SWTOR Free-to-play vs Preferred vs Subscriber Guide

There are three different ways to play Star Wars: The Old Republic when it comes to subscribing to the game: free to play, preferred, and subscribed. In this video, we’ll be going over what those three different playstyles are like at a high and low level, the restrictions and perks, and some info about when you should choose to subscribe or unsubscribe.

Update 2024: This guide is mostly up to date for 2024 and 7.4! The video is quite bit out of date now as new features have been added to the game.

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What are the differences?

Here’s a quick over view of the different ways to play.

Free-to-play

When you first download the game, you start off as a free to play player. That means you haven’t invested any money into the game, and are trying it out as a demo to see if you like it.

You can access so much of the game while playing for free, including all eight of the original class stories, and the first two expansions are now also free. The drawback to playing free is that there are lots of small annoying restrictions like only being allowed to hold so many credits, not getting the best armor, and being locked out of some of the endgame high-level activities, but as far as things go, SWTOR has one of the best free demos out there.

Some of the biggest drawbacks of being a free-to-play player is that there won’t be a lot for you to do once you complete you class storyline and the first two expansions and reach the free-to-play maximum of level 60.

Subscriber

Subscribing is when you pay monthly for the game, at about $15 a month. Subscribing gives you access to 100% of the game’s content, including all of the expansions and no restrictions. When you subscribe, you unlock all the current expansions and can play them forever, even if you choose to unsubscribe the next month.

Preferred

There’s also an in-between state called preferred. Preferred players have a few less restrictions than free-to-play-players, and you can become a preferred player by spending at least $5 on the game either by subscribing for at least one month or by buying some cartel coins. Most preferred players are players that subscribed in the past, but are not currently subscribing. If you subscribed in the past, you’ll keep any expansions you had before, but won’t be able to play any newly released ones until you subscribe again. If you’re currently a preferred player, and are unable to progress all the way to level 80, you will need to subscribe to unlock the most recent expansion.

Low-level

As a low level character, a majority of the free-to-play and or preferred restrictions you face will be convenience-based. None of them will stop you from playing and enjoying the main storyline for free, and as you play you will have to decide if you are willing to put up with the restrictions and continue playing without having to pay, if want to subscribe to remove the restrictions, or if you want to instead go play a game with a different subscription model. Most veteran players believe that the free-to-play model offers a lot in the way of hundreds of hours of gameplay and is worth either subscribing to or putting up with the many convenience restrictions as a free player, while other players do not like that the game has convenience restrictions at all and would rather play a true unlimited free-to-play game.

Personally, I have played over 50 hours on my free-to-play account, and I found the restrictions to be quite mild in return for the story game-play I got to enjoy for free. I could even run more than enough low-level group content to satisfy my more casual playstyle, where I played for a few hours a few times a week. However, after somewhere between 100-200 hours of gameplay playing casually, once I reached the end of the second expansion and reached my level cap of 60, I would probably have to decide what I’d like to do next, as my level would lock me out of most endgame activities, and I’d have played all the story content offered to my character at that point. If I didn’t want to subscribe, I could of course go start a new character from scratch level 1 and see an entirely different set of story quests.

High-level

At a high level, the game becomes more restrictive if you decide to play free-to-play. You will not be able to progress past level 60, you won’t be able to access the expansions and their stories, and a few of the convenience restrictions, like the credit cap and the artifact authorization, will become a lot more frustrating. At this point, if you’ve played the amount of time it takes to reach level 60, I highly recommend to subscribe for at least one month. This will unlock five expansions worth of story for you, which will remain unlocked even after you unsubscribe.

However, if you unsubscribe after and decide to play as a high-level preferred player, you will still run in to some frustrating restrictions, including the credit cap, the artifact authorization, the inability to run 8-person Operations, and the Galactic Seasons subscriber rewards. However, if you’re willing to forgo those fun group activities, the game still offers a lot for solo and story players.

