Your free period is ending: what to check before you pay for business software
Most business software is sold through a free period today: a 14-day trial, a free plan with limits, or a launch period when everything is free. The real decision comes when that period ends. Many owners either pay for a plan by default or cancel in a hurry and lose the work they put in. A calm review takes about an hour and saves both money and data.
1. Check what your team actually used
Look at the last two or three weeks. Which modules did people open every day? Which ones did you try once? Count the people who really work in the system, not everyone who was invited. The plan you need follows from real use, not from the feature list on the pricing page.
2. Count the full monthly cost
The headline price is rarely the full bill. Add up everything that applies to your business:
- The base price and what it includes: number of users, records and storage.
- The price of each extra user, and whether there are cheaper seats for staff who only need their own tasks.
- Add-ons you will need: industry features, extra AI requests, SMS or email sending.
- Card processing or transaction fees if the software takes payments.
- The difference between monthly and annual billing. Annual billing is usually cheaper per month, but it commits you for a year.
Then compare that total with what the tools it replaces cost you: separate subscriptions for a CRM, invoicing, stock or a website builder. The fair comparison is the whole stack against the whole stack.
3. Compare plans by limits, not by names
Plan names like Starter or Business say little. Read the limits: how many records, users, warehouses, automations and AI requests each plan includes, and what happens when you reach a limit. Some products block new records, others charge for overage, others ask you to upgrade. Pick the plan that fits your next six months, not your best day.
4. Test the export before you need it
Before paying, check that you can get your data out. Export your client list and one report, open the files and make sure they are complete and readable. If you ever leave, a clean export is the difference between a one-day move and weeks of retyping.
5. Find out what happens if you do not pay
Find out what the product does on the day the free period ends. Does the account move to a free plan, become read-only or get locked? Is your data kept, and for how long? The answers are usually in the pricing FAQ or the terms of service. If you cannot find them, ask support in writing and keep the reply.
6. Check renewal and cancellation terms
- Is the subscription renewed automatically, and will you get a reminder before the charge?
- Can you switch from annual to monthly billing, or to a lower plan, in the middle of a period?
- Are there setup fees, minimum terms or fees for leaving?
- Does the price stay the same at renewal, or can it change?
7. Decide together with the people who use it
Ask two or three people who work in the system every day what saves them time and what they work around. If the team already relies on it, paying is usually the right call. If people quietly went back to spreadsheets, a paid plan will not fix that.
A one-page checklist
- Real users counted, unused modules noted.
- Full monthly cost calculated, including add-ons and fees.
- Plan chosen by its limits for the next six months.
- Export tested and saved.
- What happens after the free period confirmed in writing.
- Renewal, downgrade and cancellation terms read.
- Team feedback collected.
How this applies to Ali-E CRM
We wrote this checklist with our own free period in mind. Ali-E CRM is free until December 1, 2026. After that, the free plan stays at $0 for 2 users, with up to 500 records and 30 AI requests a month. Starter costs $29 per month for 3 users, or $23 per month billed annually, and each extra full seat is $6. Business ($79) and Pro ($149) add more users and modules, and industry editions are optional add-ons priced per location. All limits are listed on the pricing page, and our Terms of Service say we give notice before any charges apply.
Limitations to keep in mind: Ali-E is a new product, its integration catalog is smaller than those of long-established CRMs, and the Android app is not out yet. Reports export to Excel and PDF. Use the weeks until December 1 to run the checklist above on Ali-E itself.