Free-to-Play launched on January 17, 2012 for all players and on January 5, 2012 for previous subscribers. Players will continue to have the choice in subscribing (gold accounts) or playing for free (silver accounts) under some restrictions. On May 3, 2018, the subscription model was discontinued for new players; existing subscriptions will continue, and can be cancelled at any time. To replace gold subscriptions, the Elite Starter Pack [1] was introduced.
Early access[ | ]
Executive producer Stephen D'Angelo announced[2] that on January 5, 2012 players whose subscriptions to Star Trek Online had expired would be welcomed back to the game two weeks early, by being given free Silver memberships.
Features Matrix[ | ]
All accounts will have unlimited access to all sectors and missions, PvP, Fleet Actions, Events and Dailies, Feature Episode Series, Special Task Forces, unlockable Klingon faction at level 24, playable classes (tactical, science, engineer), default playable species, unlockable premium playable species, ability to join a fleet, 3 free costume / uniform slots, playable Foundry content, purchaseable premium ships.
There are several differences between the subscriber gold accounts (lifetime or legacy $14.99 monthly subscriptions) and silver accounts (no subscription required).[3]
| Gold (Legacy monthly subscriptions; Lifetime Subscriptions) |
Silver (Free-to-Play) | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy Credit Storage Limit | 2 Billion Cap | 15 Million Cap (1 Billion Cap available as account-wide unlock for 500  )
|
| Dilithium Refinement Cap | 8k per day (automatically upon logging in, up to one week's worth per login) | 8k per day (manually) |
| Character slots | 4 Character slots[4] | 3 Character slots[4] |
| Bridge Officer slots[4] | 4 initial plus 2 at levels 10, 20, 40 | 4 initial plus 1 at levels 30, 40 |
| Max Free Inventory[4] | 108 | 72[5] |
| Max Free Bank Inventory[4] | 108 | 60[5] |
| Shared-account Bank Inventory | 20[4] | 0[4] |
| Captain Retrain Token (Respec)[4] | 1 Free Per Rank, Veteran Rewards | Purchasable |
| Foundry Project Starting Slots | 8 Starting Slots, Additional Unlockable | Unlockable |
| Standard Ships | Automatic | Unlockable (free ship token at level 10 and 20, dilithium discount on new ships at level 30 and 40) |
| Veteran Rewards | Automatic every 100 days | Unavailable |
| Fleet formation | Unlimited | Limited[6] |
| Priority Login | Free | Unavailable |
| In-Game Chat | Unlimited Access | Rate limited, broadcast chat restricted, private messages only to friends (Limit Removable)[6] |
| Out-of-Game Chat | XMPP allowed[7] (Feature removed September 19th, 2019[8]) | Unavailable |
| Customer Service | Unlimited | Limited |
| Tribble test server access | Immediately available for sign-up | Available for sign-up[6] |
| In-Game Vivox Voice Chat | No advertisements | Ad-supported |
| Monthly Stipend | 500 |
Unavailable |
- ↑ The Elite Starter Pack at the Official Blog
- ↑ F2P Early Access at the Official Blog
- ↑ F2P Features Matrix
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 Additional is purchaseable via Zen Store
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 See the Inventory § History page for a breakdown of how this number has changed over time.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Limits removable with any of the following: 20 hours account-wide playtime, any previous gold account, made a Zen Store purchase, or carries a Cryptic Points balance
- ↑ ZeroniusRex - Forum posting (10 February 2012)
- ↑ XMP Sunset
Free-to-Play Test[ | ]
The F2P build was first released on Tribble 29 September 2011. Cryptic held an extended Season 5 testing period Tribble Test Weekend from 29 September 2011 until 30 November 2011. Players who participated could receive various cumulative rewards, released on 8 December 2011:
| Faction | Reward | Requirement |
|---|---|---|
  |
Random duty officers | Playing on Tribble[1] |
|
Radan Tribble (bound item, account-wide unlock) | Getting a new Federation character up to level 6, or for gaining one level on any transferred Federation or Klingon character.[2] |
|
8 Hour Skill Bonus (one-time claim for any character) | Getting a non-transferred Federation character up to level 11.[2] |
|
80,000  (one-time claim for any character) |
Getting a non-transferred Federation character up to level 31.[2] |
|
Exclusive title "Dimensional Hero" (account-wide unlock) and starship slot | Getting a non-transferred Federation character up to level 51.[2] |
|
80,000 (one-time claim for any character) |
Getting a non-transferred Klingon character up to level 31.[2] |
|
Exclusive title "Dimensional_Warrior" [sic] (account-wide unlock) and starship slot | Getting a non-transferred Klingon character up to level 51.[2] |
|
Varel, unique blue quality duty officer (bound, account-wide unlock). | Getting a character to Tier 1 commendation (2,500 CXP in same category). [2] |
|
Tactical Exocomp (Fed) / Goshi the Augmented (Fed), unique purple quality duty officers (bound, account-wide unlock). | Getting a character to Tier 2 commendation (15,000 CXP in same category).[2] |
|
Automated Personnel Unit, unique purple quality duty officer with a unique ability not available elsewhere in-game (bound, account-wide unlock) | Getting a character to Tier 3 commendation (50,000 CXP in same category).[2] |