How to Extend Your Squarespace Free Trial (Even After It Expires)
A two-second fix that lives in your browser bar
You're mid-build. The homepage is finally coming together; you've got three more sections to go – and Squarespace locks you out. The trial expired. Editing is disabled, the pages won't open, and a button at the bottom of the screen is asking you to subscribe.
Don't subscribe yet. There's a built-in way to extend your trial; it takes about two seconds, and it works whether or not you're a Circle partner.
I'm Olga, and I run Applet Studio, a Squarespace template shop. I keep a lot of sites in my account at any given time – every Squarespace template we sell lives in there as a working demo – so I hit expired trials constantly. Here's exactly what I do.
What an Expired Trial Actually Looks Like
When your trial runs out, your site doesn't disappear. You can still log in and preview it, but the editor is locked: you can't open pages, you can't change anything, and Squarespace prompts you to pick a plan every time you try.
Your content is safe for the moment. Squarespace holds onto expired trial site content for around four months before it's permanently removed — so there's no need to immediately subscribe to protect your work. But you also can't do anything with it until the trial is extended.
The Fix: Add One Word to Your URL
Here's the whole thing.
Step 1. Log into Squarespace and open the site whose trial has expired.
Step 2. Look at your browser's address bar. You'll see something ending in /config — like your-site-name.squarespace.com/config.
Step 3. Add /extendtrial to the end of it, so the full URL reads:
your-site-name.squarespace.com/config/extendtrial
Step 4. Hit Enter.
That's it. You'll get a confirmation that your trial has been successfully extended, and you can go straight back to editing.
No support ticket, no third-party tool, no workaround that violates anything. This is a Squarespace URL doing what it's built to do.
How Much Time You Actually Get
The answer depends entirely on what kind of trial you started with – and that depends on who started it.
Squarespace's standard free trial is 14 days. But if the site was created by a Squarespace Circle partner (like us), the trial is significantly longer. Circle is Squarespace's free program for designers and developers who build on the platform, and members are sorted into three tiers based on a points system tied to their activity:
| Status | Trial length | Subscription discount |
|---|---|---|
| No Circle membership | 14 days | — |
| Circle Silver | 3 months | 10% |
| Circle Gold | 6 months | 20% |
| Circle Platinum | 12 months | 25% |
Applet Studio is a Circle Platinum partner, which is why our template demo sites come with 12-month trials – and why, when a client starts their site through us, they get a full year to build before they ever pay for a subscription.
When you extend, you get more of whatever you started with. A 14-day trial extends by 7 days. A 6-month trial extends by roughly 6 months. A 12-month trial extends by another long stretch.
One quirk worth knowing: in the video above, my extended 12-month trial came back showing 183 days — about six months, not a full year. Extensions don't always match the original trial length exactly. It's still plenty of time, but don't be surprised if the number isn't quite what you expected.
Can You Keep Extending Forever?
Officially, Squarespace documents a one-time, seven-day extension for standard 14-day trials — the one they email you about when your trial lapses.
In practice, the /config/extendtrial URL has worked repeatedly for a lot of designers, myself included. I've extended the same demo sites more than once without any issue.
I'd frame it this way: it's a legitimate, built-in feature rather than a hack, but it's not a permanent free plan, and it isn't guaranteed to work indefinitely. Use it to finish a build, get client approval, or buy yourself breathing room on a project. When the site is ready to go live, subscribe.
If the URL Trick Doesn't Work
A few backup options:
Check your email. When a trial expires, Squarespace sends a message from customercare@squarespace.com with the subject line "Your trial has expired. Need more time?" There's an extension link inside.
Contact support. Live chat is usually fast about this. Give them your built-in Squarespace URL and ask for an extension — they'll almost always grant one.
Duplicate the site. From your account dashboard, click the three dots next to the site thumbnail and duplicate it. The copy starts a fresh trial. You'll be working from a new URL, but nothing is lost.
Work with a Circle partner. If a Gold or Platinum partner starts the trial for you, you're looking at 6–12 months instead of 14 days — plus a discount on your first year when you do subscribe.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does extending a Squarespace trial cost anything?
No. Extending a trial is free, and Circle membership itself is free to join — there's no fee for Silver, Gold, or Platinum status. Tiers are earned through a points system based on your activity on the platform.
Will I lose my website content if the trial expires?
Not immediately. Squarespace retains expired trial content for approximately four months. You won't be able to edit during that time, but your work is still there if you extend or subscribe. After that window, content may be permanently deleted.
Does the extend-trial URL work for Circle members and non-members alike?
Yes. It doesn't matter whether you're a Circle partner — anyone can extend their own trial this way. The only difference is how much time you get, which depends on the length of the original trial.
Can I share my trial site with a client before it's live?
Yes. You can password-protect the site and share the built-in Squarespace URL. Just remove the /config portion before sending it — otherwise they'll be prompted to log in.
What Squarespace plan do I need when I'm ready to launch?
That depends on what you've built. If you've used custom CSS or code injection, you'll need at least the Core plan. If you're selling products, look at Core or above to avoid transaction fees. Whatever you choose, make sure the plan supports the features you used during your trial.
Extending a trial is one of those small things that saves a genuinely frustrating afternoon. Bookmark it – you'll need it eventually.
Building a site right now? Try Squarespace free and save 10% on your first subscription with code APPLET10. Or browse our Squarespace templates – every one comes with a 12-month trial through our Platinum partner status.
