# Trial ending A trial ending email template that states the date, the price, and what happens to the data. Table-based HTML for Outlook, a text alternative, a preferences link, and code in TypeScript, Python, and curl. The trial-ending email exists so that nobody is surprised by a charge. That makes it a billing notice with a nudge attached, not a marketing email, and the difference shows in what it leads with: the date, the amount, and the card. The line that keeps this out of a chargeback dispute is the one saying what happens to the data if they do nothing. Read-only, deleted after ninety days, exported on request: whichever is true, say it here rather than in the terms of service. Topics: trial ending, subscription, conversion, billing notice. ## When it sends Three days before the trial converts, on a schedule you run rather than in response to a user action. Send at most twice, and never after they have already subscribed. ## What you need - **An emails.sh API key**: Created in the dashboard, starting with esh_. It stays on your server. - **A sending domain**: Verified with three DNS records, or send from onboarding@emails.sh until yours is ready. - **A trial end date you trust**: The one your billing system will act on, not the one in your own table. - **A one-click cancel**: A page where stopping the charge takes one action. Anything harder becomes a dispute. ## Subject ```text Your {{PRODUCT_NAME}} trial ends in {{DAYS_LEFT}} days ``` ## HTML body ```html Your trial is ending

Your trial ends {{TRIAL_END_DATE}}

{{FIRST_NAME}}, your {{PRODUCT_NAME}} trial has {{DAYS_LEFT}} days left. On {{TRIAL_END_DATE}} the account moves to {{PLAN_NAME}} at {{PLAN_PRICE}}, charged to the card ending {{CARD_LAST4}}.

Trial ends

Plan

Price

Card

ending {{CARD_LAST4}}

Review billing

Button not working? Paste this into your browser:
{{BILLING_URL}}

If you do nothing and the charge fails, {{DATA_POLICY}}.

Cancelling takes one click on the same page, and there is nothing to explain to anyone.

You are getting this because your {{PRODUCT_NAME}} trial is ending.

