FFXIV Free Trial: What’s Included & Restrictions – Our Review of ‘is it worth it?’

The Final Fantasy XIV free trial gives you 400+ hours of gameplay across four full expansions, up to level 80, with no time limit and no credit card required. A Realm Reborn, Heavensward, Stormblood, and Shadowbringers are all included, along with every job those expansions added.

Most players do not need to spend a cent until they hit that level cap. The restrictions that do exist are largely anti-bot measures and rarely affect what a new player actually wants to do in the game.

This guide walks through exactly what the trial includes, what is genuinely locked, and the account trap that catches out players who buy the Complete Edition before they even try the free version.

What Does the FFXIV Free Trial Include?

The FFXIV free trial includes A Realm Reborn, Heavensward, Stormblood, and Shadowbringers. That covers the entire main scenario from level 1 to level 80 with no monthly subscription and no expiry date.

You get the full main story through patch 5.5, every side quest attached to those expansions, and every dungeon, trial, and 24-player raid tier tied to that content. Shadowbringers is widely considered the strongest expansion the game has ever produced, and it is sitting inside the free version at no cost.

What Expansions Can Free Trial Players Access?

Free trial players can access four expansions: A Realm Reborn, Heavensward, Stormblood, and Shadowbringers. Endwalker and Dawntrail are not included and require purchasing the paid version of the game.

Every dungeon, trial, alliance raid, and normal-mode raid tier inside those four expansions is available. Content that is region-locked to Endwalker onwards, including the newest Alliance raid series, is not accessible on the trial.

What Level Can You Reach on the Free Trial?

The free trial level cap is 80. That is the level cap for Shadowbringers, which is the highest expansion included in the trial.

You can level every job available in the trial to 80 on the same character. There is no restriction on job switching, no cooldown between jobs, and no requirement to create a new character to try a different role.

How Many Hours of Content Is the FFXIV Free Trial?

The FFXIV free trial contains at least 400 hours of main-story content across the four included expansions. A Realm Reborn alone typically runs 30 to 40 hours if you are watching the cutscenes, and each expansion adds a similar chunk on top.

That figure grows quickly once you factor in leveling multiple jobs, running the 8-player raid tiers, unlocking beast tribe reputations, and clearing side content like Deep Dungeons. Most players report 400 to 800+ hours before they even bump into the level 80 wall.

Does the Free Trial Have a Time Limit?

No. The FFXIV free trial has no time limit and no session cap. You can play for as long as you want, take a break for months, and pick it back up whenever without losing your character or your progress.

Square Enix does not run down a 30-day timer, and there is no “trial ends in X days” warning to worry about. The only cap is the level 80 ceiling and the restrictions listed further down this guide.

What Jobs Can You Play on the FFXIV Free Trial?

Every job introduced in A Realm Reborn, Heavensward, Stormblood, and Shadowbringers is playable on the free trial. The only jobs locked out are the ones added in Endwalker and Dawntrail.

That gives you 17 combat jobs and every crafter and gatherer, all leveled on a single character. Job availability is not a serious limitation for a new player, since the excluded jobs sit at the deep end of the paid content anyway.

Can Free Trial Players Play All Jobs?

Free trial players can play every job through Shadowbringers on one character. Tanks, healers, melee DPS, ranged physical DPS, and magical DPS are all covered.

Included tanks are Paladin, Warrior, Dark Knight, and Gunbreaker. Healers cover White Mage, Scholar, and Astrologian. Melee DPS includes Monk, Dragoon, Ninja, and Samurai. Ranged options include Bard, Machinist, Dancer, Black Mage, Summoner, and Red Mage. Every crafter and gatherer is also available.

Which Jobs Are Locked Behind the Paid Version?

The jobs locked behind the paid version are Sage, Reaper, Viper, and Pictomancer. Sage and Reaper were added in Endwalker, while Viper and Pictomancer were added in Dawntrail.

You cannot preview these jobs on the trial in any capacity. Owning Endwalker unlocks Sage and Reaper, while owning Dawntrail is required for Viper and Pictomancer.

FFXIV Free Trial Restrictions (Full List)

The FFXIV free trial locks the Market Board, direct trade, retainers, Free Companies, /shout, /yell, /tell, manual party formation, PvP, and Mog Station delivery for outbound items. Gil is hard-capped at 300,000, and the character cap is 8 per physical data center.

Most of these restrictions exist as anti-bot and anti-RMT measures rather than to punish trial players. They rarely block a newcomer from doing what they actually want to do, which is play the story and level jobs.

Can Free Trial Players Use the Market Board?

No. Free trial players cannot use the Market Board at all, either to buy or to sell. Access is blocked to prevent bots from farming currency and reselling it.

You will still see the Market Board interface in cities, but attempting to interact with it as a trial account returns a restriction message. The workaround for new players is that you rarely need the Market Board until endgame gearing, which sits past level 80 anyway.

Can Free Trial Players Trade With Other Players?

Free-trial players cannot trade directly with other players. The one-on-one trade window is disabled for the same anti-RMT reasons that lock the Market Board.

