Can I have goals without pledges?

Not really! Pledges are the bread and butter of Beeminder, the way we motivate you to get stuff done. 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, after which you're on the hook for $5 if you derail.

That said, the Beemium plan gives you the option of pledgeless goals by setting a pledge cap of $0 on any goal (new or existing, 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 also true -- 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.

These features only apply to Beemium subscribers. We don't recommend it but it 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