How to get the free trial for Nintendo Switch Online

The free trial for Nintendo Switch Online gives you seven days of online play, cloud saves, NES/SNES access, and more — but it’s only available once per Nintendo Account. If you’ve already used it, you’ll need to wait until your current plan ends. And if you’re already on a family or individual membership, you won't get a new trial.

Here's how to get a free trial for Nintendo Switch Online through the Switch and directly from Nintendo’s site.

Methods of getting the free trial for Nintendo Switch Online

Keep the following things in mind before you begin:

The free trial for Nintendo Switch Online auto-renews into a 1-month (30-day) paid plan once it ends.
If you don’t cancel auto-renewal, you’ll be charged automatically.
You can stop auto-renewal at any time during the trial, and you won’t be billed.

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Steps to get the trial from the Nintendo Switch eShop

Open the eShop from the HOME menu.
Pick the Nintendo account you want to use.
Scroll down on the left side and hit Nintendo Switch Online.
Now, look at the top-right. If you see a banner that says "You can start a free 7-day trial," that’s your green light.
Tap View/Change Membership under the banner. If that banner isn’t there, you either already have an active plan or you’ve used your one-time free trial before.
Select the free trial membership option from the list. You can select whether you want to activate automatic renewal. If yes, pick how you want to pay: Credit Card or PayPal.
Hit Start Free Trial to begin your 7-day trial.

Again, unless you turn off auto-renew, you’ll roll into a paid monthly plan right after.

Steps to get the trial from through the Nintendo website

You’ll need an active Nintendo Account linked to your Switch. Once that’s in place:

Go to http://accounts.nintendo.com. Create a Nintendo Account if you don’t already have one.
Use your account to log into the eShop on your Switch once.
Head over to the right link depending on your region: Australia and New Zealand.
Look for the free trial button and tap it. If it’s not showing up, then you’ve either used the free trial before or you’re still on an active membership.
Log in with your Nintendo Account info.
Choose whether you want auto-renewal on or off. If yes, you’ll be prompted to set a payment method.
Either click Start free trial (if no auto-renew) or Purchase (if yes) to begin the trial with billing info set.

Once you’re in, the 7-day clock starts ticking.

This concludes the methods for a free trial for Nintendo Switch Online.

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