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January’s release refines key moments in the maker’s journey, from setup and pricing decisions to documentation, checkout, and account management.
Alongside these improvements, we’ve made a range of smaller refinements that improve consistency across the platform as products grow and scale.
Refund Policies for Usage-Based Pricing Now Support Unused Credits
As part of a broader documentation and localization effort, we reviewed our refund policies and found they no longer reflected how modern usage-based products are used in practice.
Our refund policies have since been updated to allow refunds for unused credits only.
This helps prevent refund abuse while keeping policies fair and transparent for buyers, especially in cases where value is consumed immediately.
For example, if you’re running a generative AI product with subscriptions and credit top-ups, you may choose to offer a money-back guarantee only for unused credits.
As part of this update, we also:
- refreshed the relevant documentation
- updated legal terms to cover usage-based consumption
This support is currently only available for SaaS-type products. If you have another product type with a valid usage-based use case, our team can help explore enabling this option.
Clearer, Faster Documentation for AI-Assisted Builds
More builders are using AI tools to design, ship, and iterate on their products, including a growing number of vibe coders building with AI-assisted workflows.
As part of an ongoing effort to improve clarity and usability, we’ve made targeted improvements to how Freemius documentation is structured and how it supports modern, AI-assisted builds.
Filter Documentation by Product Type
Documentation can now be filtered by product type, allowing you to focus on guides that are relevant to your setup.
You can select SaaS & Apps or WordPress in the documentation to:
- view a curated subset of content for that product type
- see pages adapt based on the selected category — for example, the Sales Analytics documentation now reflects the chosen product type where applicable
This update reduces noise and makes it easier to find the right guidance without digging through generic docs.
Better AI and LLM Guidance
We recognize the growing importance of building with LLMs (large language models) and AI-powered tooling.
To make Freemius documentation easier to consume by AI scrapers, agents, and developer tools, we’re now surfacing dedicated resources directly in the docs footer:
- Bundled documentation
- Summarized reference files
- Access to our OpenAPI specification
Documentation remains a never-ending investment for us. These improvements are part of a broader effort to keep the docs clear, current, and aligned with how software is built today.
Improved Onboarding Visibility with a New Checklist Banner
To make it easier to complete essential steps for new products, we’ve introduced a checklist banner that keeps progress clearly visible.
While there are multiple ways to configure a product with Freemius, the checklist reflects the most reliable path to getting up and running, shaped by real onboarding experience and close collaboration with makers.
Customizable Proration Period for Lifetime License Upgrades
Previously, upgrading a lifetime license often meant paying the full difference, regardless of how long the original license had been in use. This understandably led to frustration, abandoned upgrades, or support requests.
To address this, we introduced proration for lifetime license upgrades — initially with a 7-day window, and later expanded to 30 days based on feedback. While this helped, it became clear that a one-size-fits-all proration period still didn’t work for everyone.
Makers Now Control the Lifetime License Proration Window
Proration periods for lifetime license upgrades are now fully customizable, putting the decision in the hands of the maker.
You can now choose what makes sense for your business and your customers, balancing fairness for buyers with your pricing strategy.
Makers can configure the proration period as:
- A fixed period (for example, a month or a year)
- A custom duration
- Unlimited
This means buyers who upgrade after using a lifetime license for some time don’t necessarily pay the same price as someone upgrading immediately. Makers also no longer need to handle these situations manually with coupons or support tickets.
Incremental Improvements That Add Up
These updates focus on improving everyday workflows across checkout, billing, onboarding, and the Developer Dashboard as your products scale.
Compliance and Tax
Developer Dashboard and Admin
- Various Developer Dashboard improvements
- Clearer labels for IDs and keys
- Easier access to customer and legal links from product settings
- Fixed billing information updates in the Store Users view
Customer Portal
Checkout and Payments
- Fixes for zero-value trial payments and payment update emails
- Checkout confirmation dialog customization for apps
Webhooks and Integrations
- Improved webhook failure detection and recovery
- Prevented issues related to secret key usage in certain SaaS frameworks
Onboarding
Steady Progress, Built on Real Usage and Feedback
These updates are shaped by how makers use Freemius day to day, from getting set up and making pricing decisions to managing upgrades and scaling workflows over time.
Each change is incremental, but together they make the platform more consistent, flexible, and easier to work with as products grow.
Feedback and real-world input help shape what we build next. If something’s on your mind, we’d love to hear it.
