan will meet your production deployment needs.

Trial Extensions

Perhaps your team is heads-in on a proof of concept or awaiting approval to purchase a Smallstep subscription. If this is the case, you might need a trial extension. Please submit a ticket to our support team regarding extending your trial, and our sales account team can help define a roadmap.

Trial Expiration

Smallstep has specific components contributing to your monthly bill for services and support. So, you'll need to know what features and access are billable when a trial expires. The following section breaks down what is billable and how to avoid unexpected service charges on a Free Account plan.

Certificate Manager (priced based on)

• Choice of Account Plan & and Support (Free, Team, or Business)
• Authorities (based on the type and how many of each type are in use)
• Endpoints (based on usage/counts)

SSH Professional (priced based on)

• Choice of Account Plan & Support (Team or Business)
• Host count per month

Trial Expiration

When your trial expires, you'll receive an email from Smallstep with an invoice. Our billing system sends invoices to the email address initially used to set up your Smallstep Dashboard account. You can change billing information and manage invoices from the Smallstep Dashboard by logging in and selecting "Billing" from the Team profile menu (bottom left).

Once your trial expires, you can leave things as-is or change your plan and setup accordingly. Please reach out to Smallstep Support to find the best plan and services for your application.

Important Note: Not every feature is removed if you downgrade your Account plan. For example, in the image below, service charges will still accrue because Endpoint usage and Authorities have exceeded what the Free Account offers Smallstep customers.

Controlling Invoice Charges

To have a completely free Smallstep Certificate Manager environment, a Dashboard Admin needs to control Endpoint consumption and remove all but the first DevOps Authority from their Dashboard. Otherwise, they can continue to pay for usage, as shown.

The following changes can be made to your Smallstep Account to prevent charges:

• Downgrade Plan - A Free Account Plan provides a personal environment to try and use Smallstep
• Control/Limit Endpoint Usage - Limit Endpoints to under 50 per month
• Delete Additional Authorities - Remove all Authorities and leave only one DevOps Authority
• Cancel Team Account - Request the Smallstep Support team to delete your Team Account. You can set up a new team at any time.

Manage Your Billing
Please keep in mind that you'll be able to review your billing settings anytime by logging into your Smallstep account. Billing settings are located on the bottom left-hand side of the Smallstep Dashboard, where your Team name is displayed in bold.