Should I subscribe to SWTOR?

If you are new to the game and are enjoying it, it’s almost always recommended that you subscribe at least for one month to unlock all the expansions and upgrade your account to preferred.
If you are a returning player who has not subscribed in a while, it is also recommended you subscribe for at least one month to unlock the most recent story and level expansions so you can catch up.
If you are a low-level and still feeling out the game, you really don’t need to subscribe yet. You’ll want to subscribe eventually if you keep playing, to unlock the expansions, but you don’t have to subscribe right away!
If you are on a tight budget, I do not recommend subscribing. The game has a lot to offer for free if you are willing to work around the restrictions. I’ve got another video about tips for free-to-play players!
If you are level 60 and have completed your class story and the first two expansions, you will absolutely want to subscribe for at least one month so you can unlock the later expansions. Whether you want to stay subscribe after that month is up to you. If you are mostly a solo player, you can play a lot of the game as a preferred player by continuing to explore all the planet storylines, the dailies, and by creating new characters.
If you want to play PvP on a regular basis, I highly recommend subscribing. You aren’t limited to the number of matches you play, but are limited to how many points you cna get during PvP Seasons and which armor you can wear without the unlock.
If you want to play Operations at level 80, you must subscribe. Operations, sometimes known as raids in other games, are not available to free-to-play or preferred players.
If you want all the rewards on the Galactic Seasons track, you must subscribe, at least by the end of the season which is 5-months long.

Preferred and Free-to-play Comparison Chart

That should give you a good idea in general about the differences between free-to-play, preferred, and subscribing, and whether or not you should subscribe or not. If you’re looking for more information, I’ve got a link in the description of this video to a full breakdown of the convenience restrictions, and what types of gameplay are available to free-to-play, preferred and subscribed players.

Content Restrictions

Hover over the info text for more information about the content restrictions and potential work arounds.

