I love trying new apps, but I’m always a little hesitant to pay for something before I know I’ll actually use it. So I feel a certain sigh of relief when an app offers a free trial. It gives me a chance to explore the premium features, see how the app fits into my routine, and decide whether it deserves a place in my monthly budget.
If you feel the same way, I’ve rounded up some of the best apps with free trials for learning, streaming, design, productivity, fitness, language learning, and audio. This isn’t an exhaustive list of every app with a free trial. Instead, I prioritized popular, useful apps that offer a standard free trial with enough access to evaluate whether the paid product is worth keeping. For this list, I don’t count money-back guarantees or guest passes.
Free trial information is in USD and current as of September 2026. Offers can vary based on eligibility, plan, location, or signup method.
Table of Contents
- Best Apps With Free Trials at a Glance
- Streaming Apps With Free Trials
- Design, Photo, and Video Editing Apps With Free Trials
- Learning & Reading Apps With Free Trials
- Productivity Apps With Free Trials
- Fitness & Wellness Apps With Free Trials
- Language Learning Apps With Free Trials
- Music Apps With Free Trials
- How to Get the Most From a Free Trial
- FAQ
Best Apps With Free Trials at a Glance
| App | Best for | Free trial |
| Shortform | Learning from books | Five days |
| Coursera Plus | Online courses | Seven days |
| Hulu | TV streaming | 30 days |
| Apple TV | Original movies and shows | Seven days |
| Canva Pro | Easy graphic design | 30 days |
| Adobe Creative Cloud Pro | Professional creative work | Seven days |
| Todoist | Task management | Seven days |
| Evernote | Notes and organization | Seven days |
| MyFitnessPal | Nutrition tracking | Seven days |
| Headspace | Meditation and mindfulness | Seven or 14 days |
| Duolingo | Casual language learning | Seven days |
| Lingoda | Live language classes | Seven days |
| Spotify Premium | Music streaming | One month |
| Audible | Audiobooks | 30 days |
Streaming Apps With Free Trials
Free trials have become less common among major streaming services, but there are still several popular options.
Hulu
- Free trial: 30 days
- Price after trial:
- Hulu (With Ads): From $12.49/month
- Hulu Premium (No Ads): From $21.49/month
- Trial plan: Hulu (With Ads) or Hulu Premium (No Ads)
Hulu‘s library includes TV series, Hulu Originals, movies, and other on-demand programming. Hulu stands out for TV viewing, and its 30-day trial gives you more time to explore the library than many of the trials on this list. The offer doesn’t apply to every Hulu subscription, including the Disney Bundle.
Apple TV
- Free trial: Seven days
- Price after trial: $14.99/month
- Trial plan: Apple TV
Apple TV focuses heavily on Apple Originals, including series, movies, documentaries, and children’s programming. Apple TV makes the most sense if you’re primarily interested in exclusive original programming rather than a huge back catalog. Separate promotions are also available, including three free months with eligible new Apple devices.
More Streaming Apps With Free Trials
- Prime Video: 30 days; six months for eligible students
- Crunchyroll: Seven days
- AMC+: Seven days
- Peacock: Seven days
Streaming Services That Don’t Offer Free Trials
Some major streaming services don’t currently offer standard free trials:
Design, Photo, and Video Editing Apps With Free Trials
Design, photo, and video editing apps can vary widely in their tools and complexity, so a free trial gives you a chance to see which features actually fit the kind of creative work you do.
Canva Pro
- Free trial: 30 days
- Price after trial: $18/month or $144/year
- Trial plan: Canva Pro
Canva Pro builds on the app’s free design platform with additional premium content, design tools, brand features, and expanded functionality. Canva works well for creating presentations, social media graphics, documents, videos, and marketing materials without professional design experience. Since the free version is already capable, the main question is whether Pro’s additional tools save enough time or add enough functionality to justify upgrading.