Choose which emails you get: {{PREFERENCES_URL}}

``` ## Plain text body ```text Your trial ends {{TRIAL_END_DATE}} {{FIRST_NAME}}, your {{PRODUCT_NAME}} trial has {{DAYS_LEFT}} days left. On {{TRIAL_END_DATE}} the account moves to {{PLAN_NAME}} at {{PLAN_PRICE}}, charged to the card ending {{CARD_LAST4}}. Trial ends: {{TRIAL_END_DATE}} Plan: {{PLAN_NAME}} Price: {{PLAN_PRICE}} Card: ending {{CARD_LAST4}} Review billing: {{BILLING_URL}} If you do nothing and the charge fails, {{DATA_POLICY}}. Cancelling takes one click on the same page. Choose which emails you get: {{PREFERENCES_URL}} ``` ## Placeholders | Placeholder | What it is | Example | | --- | --- | --- | | {{PRODUCT_NAME}} | Your product, as the reader knows it. | Acme | | {{FIRST_NAME}} | What to call them. | Ada | | {{DAYS_LEFT}} | Days remaining, as a number. | 3 | | {{TRIAL_END_DATE}} | The date the trial ends, spelled out. | 3 August 2026 | | {{PLAN_NAME}} | The plan it converts to. | Team | | {{PLAN_PRICE}} | What it will cost, with the period. | $24 per user per month | | {{CARD_LAST4}} | The card that will be charged. | 4242 | | {{DATA_POLICY}} | What happens to the data if they do nothing. | your projects stay read-only for 90 days | | {{BILLING_URL}} | Where they subscribe, change plan, or cancel. | https://acme.com/settings/billing | | {{PREFERENCES_URL}} | Where they choose which product emails they get. | https://acme.com/settings/email | ## How it works 1. **A job finds the trials** Everything ending in three days that has not already subscribed. 2. **You check the billing state** A trial that converted this morning must not get this email this afternoon. 3. **You send this** Once, with the date, the price, and the card in the body. 4. **They act or they do not** Either way the next email is a receipt or a cancellation confirmation, not silence. ## Code ### TypeScript `npm install @emails.sh/sdk` ``` import { readFileSync } from 'node:fs'; import { Emailssh } from '@emails.sh/sdk'; const mail = new Emailssh({ apiKey: process.env.EMAILSSH_API_KEY }); // What changes per send. In your app these come from the row you just // wrote, not from literals. const vars: Record = { PRODUCT_NAME: 'Acme', FIRST_NAME: 'Ada', DAYS_LEFT: '3', TRIAL_END_DATE: '3 August 2026', PLAN_NAME: 'Team', PLAN_PRICE: '$24 per user per month', CARD_LAST4: '4242', DATA_POLICY: 'your projects stay read-only for 90 days', BILLING_URL: 'https://acme.com/settings/billing', PREFERENCES_URL: 'https://acme.com/settings/email', }; const fill = (body: string) => Object.entries(vars).reduce( (out, [name, value]) => out.replaceAll('{{' + name + '}}', value), body ); const { id } = await mail.send({ from: 'Acme ', to: ['ada@example.com'], subject: fill('Your {{PRODUCT_NAME}} trial ends in {{DAYS_LEFT}} days'), html: fill(readFileSync('email.html', 'utf8')), text: fill(readFileSync('email.txt', 'utf8')), tags: { type: 'trial-ending', plan: 'team' } }); // Queued, not delivered. Ask for the id later, or take the webhook. console.log(id); ``` ### Python `pip install emailssh` ``` import os from emailssh import Emailssh mail = Emailssh(api_key=os.environ["EMAILSSH_API_KEY"]) # What changes per send. In your app these come from the row you just # wrote, not from literals. values = { "PRODUCT_NAME": "Acme", "FIRST_NAME": "Ada", "DAYS_LEFT": "3", "TRIAL_END_DATE": "3 August 2026", "PLAN_NAME": "Team", "PLAN_PRICE": "$24 per user per month", "CARD_LAST4": "4242", "DATA_POLICY": "your projects stay read-only for 90 days", "BILLING_URL": "https://acme.com/settings/billing", "PREFERENCES_URL": "https://acme.com/settings/email", } def fill(body: str) -> str: for name, value in values.items(): body = body.replace("{{" + name + "}}", value) return body with open("email.html", encoding="utf-8") as f: html = f.read() with open("email.txt", encoding="utf-8") as f: text = f.read() sent = mail.send( # from_ rather than from, which is a Python keyword. from_="Acme ", to=["ada@example.com"], subject=fill("Your {{PRODUCT_NAME}} trial ends in {{DAYS_LEFT}} days"), html=fill(html), text=fill(text), tags={"type": "trial-ending", "plan": "team"}, ) # Queued, not delivered. Ask for the id later, or take the webhook. print(sent["id"]) ``` ### curl `Anywhere with curl and jq` ``` export EMAILSSH_API_KEY=esh_live_... # The API substitutes nothing, so fill the placeholders before you post. fill() { sed \ -e 's|{{PRODUCT_NAME}}|Acme|g' \ -e 's|{{FIRST_NAME}}|Ada|g' \ -e 's|{{DAYS_LEFT}}|3|g' \ -e 's|{{TRIAL_END_DATE}}|3 August 2026|g' \ -e 's|{{PLAN_NAME}}|Team|g' \ -e 's|{{PLAN_PRICE}}|$24 per user per month|g' \ -e 's|{{CARD_LAST4}}|4242|g' \ -e 's|{{DATA_POLICY}}|your projects stay read-only for 90 days|g' \ -e 's|{{BILLING_URL}}|https://acme.com/settings/billing|g' \ -e 's|{{PREFERENCES_URL}}|https://acme.com/settings/email|g' "$1" } curl -sS https://emails.sh/v1/emails \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $EMAILSSH_API_KEY" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d "$(jq -n \ --arg subject 'Your Acme trial ends in 3 days' \ --arg html "$(fill email.html)" \ --arg text "$(fill email.txt)" \ '{from: "Acme ", to: ["ada@example.com"], subject: $subject, html: $html, text: $text, tags: {type: "trial-ending", plan: "team"}}')" ``` ## Questions ### How many trial emails should there be? Two at most: one three days out and one on the day. A third is a nag, and the person who has not converted after two has decided. ### Is this marketing or transactional? It is a billing notice, because a charge is about to happen. Treat it as transactional for deliverability and consent, but give it a preferences link anyway, since it is scheduled rather than triggered by the reader. ### Why name the card? Four digits turn an abstract future charge into one the reader can recognise on a statement, and they answer the question they would otherwise open a ticket to ask. Docs: https://emails.sh/docs.md All templates: https://emails.sh/templates.md