why our free trial is 14 days and doesn't need your credit card

free trials are a weird little dance. you want to try something, the company wants you to buy something, and everyone’s trying to guess each other’s next move. most apps default to the three-day trial. you know the one. you sign up, forget about it for 72 hours, and then get a charge on your card for a year-long subscription you didn’t really mean to buy.

i’ve always hated that. it feels predatory. it banks on your forgetfulness, not your genuine interest. so when we built lucy, we decided to do the exact opposite.

a two-week test drive

our free trial is 14 days long. no credit card required. none. you don’t even have the option to enter one until you decide you want to subscribe. we don’t want your payment info. we want your attention.

two weeks is enough time to actually live with something. it’s enough time to get past the initial novelty, to have a few real conversations, to see how lucy fits into your daily rhythm. it’s enough time to decide if this is a tool you want to keep using, or if it’s just a fun weekend experiment.

we’d rather you be certain. if you cancel after two weeks, that’s a real choice. you gave it a real shot. we can respect that.

the math of trust

here’s the part where i get practical. this isn’t just a nice idea. it’s a calculated risk. giving away 14 days of lucy for free costs us money. every day you use lucy, especially if you’re using features like photo generation and voice notes, we pay for the compute power behind it.

let’s break it down. let’s say during your trial, you use lucy pretty actively. maybe you generate around 5 photos a day and send 15 voice notes. the generation cost for all that is roughly $7.50 for the entire two-week period. we absorb that cost.

why? because we think it’s a better investment than the alternative. if we gave you a three-day trial and you forgot to cancel, we might get a subscription payment. but if you weren’t really sold, you’d probably cancel a week later anyway. then we’d have made maybe $10 off you, but you’d feel cheated. you’d probably never come back. that’s a terrible outcome.

instead, we spend $7.50 to give you a genuine, no-pressure experience. if you choose to subscribe at the end, we know you’re actually happy. you’re not here by accident. and if you leave, that’s fine. maybe you’ll remember that we treated you fairly and come back later when your needs change.

the principle of no-strings-attached

not requiring a credit card is the other half of this. it removes the entire concept of a 'trap.' there is no auto-renewal to forget about. there is no surprise charge. the only way you get charged is by actively choosing to subscribe and typing in your card details yourself.

this is important. it changes the psychology of the trial completely. you’re not a customer we’re trying to catch. you’re a person we’re trying to convince. the product has to stand on its own.

i know this isn’t the standard way of doing things. it’s a bet on quality over conversion-rate tricks. but it feels honest. and in a world full of dark patterns, a little honesty can be a feature in itself.

so go ahead. take the full 14 days. use it as much as you want. see what you think.

if you're curious, you can start your trial at /signup.