# Free Trial Period
PanelAlpha itself does not generate invoices or trial periods. The recommended way to offer a trial is to use Background Billing to enable a frictionless onboarding flow with delayed billing.
Background Billing is described in detail here:
# Recommended approach (trial + Background Billing)
- Enable Background Billing in PanelAlpha and connect it to your billing platform (for example WHMCS).
- Configure trial settings in Background Billing (trial length, registration flow, and what happens after the trial).
- Use Quick Onboarding for the trial plan, so a customer can start with a temporary subdomain and create the first site without waiting for domain setup.
- Ensure you have a clear conversion path after the trial ends (upgrade/plan selection and payment handled by the billing platform).
# Typical workflow
- A user starts a trial (via your registration link / flow provided by Background Billing).
- The user creates the first WordPress site in PanelAlpha (Quick Onboarding recommended).
- During the trial, you can optionally track billable usage via Background Billing integration.
- When the trial ends, the user upgrades to a paid plan and billing continues automatically based on your Background Billing configuration.
# Notes
- If you rely on SSO between WHMCS and PanelAlpha, the customer can access PanelAlpha from the billing panel without re-authentication.
- Exact trial and conversion configuration depends on your billing platform configuration.