You can still loot dropped items in a party, and end-of-instance gear and rewards distribute normally. What you cannot do is hand a friend gil or an item outside those systems.

What’s the Gil Cap on the Free Trial?

The gil cap on the FFXIV free trial is 300,000 gil. Any gil earned beyond that ceiling is lost, so it is worth managing your currency during long play sessions.

There is a clean workaround for the cap: hold onto MSQ coffers and quest reward items rather than selling them to NPC vendors. Once you upgrade to a paid account, you can crack them open and turn them into gil in one go.

Can Free Trial Players Join a Free Company?

No. Free trial players cannot join or create a Free Company. Free Companies are the FFXIV version of guilds, and access to them, including FC buffs and housing, is paid-only.

Losing FC access means missing out on the leveling buff FCs can provide, the shared crafting resources, and the social hub. The closest substitute available to trial players is joining Linkshells, which are still open by invite.

Can Free Trial Players Use Chat?

Free-trial players can use /say in party or instance chat, but /shout, /yell, and /tell are locked. That means you can talk to anyone nearby or in your party, but you cannot broadcast across a zone or whisper to strangers directly.

You can also join Linkshells and cross-world Linkshells if someone invites you, which is the recommended workaround for keeping in touch with friends or a guild you have connections to. You cannot create a Linkshell yourself.

Can Free Trial Players Form Parties?

Free trial players cannot manually form or lead a party, but they can join one through the Duty Finder or by being invited. The Duty Finder is the automatic matchmaking system for dungeons and raids, and it is fully available on the trial.

Trust NPCs are also available, letting you run most of the story dungeons with a full NPC party instead of matchmaking. In practice, most sub-endgame content is cleared through Duty Finder or Trust, so the manual party restriction rarely bites.

Can Free Trial Players Do PvP?

No. Free trial players cannot participate in Crystalline Conflict, Rival Wings, or Frontline. Creating or joining PvP teams is also blocked.

This is the one restriction that hurts if PvP is your entry point into the game. If you want to try FFXIV specifically to see the PvP mode, a single month of the Entry subscription is the cheapest way to sample it.

Can Free Trial Players Use Retainers?

No. Retainers are locked on the free trial. Retainers are NPC helpers who store extra inventory and post items on the Market Board on your behalf.

Losing retainers means your storage is limited to what your character can carry, along with the standard armory chest and personal saddlebag. It becomes a squeeze when you start leveling multiple jobs, but it is manageable if you keep old gear moving.

Is the FFXIV Free Trial Worth It?

Yes. The FFXIV free trial is one of the strongest free offers in gaming and the correct starting point for essentially every new player. The restrictions barely affect the first few hundred hours, and buying the game first permanently locks you out of ever using the trial on that account.

The Shadowbringers arc, which many players consider the best story in modern MMOs, is sitting inside the free version. That alone is worth more than the price of most full-priced games.

How Long Does It Take to Beat the Free Trial Content?

Beating the free trial main story typically takes 400 to 800 hours depending on how much you skip. A Realm Reborn alone is 30 to 40 hours if you watch the cutscenes, and Heavensward, Stormblood, and Shadowbringers each add a comparable stretch on top.

Personally, I started on the free trial and rode it until most of the included jobs were pushing 60. That already put my playtime well past the 30-day mark a Complete Edition purchase would have handed me, and I still had Shadowbringers waiting.

Should I Buy FFXIV or Use the Free Trial First?

Use the free trial first, always. Buying any paid version of FFXIV before trying the trial permanently removes the trial from your Square Enix account, and once that is done, there is no reverting.

The single biggest new-player trap is buying the Complete Edition on day one because it feels like the “proper” way to start. It is not. Play the trial, hit a wall that actually matters, then pay.

Can You Play FFXIV Forever for Free?

You can play the free trial indefinitely, but you cannot progress past level 80 or reach Endwalker and Dawntrail content without paying. The trial itself has no expiry date, only a content ceiling.

Once you hit that ceiling and want to push into current content, you need to buy the expansions and pay a monthly subscription. FFXIV is not a hybrid free-to-play MMO like Guild Wars 2, so ongoing play past the trial requires an active sub.

When Should You Pay for FFXIV?

Pay for FFXIV when the trial’s restrictions genuinely start blocking what you want to do. That usually means finishing Shadowbringers, wanting to trade or craft seriously, joining a Free Company, or getting invested enough to attempt Extreme or Savage raids.

If you are still enjoying the story, leveling new jobs, and clearing content through Duty Finder, the trial is doing its job. There is no bonus for upgrading early.

Signs It’s Time to Upgrade From the Free Trial

You should consider upgrading when you hit level 80 on your main job, when you want to complete the Endwalker or Dawntrail story, or when you are ready to run Extreme trials and Savage raids. Wanting to join a specific Free Company is another common trigger.

If you are consistently running out of inventory space and it is starting to interfere with leveling, upgrading retainers to unlock them can also justify the cost. That said, careful inventory management can keep the trial running long past what most players expect.

What Do You Unlock When You Pay?

Paying an active subscription unlocks the Market Board, direct trade, retainers, Free Companies, /shout, /yell, /tell, manual party formation, PvP, and the 300,000 gil cap. Character slots also expand based on your tier.