Content	F2P	Preferred	Subscriber	Info
Class Stories	Yes	Yes	Yes	All players can play all 8 original class stories, all original planetary stories, and all original exploratory stories.
Expansion 1: Rise of the Hutt Cartel	Yes	Yes	Yes	All players have access to the first expansion.
Expansion 2: Shadow of Revan	Yes	Yes	Yes	All players have access to the second expansion.
Expansion 3: Knights of the Fallen Empire	No	Maybe	Yes	Knights of the Fallen Empire is only available to Preferred players who have subscribed since the expansion was released in 2016.
Expansion 4: Knights of the Eternal Throne	No	Maybe	Yes	Knights of the Eternal Throne is only available to Preferred players who have subscribed since the expansion was released in 2017.
Expansion 5: Onslaught	No	Maybe	Yes	Expansion 5: Onslaught is only available to Preferred players who have subscribed since the expansion was released in 2019.
Expansion 6: Legacy of the Sith	No	Maybe	Yes	Expansion 6: Onslaught is only available to Preferred players who have subscribed since the expansion was released in 2022.
Additional story post-Legacy of the Sith	No	Maybe	Yes	Preferred players who have subscribed since the expansion was released in 2022 will have access to any of the smaller stories that come after. Digging Deeper, Manaan, Ruhnuk, Interpreter’s Retreat on Voss, FLASHPOINT: Shrine of Silence, Kessan’s Landing on Ord Mantell.
Operations	No	No	Yes	Only subscribers can play Operations, the 8-man and 16-man endgame content in the game sometimes known as raids for level 80 players.
PvP	Yes	Yes	Yes	No limit.
PvP Seasons	Yes	Yes	Yes	Free-to-play players and Preferred players earn PvP Seasons roughly half as fast as Subscribers. They also can only choose between 4 weekly objectives vs 6 like subscribers, though both can only complete a total of 4 each week for points.
Galactic Seasons	Yes	Yes	Yes	Galactic Seasons weekly objectives gives 8 – 12 points each to subscribers and 6-10 points for free-to-play and preferred players. For Login rewards bonus, Subscribers get 8 points, and free-to-play and preferred players get 4 points. Subscribers also unlock the second row of the track rewards - free-to-play and Preferred players are limited to the top row of rewards, though subscribing any time in the Season will retro-actively grant them any subscriber rewards they have earned on the track.
Space Missions	10 per Week	10 per Week	Yes	Players can run a maximum of 10 solo space missions per character per week. Space missions are a fun minigame and are not a part of the main levelling experience.
Uprisings	No	No	Yes	Uprisings are similar to group Flashpoints but offer less story and more mechanics. They are only available to subscribers. They are not played very often compared to normal Flashpoints.
Galactic Starfighter	Yes	Yes	Yes	GSF is available to all players starting at level 1. subscribers earn currency which can be spent on upgrading ships at a much faster rate than free-to-play and preferred players.
Questing	Yes	Yes	Yes	All players have access to questing across the galaxy and on different planets. More quests are unlocked by unlocking the expansions. Players with more expansions unlocked will have access to more planetary, daily and weekly quests than free-to-play players.
Player Housing	Yes	Yes	Yes	Free-to-play and Preferred players are limited to more basic housing due to the credit cap, but can fully unlock the Coruscant and Dromund Kaas strongholds over time. All players can decorate their strongholds with a large variety of decorations that can be earned, bought or crafted.
Reputation	Yes	Yes	Yes	All players can work on their Reputation, a progression track geared towards solo players at endgame that offers cosmetic rewards. Free-to-play players have access to less Reputation tracks than players who have unlocked the expansions.
