Do you need an account to try TerrainTale?
The virtual tabletop itself, /app/, is behind sign-in — but signing in isn't the same as paying, and there's a free plan behind that gate with no time limit and no card required.
· 4 min read · TerrainTale
Why an account exists at all
An account is what lets a scene autosave to a library you can return to, what a shared room's Share link is built from, and what the plan system (free or Premium) applies to. None of that works anonymously — the table needs somewhere to save to — so sign-in gates the app itself even though the free plan behind it costs nothing. It's a similar shape to a lot of creative web tools: the editor itself needs an identity to save against, even when using it costs nothing.
Getting in takes one sign-in step
Email and password, a one-time email link, or social sign-in through Google, Facebook, Apple, GitHub or Discord — whichever is enabled — creates the account and drops you straight into the app. There's no separate "start a trial" step and no credit card asked for anywhere in that flow; the free plan is simply what a new account is on by default.
What the free plan actually includes
One saved scene in your library, and everything else the product does: the builder, the full built-in library, play mode, the initiative tracker, the distance ruler, lighting, shared rooms, and scene export/import. Only two things are Premium — more than one saved scene at a time, and importing your own model files or portrait pictures. Nothing about trying the product requires paying first.
- No card required to sign up or to use the free plan
- One saved scene, the whole rest of the product, indefinitely
- Upgrading is optional and only changes the saved-scene limit and own-file imports
If you'd rather skip accounts entirely
TerrainTale is also self-hostable — clone the repository and run it yourself, with your own accounts server and no dependency on the hosted site's sign-in or plans at all. Self-hosting still uses accounts for the same reasons (saving scenes, shared rooms), but they're accounts on your own server, and by default there's no billing gate on a self-hosted copy at all.
What happens if you never upgrade
Nothing forces the issue. The free plan doesn't expire, and the only moment Premium comes up is if you try to save a second scene while the first is still in your library — at which point a dialog offers to upgrade or delete the existing one, and whatever you were building stays on the table untouched while you decide.
Trying it without committing to a login method
If you're not sure which sign-in option you'd rather use long-term, any of them gets you into the same free plan just as fast — there's no reason to research the "best" one before trying the product. Switching how you sign in later isn't something most people need to do, since a provider-verified email links to an existing account automatically rather than starting a second one. The first thing worth doing once you're in is opening one of the built-in starter scenes rather than a blank grid, since that shows what the library and lighting look like finished, before you've placed a single piece yourself.