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What Happens During Your Trial

How the 30-day free trial works: the trial API key, the credit balance, the hard stop at day 30, and what happens to your data if you don't upgrade.

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When you sign up, BrainRoad automatically starts Starter: a 30-day free trial. No credit card is required at any point during the trial, and nothing is auto-billed when it ends. Here is what to expect.

Your Trial API Key

AI helpers consume AI model usage (tokens) when they read, think, and draft. During the trial, BrainRoad covers this for you: at provisioning, BrainRoad creates a trial API key through OpenRouter and configures it inside your helper automatically. No accounts to create, no keys to paste.

The trial key comes with a small credit balance (currently $5.00), enough to try real conversations and workflows before deciding on your own API key. The credit is per person: deleting and recreating your helper does not reset it.

What Starter Includes

Starter is the real hosted product. During the trial you get:

  • Your private Business Brain, ready for uploads of files, notes, and business context
  • A hosted AI helper workspace with dashboard, browser, and console access
  • A named helper with its own managed agent mailbox
  • The Inbox review step: customer-facing drafts wait for your approval
  • Templates and the setup wizard

The agent phone number (SMS) is a Pro-only add-on and is not available during the trial.

What Happens When Your Trial Credit Runs Out

The trial key has a fixed credit balance. The dashboard warns you when the remaining credit is low and prompts you to add your own key. When the credit is fully used, your helper cannot make model calls until you add your own API key.

Your helper and your data are not deleted by running out of credit. Your Brain, files, settings, and review history stay exactly where they are.

To add your own key, open the Helper page in the dashboard and use the key setup there (look for Use My Own API Key). BrainRoad supports keys from Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, OpenRouter, xAI, and more — see Choosing a Provider for the full list. Your provider bills you directly, with no markup from BrainRoad. See API Costs Explained.

What Happens When Your 30 Days End

The trial ends at day 30 regardless of how much trial credit remains. This is a hard stop:

  • Your helper is stopped automatically.
  • Starting or provisioning a helper, and API access to your Brain, are blocked until you upgrade.
  • Nothing is charged. You never entered a card, so there is nothing to auto-bill.

BrainRoad emails you before the trial ends and again when it expires.

What Happens to Your Data If You Don’t Upgrade

  • While your workspace is paused, your Brain, files, configuration, and review history are preserved.
  • If the workspace stays paused for roughly 30 days without an active subscription, it may be archived to free up resources. Archival removes the hosted workspace and its storage. BrainRoad emails you before that happens.
  • Upgrade before archival and your helper wakes automatically and picks up exactly where you left off: same settings, same Brain, same review history.

Do not rely on a paused trial workspace as long-term storage. If you are stepping away for a while, keep copies of anything important.

FAQ

Can I extend my trial? Starter is a one-time 30-day trial per account.

Do I need a credit card to start? No. The trial starts automatically at signup. No payment information is required, and nothing is billed when the trial ends.

What AI models does the trial key support? The trial key goes through OpenRouter. By default it uses xAI’s Grok 4.5, with MoonshotAI’s Kimi K2.6 as an automatic fallback. If you change the configured model in your helper’s settings, OpenRouter can route to other models like Claude, GPT, and Gemini.

Can I use my own API key during the trial? Yes, at any time. Once added, your helper uses your key instead of the trial key. You do not need to wait for the trial credit to run out.