Can I have goals without pledges?

Nope! Pledges are the bread and butter of Beeminder, the way we motivate you to get stuff done.

There are some circumstances where you can have a $0 pledge, but they're very much the exception to the rule:

• You can start with a $0 pledge on a goal as a sort of trial period, so that if you derail due to confusion or weirdness or overestimating what you can do, you don't have to pay; this trial period lasts 7 days or until your first derailment, after which you're on the hook for $5 if you derail.
• If you have the Beemium plan, it gives you the option of pledgeless goals by setting a pledge cap of $0 on any goal (provided the current pledge is $0).

While these goals still technically have pledges (so you'll still receive legitimacy checks), a $0 derailment costs $0, so you won't be charged anything.

You can adjust the $0 pledge cap to put a real pledge on the goal anytime, if you change your mind later. The reverse is true only if you have Beemium: in that case, you can step down an existing goal's pledge to $0 (with the usual seven-day wait on changes that make your goal easier), then cap it there.

We don't recommend $0 pledge goals, but they can be useful in some situations, e.g. when you want to beemind the same thing in two different ways, and want to avoid double jeopardy!

Keywords: pledgeless goals, toothless goals, freebees