Events	Yes	Yes	Yes	All players can participate in limited-time events.
Endgame Gearing	No	Limited	Yes	Free-to-play players can no longer level up once they reach level 60, which means they do not have access to the current level-80 endgame gear, and they do not have a true track when it comes to upgrading or progressing their gear. Preferred players who have not unlocked the latest expansion and are locked between levels 60-79 will face a similar issue. Preferred players who are level 80 will be able to gear up with up to blue gear which is actually pretty good - but they will not have access to the purple tier of gear due to not have Artifact Authorization. Preferred level 80 players can earn Legendary Implants, but can not earn tacticals as they seem to require Artifact Authorization. Level 80 Subscribers have access to the full gearing system and all the ways possible to earn gear except Operations, and will not be able to wear the highest tiers of PvP gear.
Fashion	Yes	Yes	Yes	All players have access to numerous ways to dress up their character, including the Outfit Designer which allows players to create outfits to wear over their real armor that does not affect their stats. Free-to-play and Preferred players will mostly be limited for fashion when it comes to their credit cap as they can not buy anything that costs over 1,000,000 credits. However, there are many vendor, reputation, and crafted armors the player can earn, and many crafted and cartel market armors players can buy from other players for under a million credits.
Achievements	Yes	Yes	Yes	Achievement hunting is available to all players. Players will only be limited when it comes to achievements that are tied to expansions they do not have, or content they do not have access to. A large majority of achievements can be earned even on free-to-play accounts by exploring the planets and participating in the different types of content in the game.
Collecting	Yes	Yes	Yes	There are many different collecting routes including armor, weapons, mounts, pets, decorations, crystals, etc. Some items are earned in-game, some are crafted and some are from the Cartel Market. Players will be limited to what they can purchase with their credit cap and to what expansions they have been unlocked, but there is a lot to collect even on a free-to-play account and a huge amount to collect on a preferred account.
Conquest	Yes	Yes	Yes	Conquest allows you to complete activities weekly for a reward. The rewards are the same for all players.
Login Rewards	Yes	Yes	Yes	Login rewards are available to all players. Subscribers can earn a bonus reward for a weekly login bonus for logging in four times in the same week.
Galactic Seasons	Half	Half	All	Galactic Seasons is a limited-time event that lasts 5 months and allows you to earn limited-time rewards. Free to play and preferred players can only earn about half the rewards, located on the "Free" track. Subscribers can earn the items on both the "Free" track and the "Subscriber" track. Players who worked their way up the track and then subscribe can retro-actively claim items they earned from the subscriber track while the season is running.
Second Combat Style	No	No	Yes	Subscribed players can add a second Combat Style to their character, for example if they are currently a Sentinel they can add Sage as a second Combat Style to be able to switch to. Free-to-play and preferred players do not get the second Combat Style option. Player who are subscribed, and have two Combat Styles, and then unsubscribe and become preferred, will be stuck with whatever the last Combat Style they had chosen while last subscribed, until they re-subscribe.

