Free trial for a Garmin watch app or face

Q: Can a trial count uses instead of days?

Yes. Leave TRIAL_DAYS out, keep your own counter, and check Paywall.active() , as in the 20-session example in the gating docs.

You can add a free trial to a Garmin Connect IQ app, watch face or data field with KiezelPay, PayToUse or WearCheckout, or with your own code. Garmin's monetization pages describe no trial for apps sold through its store. WearCheckout's trials run up to 30 days on every plan, from $9 a year, and its server counts each one, so a reinstall can't restart it.

Which Garmin payment options offer a free trial?

KiezelPay, PayToUse and WearCheckout do. Garmin's monetization pages don't describe one.

Option	Free trial	How it works
Garmin Connect IQ Store	Not in its monetization pages	Buyers have a 48-hour return window instead
KiezelPay	Yes	The watch shows its purchase code when the trial ends; the FAQ gives no length
PayToUse	Yes	You set the length and its unit; it counts from the watch's first call to PayToUse
WearCheckout	Yes, on every plan	Up to 30 days, counted by the server from the first time it saw that watch
Your own code	If you build it	Whatever you write

Checked 23 October 2026, on each company's own pages (see Sources).

PayToUse's face designer adds one more kind: on touch screens, a tap on a locked face opens its paid parts for 15 minutes. We make WearCheckout, so weigh our view with that in mind. WearCheckout is not affiliated with Garmin.

Does Garmin's own store offer free trials?

Garmin's monetization pages don't describe one, as of 23 October 2026.

Connect IQ has had trial calls since API level 2.3.0. AppBase.isTrial() reports whether a store-signed app is still locked, and getTrialDaysRemaining() lets your app report the days left. Garmin's App Sales page doesn't say how they work with an app sold through Garmin Pay.

A developer asked exactly that on Garmin's developer forum. As of 23 October 2026, the thread is marked not answered, and no reply comes from Garmin staff. So if you need a trial today, use a payment service or your own code.

How does a WearCheckout trial work in an app?

You set the number of days, and the trial starts at first launch, with no card and no checkout.

Set it. Put TRIAL_DAYS in PaywallConfig.mc, the same as the trial in your dashboard. Up to 30 days.
It starts at first launch. Paywall.unlocked() is true until it ends.
It counts down. The buy screen's title shows "7 days left", then "Last day", then "Trial over".
It ends. An app sold as a whole shows the buy screen at each launch. An app that sells some features shows it once.
It can't be stretched. Reinstalling never restarts it. The server sends the days left, not a date, so a clock set back can't add days either.

For a trial by use instead of days, leave TRIAL_DAYS out, keep your own counter, and check Paywall.active(). The gating docs show a 20-session example. Trials are on every plan, from Starter at $9 a year, and test mode is free.

How does a trial work on a watch face or data field?

The same way, but the face learns its state from a background check.

Set it. TRIAL_DAYS is required in a face or data field. Set it to 0 for no trial.
During the trial. The face checks at the trial's end, or daily if that's sooner.
When it ends. The face draws a QR code where you choose. While the phone is connected, it also sends Garmin's sign-in notification, once.
Paying. A buyer who taps the notification and pays unlocks within seconds. One who scans the code in the 2 days after the trial's end unlocks within 10 minutes.
Keep the time free. On a face, Garmin treats viewing the time as a primary feature and advises no paywall over it.

Garmin lets a background check run at most every 5 minutes. See watch faces and data fields.

Why count the trial on a server?

Because a trial kept only on the watch is easy to restart.

Reinstalling. Developers on Garmin's forum note that a data field's stored values reset when it is uninstalled and installed again.
The clock. A trial that compares dates on the watch runs longer if the clock is set back.

Garmin's device ID for your app stays the same across uninstall and reinstall, so a server can remember when it first saw a watch. That is how WearCheckout counts trials. PayToUse also counts from the watch's first call to its server.

What do Garmin's rules say about trials?

Garmin asks you to say from the outset if free use is limited. Our terms sum up today's rules for paid apps like this:

Mark the store listing as needing payment when any primary feature costs money.
Say from the outset what is free and what is paid, and state a refund policy.
Avoid bait-and-switch.
Put no paywall over the time on a watch face.

Garmin's own current rules bind you, not our summary of them. The go-live checks cover the store listing.

Questions

Can a paid app in the Garmin Connect IQ Store have a free trial?

Garmin's monetization pages don't describe one, as of 23 October 2026. Buyers get a 48-hour return window instead. For a trial, sell through KiezelPay, PayToUse or WearCheckout, or write your own.

How long can a WearCheckout free trial be?

Up to 30 days, on every plan from Starter at $9 a year. You set it in your dashboard and in TRIAL_DAYS.

Does reinstalling a Garmin app restart its trial?

Not with WearCheckout. Its server counts the trial from the first time it saw that watch, using Garmin's device ID for your app, which survives a reinstall.

Does the buyer need a card to start a trial?

No. A WearCheckout trial runs on the watch with no card and no checkout. The buyer pays only to keep going after it ends.

Can a trial count uses instead of days?

Yes. Leave TRIAL_DAYS out, keep your own counter, and check Paywall.active(), as in the 20-session example in the gating docs.

Sources

Competitor facts come from each company's own pages, checked on 23 October 2026. Where a page didn't say something, we wrote so.

How to add a free trial to a Garmin watch app or face