Uhh...They seem to have changed things. Well, that sucks because it was such a great opportunity to use them for free. Though I checked and you can still use Plottr for free for 14 days if you go to their site. Maybe email them and ask if there's a free trial during NaNo because your friend said there usually was. But to see the discounts (and 1 free thing I noticed), on the main NaNo page, under Writer's Resources, go to Offers. (Or click this link, but I thought you might want to know how to find it on your own, too. lol https://nanowrimo.org/offers)

You can see what opportunities you have, but maybe you need to use YouTube more than expected to decide which one you really think you want to try or buy. Though I suspect they all probably have a free trial. Check reviews and the sites to see what appeals to you and see who offers free trials. At least in the past, with the free trial, your stuff was still available on most sites, but you just couldn't add to it when the free trial expired, so you could still access it to use during NaNo, but definitely double check that!

Well, that's a sucky change...unless I just couldn't find the right page. The other one I really like is Dabble. I like Campfire, too. Schrivener has a steep learning curve that I haven't mastered, mostly because I quit trying. lol But I suggested they have a demo on the NaNo site as one of the others had done that year. They agreed it was a good idea to set up for the next year, but that was a couple of years ago. The demos not only showed you how to use it, but allowed you to interact and ask questions, so it was super handy!

Almost all of the companies with offers also have a thread in the forum for their product for people to ask questions. It doesn't hurt to ask about a free trial for all of NaNo. Maybe they're planning one in November, though for Plottr, that's not as helpful. lol Plus, if enough people ask and express disappointment, maybe they'll offer it next year. I know one of them (Dabble, maybe?) offered a lifetime membership at my suggestion. They told me they added that and I immediately bought it before they changed their mind.

Okay, after further investigation, I'm having trouble finding all the company's threads. I found a link to Plottr's thread from previously, but it was gone. I assume they have (or will have) a new one, but I didn't see it, but also, didn't look that hard. Here's the one for Dabble, which isn't offering a free trial during NaNo, according to the offers page, but is according to their thread. Not sure why they don't mention that on the offers page as they always did in the past. Clearly, there have been changes to how the sponsors interact or are allowed to interact. Or maybe they just had been previously allowing old ads to ride and this year had to recreate them and nearly everyone forgot to mention the free trial during NaNo? No idea. Anyway, here's the Dabble thread, if you are interested in taking a look. Not much there yet, but you can ask questions, if you have any. Plus, read more about it and watch a video. https://forums.nanowrimo.org/t/dabble-your-trusty-tool-this-nanowrimo-season/524...

Here's the thread for Campfire. https://forums.nanowrimo.org/t/conquer-nano-with-campfire-write-publish-your-nov...

Oh, here's the page with all the sponsor threads. https://forums.nanowrimo.org/tag/sponsors. It looks like Plottr hasn't created one yet. Anyway, check out the offers posted on the sponsor threads, not just the ones under the Offers page since obviously not everyone offering a free trial listed that on the Offers page. And if they aren't offering one, ask if they are. Maybe they will next year or maybe they forgot to mention it this year. No telling. Good luck!

So, I know this wasn't as helpful as you (or I) were hoping, but I hope it helps some.