Convenience Restrictions

Hover over the info text for more information about the convenience restrictions and potential work arounds.

Unlock	F2P	Preferred	Subscriber	Info
XP	Normal	Normal	20% faster	Subscribers receive XP 20% faster after level 20, until then all players earn it at the same rate. Note that the current rate of leveling is extremely fast even without the extra 20% boost.
Artifact Gear	No	No	Yes	Players who are free-to-play will rarely come across purple-bordered Artifact gear except in Flashpoints at a low level, but more purple gear starts showing up in the expansions. Preferred players can usually continue wearing any purple gear they already have equipped, but will not be able to equip any new purple gear they earn. The unlock for free-to-play and preferred players costs 1,200 CC for one character or 2,700 CC for the account, but does not allow players to earn any extra gear - it only allows them to wear any they have picked up, so this unlock is not recommended for free-to-play players who get very little purple gear.
Credit Cap	1,000,000	1,000,000	4 Billion	Free-to-play and preferred players can only hold 1,000,000 credits. Any credits you earn beyond that point will be thrown into an escrow - a bank that holds your excess credits that you will be returned to you the next time you subscribe. You can also buy escrow unlocks with cartel coins that will grant you a chunk of credits from your escrow and temporarily bump your credit cap, but won't permanently make your credit cap higher. The Credit Cap is bay far one of the largest convenience restriction for high-level characters, but it will not affect low-level characters for a long time. Subscribers can hold up to 4 billion credits at a time, but it's a technical limit, not a subscription limit. Players of all types can place infinite credits in to their Legacy Bank to keep them from going in to escrow, though they will only ever be able to withdraw up to their credit cap limit.
Hide Head Slot	No	No	Yes	Free-to-play and preferred players can not choose to hide their helmets or masks. Often, the game has a bug where the player's helmet or mask gets hidden on accident, even if the player does not have the unlock. The unlock for free-to-play and preferred players costs 280 CC per character or 750 CC per account. Alternatively, the player can choose not to wear a helmet at all for easier content, to wear a helmet or mask they like the look of, or wear smaller headpiece like a circlet. *** For a while there was some type of bug that sometimes cuased the helmet to be hidden even without authorization. This may have changed in 7.0.
Unify Colors	Yes	Yes	Yes	Now available to everyone.
Chat	Yes, once a minute	Yes, small timer	Yes	Players can use chat to speak to other players on the planet. Free-to-play accounts are limited to one message per minute, and preferred players have a short time limit of one message every 15 seconds. This is to help prevent spam. I have also heard some free-to-play players can not chat and are prompted to subscribe - this is confusing, and I am unsure why it's happening - you may have to reach level 25 to chat (this was a restriction that has been removed but may still be applying for some accounts?)
Credit Cost	Normal	Normal	Less	Subscribers pay slightly less credits for most in-game purchases from the user interface or from in-game vendors. There are also some things that normally cost credits, like respecialization, which are free to subscribers.
Credit Gain	Normal	Normal	More	Subscribers gain 20% more credits than free-to-play players.
Crew Skills	1	2	3	Free-to-play players can only have 1 crew (crafting) skill per character. Preferred players get 2, and subscribers get the max of 3. Free-to-play and non-previously-subscribed preferred players can purchase additional crew skill slots at 420 CC per crew skill per character or 950 CC per crew skill for every character on the account, for a total of 3 crew skills per character.
Crafting Queue	1	1	All	Free-to-play players can only craft a single item at a time per companion, while subscribers can queue items up 5 to be crafted per companion.
Character Slots	4	12	24	Free-to-play players can have 4 character per sever, for a total of 20 characters across all servers. This more than enough to try a variety of classes. Preferred and subscribers may have more unlocked through promotions, character unlock slots, or Outlander / Commander tokens. Additional characters lots can be unlocked at 600 CC per slot on each server for a max of 100 slots per server.
GTN Slots	2	5	50	Free-to-play players can only sell 2 items at a time on the GTN player market per character, preferred players can sell 5, and subscribers can sell 50. More slots can be purchased at a cost of 10 slots for 100 CC per characters or 10 slots for 280 CC for every character on the account.
Inventory Rows	6	6	8	All players get 3 inventory rows for free. Free-to-play and preferred players can purchase 3 additional rows with credits, while subscribers can purchase all 5 additional rows with credits. An additional row of inventory unlock can be purchased for 170 CC per character or a row for every character on the account for 390 CC.
Personal Bank	No	Maybe	Yes	Players can store bound items in their Cargo Hold, sometimes known as their green bank. Free-to-play and Preferred players can unlock access to their cargo hold, but do not have access by default. The unlock costs 470 CC per character or 1,050 CC for the entire account. Preferred players who previously subscribed retain access to their bank and bank tabs they got while subscribed, but can not buy any new tabs with credits. Subscribers can buy additional tabs with credits. Additional Cargo Hold tabs can be purchased at 470 CC per tab per character by all players, or 1,050 CC per tab for every character on the account for a total of 6 tabs per character. [[I think preferred players that did not subscribe may receive a single tab Cargo Hold, but I am not sure.]]
