Understanding the Trial
When you install Categorify, you automatically receive a 7-day free trial with 100 categorization credits. This gives you time to test the app with your actual products before committing to a paid plan.
What’s Included
Your trial includes:
- 100 categorization credits - Enough to test categorization on a representative sample of your catalog
- 7 days of access - One week to explore features and verify results
- All features unlocked - Access to automatic categorization, AI instructions, and all settings
- No credit card required - Try before you buy
- Full rate limits - Same processing speed as paid plans
The trial gives you complete access to Categorify. There are no feature restrictions—you can use AI instructions, enable automatic categorization, return only leaf categories, and access all four categorization methods.
How the Trial Works
Your trial is governed by two limits:
Time limit: 7 days from installation
Credit limit: 100 categorizations
The trial ends when you hit either limit first. If you use all 100 credits in 2 days, the trial ends—even though 5 days remain. If 7 days pass and you’ve only used 50 credits, the trial ends and the remaining 50 credits are lost.
Each Categorization Costs 1 Credit
Every time Categorify processes a product, it consumes 1 credit from your trial balance:
- Single product categorization: 1 credit
- Bulk categorization of 10 products: 10 credits
- Automatic categorization of 1 new product: 1 credit
- Re-categorizing the same product: 1 credit (not free)
You can monitor remaining credits in the Usage pane on the dashboard.
Trial Notifications
Categorify sends email notifications to help you maximize your trial:
3 days before expiration: “Your trial ends in 3 days” reminder so you have time to test thoroughly and make a decision.
When time expires: “Your trial has ended” notice explaining that you need to upgrade to continue categorizing products.
When credits are consumed: “Your trial credits are used up” alert if you use all 100 credits before the 7 days end.
These notifications go to your store’s email address (or the notification email if you’ve set a different one in Settings).
What Happens When Credits Run Out
If you use all 100 credits before 7 days pass:
✅ You CAN:
- Access the Categorify dashboard
- View categorization History
- Review Settings
- See past categorization results
❌ You CANNOT:
- Categorize more products (manual or automatic)
- Use any remaining trial days
To continue categorizing, you must upgrade to a paid plan. Once you subscribe, you’ll receive your plan’s monthly credit allocation and can resume categorization immediately.
What Happens When Time Expires
If 7 days pass before you use all 100 credits:
✅ You CAN:
- Access the Categorify dashboard
- View categorization History
- Review Settings
- See past categorization results
❌ You CANNOT:
- Categorize more products (manual or automatic)
- Use any remaining trial credits (they’re lost)
To continue categorizing, upgrade to a paid plan.
Upgrading During Your Trial
You can upgrade to a paid plan at any time during your trial. When you subscribe:
What you gain:
- Monthly credit allocation based on your plan (5,000 to 49,000 credits)
- Your billing cycle starts immediately
- Continued access to all features
What you lose:
- Remaining trial days (not converted or credited)
- Unused trial credits (not added to your plan credits)
Example: If you upgrade on day 3 with 60 trial credits remaining, those 60 credits are lost and your monthly billing cycle begins. You’ll receive your plan’s full monthly credit allocation.
When to upgrade: Wait until you’ve used most trial credits or are confident the app meets your needs. There’s no benefit to upgrading early since trial time and credits aren’t preserved.
Post-Trial Access
After your trial ends (time or credits expired), Categorify remains installed but categorization stops:
- Dashboard remains accessible
- History remains viewable (subject to 45-day retention)
- Settings remain accessible
- No products are categorized (manual or automatic)
Your configuration, settings, and categorization history are preserved. When you upgrade, everything works immediately with no reconfiguration needed.
Trial Per Store
Trials are linked to your Shopify store, not your user account. This means:
✅ Same user, different stores: You can have trials on multiple Shopify stores you own or manage
❌ Same store, multiple trials: If you uninstall and reinstall Categorify on the same store after the trial expires, you’ll need to upgrade immediately—the trial doesn’t reset
This protects against trial abuse while allowing Shopify consultants to test on multiple client stores.
Maximizing Your Trial
Here’s how to get the most value from your 100 trial credits:
Start with Representative Products
Don’t categorize your entire catalog immediately. Choose 10-20 products that represent different categories in your store:
- Various product types
- Different levels of description detail
- Products you know the correct category for (to verify accuracy)
This gives you confidence in categorization quality without exhausting credits.
Test Manual Categorization First
Before enabling automatic categorization:
- Manually categorize your representative sample
- Review the results and status indicators
- Verify categories are appropriate
- Check if any patterns need AI instructions
This prevents automatic categorization from consuming credits on potentially incorrect settings.
Experiment with Settings
Read Categorization Strategies to understand the different approaches, then test settings that match your needs:
- Try with and without “Use best-guess category”
- Test AI instructions on products with ambiguous categories
- Compare leaf-only vs. allowing parent categories
Each test helps you understand which configuration works best for your catalog.
Enable Automatic Categorization Last
Once you’re satisfied with manual categorization results:
- Enable automatic categorization in Settings
- Create or modify a product to test
- Verify the automatic result matches expectations
Now you can confidently let the app categorize products in the background.
Save Credits for Important Tests
If you have high-value or unusual products, save some trial credits to test those specifically. Don’t use all 100 credits on routine items if you have specialty products that need verification.
Next Steps
Now that you understand how the trial works:
- Quick Start Guide - Categorize your first products efficiently
- Dashboard Overview - Monitor credit usage and categorization progress
- Categorization Strategies - Choose the best approach before testing
- Subscription Plans & Billing - Compare plans when you’re ready to upgrade
Ready to start testing? Follow the Quick Start Guide to categorize your first products.