Adobe Creative Cloud Pro
- Free trial: Seven days
- Price after trial: Starts at $34.99/month with the current annual plan offer
- Trial plan: Creative Cloud Pro
Adobe Creative Cloud Pro includes more than 20 creative applications, including Photoshop and Illustrator. Creative Cloud Pro is designed for more advanced creative work, including photography, graphic design, illustration, and video. Because so many applications are included, focus on the tools you’d realistically use rather than trying to explore the entire suite during the trial.
More Design, Photo, and Video Editing Apps With Free Trials
- Adobe Photoshop: Seven days
- Adobe Lightroom: Seven days
- CapCut: Seven days in select countries and regions
Learning & Reading Apps With Free Trials
Learning apps can help you explore books, take structured courses, or develop new skills before committing to a subscription.
Shortform
- Free trial: Five days
- Price after trial: $24/month or $16.42/month (billed annually)
- Trial plan: Monthly or annual
Shortform is built around 10,000+ nonfiction book guides that go beyond the main takeaways with explanations, expert commentary, alternate perspectives, original examples, and exercises where applicable.
Every Shortform guide is available in text and audio, with more than 30 categories to explore. The added commentary, perspectives, examples, and exercises can help you better understand a book’s ideas and consider how to apply them.
Popular book guides you can explore on Shortform include Atomic Habits by James Clear, The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel, Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman, and How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie.
Coursera Plus
- Free trial: Seven days
- Price after trial: $59/month
- Trial plan: Coursera Plus Monthly
Coursera Plus provides access to thousands of courses, Specializations, Professional Certificates, projects, and other programs from universities and companies. The plan is suited for people who prefer structured lessons and coursework, with subjects ranging from business and technology to personal development and the humanities. The seven-day trial applies to the monthly subscription; the annual plan uses different terms.
Audible
- Free trial: 30 days
- Price after trial: Standard: $8.99/month; Premium Plus: $14.95/month
- Trial plan: Standard or Premium Plus
Audible‘s subscription options combine audiobook listening with member benefits, included titles, and Audible Originals, depending on the plan you choose. Audible makes sense if you want to fit books into commutes, workouts, chores, or other times when reading isn’t practical. Its 30-day trial gives you enough time to see how often you realistically listen before paying for another month.
More Learning & Reading Apps With Free Trials
- Skillshare: Seven days
- Brilliant: Seven days
Productivity Apps With Free Trials
Productivity apps can help with everything from managing your to-do list to organizing notes and automating your schedule, but the right one depends heavily on how you like to work.
Todoist
- Free trial: Seven days
- Price after trial: $7/month or $60/year
- Trial plan: Todoist Pro
Todoist lets you organize personal and work tasks into projects, create recurring due dates, plan your schedule, and manage ongoing responsibilities. Todoist offers a relatively straightforward system for managing tasks and projects. One useful trial detail is that, if you cancel before the trial ends, Todoist says you can continue using Pro features until the original expiration date.
Evernote
- Free trial: Seven days
- Price after trial: Starter from $8.25/month billed annually; Advanced from $20.83/month billed annually
- Trial plan: Starter or Advanced
Evernote gives you a central place to capture and organize notes, documents, research, ideas, and other information across devices. Whereas Todoist centers on tasks, Evernote focuses more heavily on capturing and organizing information. It can be useful if your notes and research are currently scattered across documents, browser tabs, notebooks, and other apps.
More Productivity Apps With Free Trials
Fitness & Wellness Apps With Free Trials
Fitness and wellness apps take different approaches to building healthier habits, whether you want to track nutrition, follow workouts, meditate, or improve your sleep.
MyFitnessPal
- Free trial: Seven days
- Price after trial:
- Premium: $19.99/month or $79.99/year
- Premium+: $24.99/month or $99.99/year
- Trial plan: Premium or Premium+
MyFitnessPal is designed to track food, calories, nutrients, weight, exercise, and other nutrition and fitness information. MyFitnessPal is particularly useful if you want a clearer picture of your eating habits and nutrition. Existing free users can use the seven days to compare the premium tracking and nutrition tools with the experience they already have.