Legacy Bank	Yes	Yes	Yes	All players have access to the yellow legacy bank, including free-to-play and preferred players. All players can store unlimited credit funds in the legacy bank.
Guild Bank	No	No	Yes	If a player is in a guild, they will not be able to access the guild bank even if they are of the correct rank if they are on a free-to-play of preferred account. An unlock to access the guild bank inventory can be purchased for 600 CC per character or 1,080 CC for the entire account, but it still does not grant access to the guild credit fund, including the ability to summon which costs credits.
Mail	Receive Only	Yes, but not credits	Yes	Players can send mail with credits and items between their characters and to other players. Free-to-play players can only receive mail, they can not send it at all. Preferred players can send mail with a limit of one item attached, and can not mail credits at all. Subscribers can send mail with credits and up to 8 items attached per mail. This is to prevent spam.
Sprint	Level 10	Level 1	Level 1	All players access the Sprint ability which lets them run faster. Subscribers and preferred players get it at level 1, and free-to-play players get it at level 10.
Mount	Level 25	Level 25	Level 10	All players can get a mount which allows them to move faster, subscribers get it at level 10. All players can purchase the ability to use a mount as early as level 1 with an unlock that costs 450 CC per character, or purchase a legacy unlock that requires legacy level 2 and 40,000 credits.
Quickbars	3	5	6	Quickbars are where players store their abilities during combat. Free-to-play players can access 3 quickbars (36 abilities), preferred players can access 5 (60 abilities) and subscribers can access all 6 (72 abilities). Most players should be able to store most of their combat abilities across 3 bars even at higher levels, and use the additional bars for useful abilities that are not used during combat. Additional quickbars can be unlocked at 200 CC per character, or 540 CC for an additional quickbar for every character on the account for a total of 6 quickbars.
Flashpoint Drops	Limit 10	Limit 10	Yes	Players who run Flashpoints receive many rewards for running them, from xp to credits to items. Free-to-play and preferred who run group flashpoints will be limited to rewards from 10 of the last Flashpoint bosses per week. They will still get the other rewards.
Rest XP	No	No	Yes	Subscribed players can end their day at a cantina or other rest area and earn xp faster the next time they log in.
Species	Limited	Limited	More Options	All players can make a Human, Cyborg or Zabrak character. Subscribers will have some additional choices available per class, but can not automatically make any species for any class. Chiss: Bounty Hunters and Imperial Agents Miraluka: Jedi Knights and Jedi Consulars Mirialan: All Republic classes Rattataki: Bounty Hunters, Imperial Agents, and Sith Inquisitors Sith Pureblood: Sith Warriors and Inquisitors Twi’lek: Jedi Knight, Jedi Consular, Smuggler, and Sith Inquisitor To unlock additional species, for example to play a Pureblood Sith as a Jedi Knight, players will need to unlock that species through legacy or through an item unlock. Additional species unlocks cost 600 CC, or 1,500,000 credits and any level 50 character (subscribers only), or requires you to level 50 on one of the above listed combinations for that species (subscription required to create the character without the unlock, but you do not need to maintain the subscription after). Togruta, Cathar and Nautolan all require a Cartel Market 600 CC unlock and can not be unlocked the normal ways.
Trade	No	After Level 10	Yes	Free-to-play players can not trade, preferred players can trade after level 10, subscribers can trade normally. This is to prevent spam.
Valor	Normal	Normal	20% faster	Valor is a type of rank earned through PvP. Players earn Valor 20% faster if they are subscribers after level 20.
Outfit Designer	4	5	16	All players receive one free outfit slot. Free-to-players can purchase up to a total of four slots with credits, preferred can purchase up to the 5th, while subscribers can purchase up to the max of 16 with credits. Additional outfit designer slots can be purchased by all players at 120 CC per slot per character or 300 CC for a slot for each character on the account, for a total of 16 slots per character.
Companion Customization	No	No	Yes	Players can customize the way their companions look with companion customization skins. Free-to-play players can not customize their companions by default. The ability to customize your companion can be unlocked for 320 CC per character or 720 CC for all characters on the account.
Commander Token	No	No	Yes	Players who subscribe for the first time in recent years receive one free Commander Token, which allows them to create a level 60 or 70 character of their choice, which auto-completes previous storylines and allows players to jump in to their choice of the newer expansions.
Character Title Display	Yes	Yes	Yes	Now available to everyone.
Legacy Name Display	Yes	Yes	Yes	Now available to everyone.
Guild Leader	No	No	Yes	Players who are subscribers and choose to unsubscribe will have their guild leadership automatically passed down to the next senior member who is a subscriber. The only exception is if all players in the guild are not subscribed, free-to-play guild leaders can only run free-to-play guilds.
Who Function	Not Available	Yes	Yes	Players can use the /who function to looks up other players and guilds. Free-to-play players can not use this to help prevent spam.
Support	Limited	Limited	Full	All players have full access to support when it comes to these problems, and it is highly recommend that players call support if they run in to these types if issues: login issues, password issues, billing issues, refund issues. However other types of support, like technical support, bug reports, or in-game issues, are limited to subscribers, who can call, email, or submit and in-game ticket. Free-to-play and preferred players do not have any access to the in-game ticket system.