Access to Endwalker, Dawntrail, and any jobs those expansions added is a separate purchase on top of the sub. Owning the expansions and paying the sub are two different transactions, which is the confusion the next section addresses.

How Much Does FFXIV Cost?

FFXIV offers two subscription tiers: Entry at $12.99 per month and Standard at $14.99 per month. Both tiers grant identical access to expansions, level cap, and content. The only difference is the number of character slots.

The Complete Edition, which bundles the base game and every expansion plus 30 days of game time, retails for $59.99 in the US. It is frequently discounted 50% during Square Enix sales.

What’s the Difference Between Entry and Standard Subscription?

The only meaningful difference between Entry and Standard is character slots. Entry gets 1 character per world for a total of 8 slots. Standard gets 8 characters per world for a total of 40 slots.

Both tiers grant identical access to expansions, level cap, content, jobs, features, and the same in-game economy. Neither tier “unlocks” anything you cannot get from the other.

Which FFXIV Subscription Should I Choose?

Choose Entry unless you specifically plan to run multiple characters. Every job can be leveled on one character, so most players will never fill even the 8-character Entry allotment.

Personally, I run on Entry and I cannot imagine ever needing 40 slots as a single player. Standard makes sense for role-players and alt-obsessed players. For everyone else, the extra $2 a month is spent on air.

Is the FFXIV Complete Edition Worth It?

The Complete Edition is worth it when it is on sale at 50% off and you are certain you want to push past Shadowbringers. At full price, it is worth it only if you have already tested the trial and know you want the newer content.

The catch is that buying it removes free trial eligibility from your account forever. If you have not played the trial yet, the smart move is either to hold off entirely or to buy a discounted key and save it for after you have run through the trial’s 400+ hours.

How Much Is the FFXIV Monthly Subscription?

The FFXIV monthly subscription is $12.99 for Entry and $14.99 for Standard in the US. Longer 90-day and 180-day commitments are available on both tiers at a discounted per-month rate.

The exact 90-day and 180-day prices are shown on Mog Station at checkout. Pricing structure has been stable for years, so the monthly rates rarely move outside of promotional windows.

Do I Need to Pay for Both a Subscription AND the Expansions?

Yes. FFXIV requires both an active subscription and ownership of the expansions you want to access. The subscription only pays for ongoing playtime, not content access.

This is the single most common piece of new-player confusion. Paying $14.99 for Standard does not unlock Endwalker or Dawntrail. To play those, you must own them, either as separate purchases or through the Complete Edition bundle.

The Free Trial Account Trap (Don’t Make This Mistake)

Registering any paid version of FFXIV to a Square Enix account permanently disqualifies that account from the free trial. Once you pay, you can never play free again on that account.

This applies to the PlayStation, Xbox, and Steam versions equally and for the lifetime of the account. When your paid time runs out, the account is locked behind the subscription, not returned to the trial.

The biggest trap I see new players fall into is buying the Complete Edition on day one because they assume they need to. You do not. Play the trial first.

Can I Go Back to the Free Trial After Paying?

No, ever. Once a paid version of FFXIV is registered to a Square Enix account, the free trial option is permanently removed. There is no cooldown, no reset, and no support ticket that can restore it.

The only way to play FFXIV on a free trial after paying is to create an entirely new Square Enix account. That means a new character, new progression, and none of your paid entitlements.

What Happens When My FFXIV Subscription Runs Out?

When your subscription runs out, your account is locked and you cannot log in until you resubscribe. Your character, retainers, gear, gil, and progress all stay on the servers, so nothing is deleted.

You cannot revert to the free trial version to keep playing for free. FFXIV is a subscription-only game once you have paid into it, and the account stays gated behind the sub going forward.

What Happens if I Already Bought FFXIV on Steam / PlayStation / Xbox?

If you have already registered a paid FFXIV license to your Square Enix account on any platform, you are locked out of the free trial on that account. The lockout applies once per account, not once per platform.

If you want free trial access, you would need to create a new Square Enix account. It is easier to do that on PC than on console, and it means starting fresh on your new account.

Is FFXIV a One-Time Purchase or Subscription?

FFXIV is a subscription game with an additional one-time purchase for each expansion. It is not a “buy once, play forever” title like most single-player Final Fantasies.

Owning the base game and every expansion still requires an active subscription to log in. The free trial is the only sub-free way to play, and once you register a paid version, that door closes for good.

Personal Take: How I Played the Free Trial

I started FFXIV on the free trial with no upfront cost and no intention of paying until the game earned it. I rode the trial until most of the included jobs were pushing 60, which put me deep into Heavensward and comfortably past the point where a Complete Edition’s 30 days of game time would have run out.

I took a break, came back months later, and only then moved to the Entry subscription. No regrets on the timing, and the character I built during the trial carried over intact.

If you are the type of player who wants to spend money on cosmetic mounts and glams later, that is fine, but do not spend it on the game itself before you know it will hold you. If mount collecting becomes your thing, there are plenty of easy and fast mounts and cheap mount options to chase inside the paid game once you decide to stay.

Frequently Asked Questions