Let students try the first lessons of your course for free

You can now let students try the start of a paid course before they buy it. Choose how many lessons are free, and students can take that preview straight from your academy. When they want to keep going, buying the full course is one click away.

What changed

Until now, access applied to the whole course. A student had to buy the course or join a membership before seeing a single lesson. The usual workarounds were a teaser video in the course overview or a separate free mini course.

Now you can open up the beginning of any paid or membership course as a free preview:

• In the course editor, hover between two lessons and choose End free preview here.
• A clear Free preview ends here marker shows where the preview stops. Move it any time, or remove it.
• The preview is always the start of your course, in order, so students get the same introduction your paying students do.

What students see

• On the course page, a Preview for free button appears next to the purchase option. Chapters that are part of the preview get a Free preview label.
• In the course player, students move through the free lessons as usual, while the rest of the course shows as locked.
• A banner reminds them they're watching a preview, with a button to get full access.
• At the end of the preview, they're invited to unlock the rest of the course.

Students need to be signed in to preview a course, so you also get to know who's interested in your content.

Why it helps

Paying for a course is easier when you already know you like the teaching. A free preview lets students experience your style, your pacing and the quality of your lessons first, which helps answer the question "is this course right for me?"

It also keeps everything in one place. You don't need a separate free course or have to send people elsewhere to try your content.

We'd love your feedback

Free previews are new, and we're keen to hear how you use them. Tell us what works, what you'd like to change, and anything that would make previews more useful for your students.

Availability

Free previews are available now for all paid and membership courses on every Forento plan. Open a course in your dashboard and choose where the preview ends.