What can I do as a Free-to-play player?

If you’re a preferred player, you might be asking yourself what you can do after you finish all the story content you available, if you aren’t able or interested in subscribing. The game still has a lot to offer!

Class Stories

Many players start a brand new character. Each of the eight classes offers an entirely unique storyline, and each faction has a completely different set of planetary and exploratory quests to try out.

First Two expansions

All players now have access to the first two expansions for free, the Rise of the Hutt cartel expansion and the Shadow of Revan expansion. The rise of the Hutt Cartel expansion actually has a completely different story Republic and Imperial side, so I highly recommend playing it once on each faction.

Flashpoints

Free-to-play and preferred players also have access to a majority of the flashpoints in the game, so you can group up with others and try out the 4-man group flashpoints. Most flashpoints also now have a solo version available that you can play by yourself.

Space Missions

You also have access to space missions, an on-rails shooter that you can access near your ship’s galaxy map, but you are limited to 10 space missions per week per character.

Space PvP (Galactic Starfighter)

If you want to try flying in space battles against other players, Galactic Starfighter is available even to free-to-play players.

Galactic Seasons

Galactic Seasons in Star Wars: The Old Republic, similar to a ‘battle pass’ in other games, allows you to complete daily and weekly objectives to earn rewards over the course of five months. Galactic Seasons is available to both free-to-play players and subscribers at no additional cost, with subscribers having an additional reward track to gain cosmetic rewards from. In addition, you will gain tokens which you can spend at a vendor to buy previously-retired items and access to a new stronghold.

Galactic Seasons weekly objectives gives 8 – 12 points each to subscribers and 6-10 points for free-to-play and preferred players. For Login rewards bonus, Subscribers get 8 points, and free-to-play and preferred players get 4 points. Subscribers also unlock the second row of the track rewards – free-to-play and Preferred players are limited to the top row of rewards, though subscribing any time in the Season will retro-actively grant them any subscriber rewards they have earned on the track.

PvP & PvP Seasons

In the past, PvP was more limited. These days, free-to-play players, preferred players and subscribed players can all play unlimited Warzones and Arenas!

While the limited-time PvP Seasons are running, all players can participate, but Free-to-play players and Preferred players earn PvP Seasons roughly half as fast as Subscribers. They also can only choose between 4 weekly objectives vs 6 like subscribers, though both can only complete a total of 4 each week for points.

Strongholds

Other things free-to-play players can check out are: stronghold decorating, crafting and collecting.

The basic strongholds of Coruscant and Dromund Kaas only cost 5,000 credits for their initial unlock, and you can save up credits to unlock the rest of the stronghold over time.

Heroics

Heroics are one of the best ways to make credits, even as a free-to- player. There are over a hundred heroics spread across all the planets and they are repeatable daily!

Dailies & Reputation

Players can complete daily quests to work on their Reputation and earn cosmetic rewards. Free-to-play players who have completed all the expansions they have available will have access to these dailies and weklies:

Bonus Series
Corellia Black Hole Daily Area (no Reputation)
Voss (Reputation)
Macrobinocular & Seeker Droid GSI Quests (Reputation)
CZ-198 (Reputation)
Oricon (Reputation)
Rishi (Reputation)
Yavin 4 (Reputation)
Ziost (no Reputation, but similar rewards)

Events

If there are any limited-time events going on, even free-to-play players can participate in them!

Crafting

Crafting unfortunately is severely hindered for free-to-play and preferred players, as you can only queue up one crafted item per companion at a time instead of queuing up many items and allowing your companions to craft them over time even if you are away from the computer. The good news is if you are crafting for fun and for yourself, rather than as part of a crafting production line, crafting as a free-to-play or preferred player is very viable, especially if you buy the unlock which allows you to have all three crew slots available.

Just keep in mind as a free-to-play or preferred player with a 1,000,00 credit cap, you’ll be severely hindered in any activity that involves buying items!

Roleplay

All players, from level 1 to level 80, can also try out roleplaying – it’s a free activity that’s not supported directly in-game, but something that a lot of players enjoy. Roleplaying is a way of acting as your character, and interacting with other players as if you are your character in chat – you could roleplay as a serene Jedi, a hardened trooper, or even an Imperial mechanic!

What can I do as a Preferred player?

Preferred players will have a lot more options available on top of all those F2P activities, depending on what the last expansion they unlocked was and what level their characters are. Preferred players can check out all the same activities as free-to-play players, but they might also have access to story expansion quests and additional planets and reputation tracks. What exactly you have available will depend on what the last expansion you unlocked was.