Headspace
- Free trial: Seven days monthly; 14 days annual
- Price after trial: $12.99/month or $69.99/year
- Trial plan: Monthly or annual
Headspace‘s library includes guided meditation, sleep content, stress-management tools, focus exercises, and movement content. Its range of programs makes it useful whether you’re new to mindfulness or looking for more structure and variety in an existing practice.
More Fitness & Wellness Apps With Free Trials
Language Learning Apps With Free Trials
Language-learning trials range from self-paced lessons to live instruction, so the best choice depends on how you prefer to practice.
Duolingo
- Free trial: Seven days
- Price after trial: Super Duolingo starts at $12.99/month or starting at $7 for an annual plan
- Trial plan: Super Individual, Family, and Lite
Duolingo works well if you prefer short language lessons that are easy to fit into your day. Since its standard courses are already free, the paid plans make the most sense for learners who find that the premium features improve regular practice. Some free users may also receive longer promotional trials when upgrading.
Lingoda
- Free trial: Seven days
- Price after trial: Varies by number of classes
- Trial plan: Lingoda Flex
Unlike self-guided language apps, Lingoda centers on live online lessons with teachers. Lingoda takes a different approach from Duolingo, with live interaction, accountability, and opportunities to speak with an instructor. If you don’t cancel during the trial period, your selected paid subscription begins afterward.
Music Apps With Free Trials
Music subscriptions can open up ad-free listening and other premium features, depending on how and what you like to listen to.
Spotify Premium
- Free trial: One month
- Price after trial: $12.99/month (Premium Individual)
- Trial plan: Premium Individual or Student
Spotify Premium adds features such as ad-free music listening, offline downloads, on-demand playback, and lossless audio. The app is worth testing if you already use its free service and want to see how much the Premium features change your listening experience. One important detail: Spotify says that if you cancel a $0 trial, Premium access ends immediately rather than continuing through the remainder of the trial.
More Music & Audio Apps With Free Trials
- Apple Music: One month
- TIDAL: 30 days
- YouTube Music Premium: One month for eligible students. Some Individual and Family subscribers are also eligible.
How to Get the Most From a Free Trial
Before starting any free trial:
- Know the price after the trial ends. Check whether you’re signing up for a monthly or annual subscription and what you’ll be charged.
- Find out whether it auto-renews. Many trials automatically become paid subscriptions unless you cancel.
- Test the premium features. If there’s already a free plan, focus on what you’d actually be paying to keep.
- Use the app normally. Test it under the same circumstances in which you’d use it after subscribing.
- Set a reminder. Give yourself time to decide before the renewal date.
- Understand the cancellation policy. Some apps let you keep premium access until the trial expires; others may end it immediately.
FAQ
What apps have free trials right now?
As of September 2026, popular apps with free trials include Shortform, Coursera Plus, Hulu, Apple TV, Canva Pro, Adobe Creative Cloud Pro, Todoist, Evernote, MyFitnessPal, Headspace, Duolingo, Lingoda, Spotify Premium, and Audible. Offers can change and may depend on your plan, signup method, location, and whether you’ve subscribed before.
What are the best apps with free trials for iPhone?
Many of the apps on this list are available for iPhone, including Shortform, Hulu, Canva, Todoist, MyFitnessPal, Headspace, Duolingo, Spotify, and Audible. The best choice depends on what you want to do, whether that’s learning from books, streaming TV, designing graphics, managing tasks, tracking nutrition, or listening to music and audiobooks.
Keep in mind that trial availability and subscription terms can sometimes differ depending on whether you sign up through an app or directly through the company’s website.
Will I automatically be charged at the end of a free trial?
It depends on the trial. Some automatically convert to paid subscriptions, while others expire unless you choose to subscribe. Check the terms presented during signup rather than assuming how the trial will end.
Can I cancel a free trial after signing up?
It depends on the app. Some let you cancel early and keep premium access until the scheduled end of your trial. Others may end your premium access immediately. Check the cancellation terms before canceling if you want to use the remainder of your free period.
