Free Preview of a systeme.io Course: Use Partial Access

In an open problems thread on r/systeme_io, u/berks_investor asked the question most course sellers reach sooner or later: "Is it possible to have a course on systeme where the first few modules are free and the rest need to be purchased?"

The obvious build is a free mini-course next to the paid one. On systeme.io that's the expensive way round. Its help center describes a setting that does the job inside one course. Partial access "Grants access only to specific modules within the course", and the same help center shows a sale that unlocks the remaining modules for students who already hold part of a course.

So build the free preview as Partial access to the course you sell, handed out from an opt-in page, with the purchase opening the rest. That matters most on the free plan, which allows one course. A separate taster course would use the whole allowance.

The four access types, and which one a preview uses

systeme.io's help article on access types lists four. In short:

In practice: give preview students Partial access to your opening modules, and keep the paid offers on the other types. If the full course drips, use Partial access with drip for the preview so the free part keeps the same pace.

The help article's own example is the reason this works as a sales path. It takes a 10-module course and says: "Instead of duplicating the course to sell different versions, you can use the same course to sell multiple offers." One offer grants the first 5 modules, one grants all 10, and the third is the one a preview needs: "Upgrade Offer: Unlocks the remaining 5 modules for students who bought the Half Course." In your case the half course was free.

Light courses offer the same choice. The light-course article (last updated June 25, 2026) describes courses made inside a creator store, from a phone, and says "The access types currently available are full access and partial access." Drip there is a delay on each lecture, not an access type of its own. If you build the preview as a light course, test the upgrade path the same way before you sell it.

Preview modules at the front of the course

Arrange the course so the modules you'll give away come first. They should end on a point where the next module is the obvious next step. Partial access works by module, not by lecture, so whatever you want in the preview needs to sit in its own modules.

If you add a quiz to a preview module, systeme.io's quiz help says it "will only be accessible after all of the module's lessons have been marked as completed." That makes a quiz a reasonable last step for the preview. In the same thread, u/ilikethestockperiod asked about a "minimum percentage score below which the user cannot move to next module". The quiz help doesn't describe a pass mark, so don't plan the preview around one.

An opt-in page that enrolls preview students

This route comes from systeme.io's help article on granting free access to a course, and its overview of access methods names it as the one systeme.io suggests for free access.

Create a sales funnel whose steps are an opt-in page followed by a thank-you page. In the opt-in page's editor, add a form with at least one Email input and a button set to Submit form. Then close the editor, open the Automation rules tab on the same page and click Add rule. The trigger is Funnel step form subscribed. The action is Enroll in course, with the course picked, Partial access chosen and the preview modules selected. Save rule finishes it.

Everyone who submits the form is enrolled in the preview modules of the paid course. They'll get systeme.io's standard enrolment email. The FAQ in systeme.io's course-selling article says "the automated enrollment email cannot be customized within systeme.io at this time", so say that the course is a preview on the thank-you page and in the first lecture.

An order form that sells the remaining modules

On the order form, set the offer type to Digital product, create a product, add the course as a resource, then choose the access type. Partial access appears there too, as "Students will be able to access specific modules selected by the instructor." Add a price plan; the course-selling article notes the Save button stays greyed out until one exists.

For preview students, the documented route is the upgrade from the access types article: a product with Partial access to the modules they don't have yet. That's the offer to link from inside the preview. Someone who arrives at your sales page cold is the help article's other case, the offer that grants the whole course.

What the help center doesn't spell out is what happens when a contact on Partial access buys a Full access product to the same course. On switching between partial-based types, the same article says "the platform preserves their progress whenever possible." Selling preview students the remaining modules keeps you inside that documented case, which is why I'd use it.

If the course drips, it adds one more case. If a student buys the upgrade before their earlier modules have finished dripping, "the newly unlocked modules will only begin releasing after the existing drip sequence completes." If your course runs in cohorts and each module needs a calendar date, the drip isn't the tool; a dated workflow does it.

A student's-eye check

In the same r/systeme_io thread, u/revengenownbeyond asked how to see a course "like as a student would see it". For a preview, check with a second email address of your own. Opt in, confirm you can open the preview modules and not the rest, then buy the upgrade on that address to see the remaining modules open.

The course-selling article explains what that address should see. A student who clicks a course access link goes straight to the course after logging in. Someone without access to that course "will simply be redirected to their standard student dashboard."

Enrollment is the part sellers trip on. Simeon S., an accounting firm owner who runs a client course on systeme.io, left a 5.0 Capterra review in July 2026 that still says: "It is difficult enrolling students within the course". The opt-in route above enrolls preview students for you, which is one more reason to use it rather than adding them by hand.

Optional: a nudge when the preview ends

systeme.io's completion-trigger article adds course completion triggers for automation rules. Module completed can fire on any module of a course, or on one module you choose. Point it at the last preview module and send an email with the upgrade link.

That's a different trigger and a different action from the opt-in rule, so it's its own automation rule. This is where the plan starts to matter.

Which plan a free preview needs

From systeme.io's pricing table on October 9, 2026 (the yearly prices are from October 8):

Free can run the bare preview. One course carries both the free and paid parts, the opt-in rule is the single automation rule, and the sale needs no rule because the order form's resource grants access.

Two things move a preview onto Startup, and the first matters more.

• Preview students are students. Every opt-in is enrolled in your course, so each one counts toward Free's 500-student cap, along with every buyer. A preview that works fills that row faster than any paid course would. Startup has no student cap, and the limit becomes 5,000 contacts.
• The nudge is a second rule. The Module completed email needs a rule of its own, and Free has one. Startup has 10.

Watch the student count, not the calendar. A preview that converts slowly can sit on Free for a long time; one that pulls a few hundred sign-ups in a launch week hits 500 students before most of them have reached the last free module. That's the point to move: Startup costs $17 monthly, or $170 billed yearly, and you can choose it on systeme.io's pricing page. Startup also allows 5 courses, so a second paid course can use the same preview method. To work out whether 5,000 contacts will hold your students and leads for a year, my headcount guide for systeme.io course sellers counts heads plan by plan.

One Trustpilot reviewer, writing in September 2026 with five stars, was at exactly this stage: "I'm enjoying the process of creating my course and setting up my sales funnel."

FAQ

Can I give away the first lectures instead of whole modules? Partial access selects modules, in both the free-access and course-selling articles. Put the free lectures in their own module.

Do preview students have to create an account? They're enrolled like any student. systeme.io's overview of access methods says that with any of its access methods, students "will receive an automatic email to log in to their account and access the content."

Can I make the free preview expire? The course-selling article offers an expiration delay for courses with full or partial access. The access types article says expiration delays "will only work for courses that provide full access." The two articles disagree, so try it on your second address before you promise preview students an end date.

Does a free preview count against the 500-student limit on Free? Yes. Every opt-in is enrolled in the course, so each preview student counts toward Free's 500-student cap, along with every buyer. A preview that converts slowly can sit on Free for a long time. One that pulls a few hundred sign-ups in a launch week can reach 500 before most of them have reached the last free module. Startup's plan row shows no student cap.

Can a quiz stop preview students moving on until they pass? The quiz help doesn't describe a pass mark. It says a quiz opens only after all of the module's lessons are marked complete.

What does a preview student see if they click a link to a locked module? The help center doesn't describe locked modules in detail. Someone without access to a course is redirected to their standard student dashboard, so test it with a second address.