If you’re stuck at level 60, you’ll have the same options as described above for Free-to-play players.
If you’re stuck at level 65, you can replay all the Knights of the Fallen Empire chapters including on the Veteran and Master modes. You can do all the Star Fortress missions and grow your Alliance headquarters through Heroics. You can complete many Alliance alerts to earn companions. You can work on the Eternal Championship on Zakuul.
If you’re stuck at level 70, you can do the above, plus play the harder chapters of Knights of the Eternal Throne, complete even more alliance alerts, run the Iokath storyline and dailies, have access to the three repeatable Traitor arc flashpoints that drop some special rewards and decorations, and run the planet of Ossus dailies.
If you’re stuck at level 75, you have access to all the above, plus the Onderon dailies reputation track, and the repeatable Mek-sha quests.
If you’re stuck at level 80, you have access to all the above, plus the areas and story of Manaan, Ruhnuk, Interpreter’s Retreat on Voss, Kessan’s Landing on Ord Mantell.

Subscribing to SWTOR

Subscribers can do everything free-to-play and preferred players can, but also have access to the newest expansions, all the daily areas, unlimited warzones, operations, no credit cap, no restrictions, and they also get 500 cartel coins a month.

In general, everything is a lot smoother if you are subscribed to the game, but it’s not impossible to play as preferred or free to play player, depending on what you want to do. If you enjoy the game, and have the money, I definitely recommend to subscribe as long as you are actively playing and enjoying the game.

Referral Code?

Previously, players could use a Referral Link to get some free unlocks or free subscription time. This is no longer available in the game.

Biggest Changes over the Years

Free-to-Play/Preferred option launched November 2012.
Free to play players have access to Rise of the Hutt Cartel and Shadow of Revan for free. This means the new F2P level cap is 60 (up from 50).
Unlimited warzones for free-to-play, preferred and subscribed players – no weekly limit.
Unify colors now available to all players for free.
Display titles now available to all players for free.
Free-to-play players can now create in-game bug report tickets with the /bug command.
More hotbars for free (3 for F2P, 5 for Preferred, 6 for Subscribers)
1 million credit cap for free-to-play and preferred (up from 250k)
Unlimited medical probes to “revive in place” (free-to-play previous limit was 5 total)
Free-to-play players can now chat freely in Groups and Guilds.
Free to play players can now receive rewards from 10 Flashpoints per week (up from 3).
Free to play players can now play 10 space PvE Missions per week (up from 5).
The default character slots per server has changed for all players: Free to play: Now 4 characters per server (up from 2) Preferred: Now 12 characters per server (up from 6) Subscriber: Now 24 characters per server (up from 12)
Increased the maximum number of Character Slots per server for Free-To-Play, Preferred, and Subscriber Players to 22/26/50 slots respectively.
Preferred account can now create threads and post replies in the New Player Help, Introductions, and Bug Reports SWTOR.com forums

Patch Notes

Launch in December 2012. No free-to-play option. Base game cost $60 + $15/month.
Update 1.5 in November 2012 – Free-to-Play is here! Players can now experience Star Wars: The Old Republic up to level 50 (with certain restrictions) without paying a subscription fee.
1.5.2: Free-to-Play and Preferred players who reach level 10 while not on their Origin World now have the correct access to general chat channels.
Update 1.6.2 in January 2013: Character slot restrictions are now being enforced: By default, Free-to-Play players are restricted to 2 characters per server. By default, Preferred Status players are restricted to 6 characters per server. By default, Subscribers are limited to 12 Characters per servers. All players have a Global Active Character Limit of 350 Characters.
Update 1.6.3: The Preferred Access Bundle is now available! This bundle offers the player a selection of popular unlocks and customization options. Cost: 972 Cartel Coins (Discounted by 40% for a limited time!)
Update 1.7.2 in March 2013: Additional rewards have also been added to some Space Missions, including Space Experience Boosts and Weekly Access Passes (useful for Free-to-Play and Preferred Players). Adjusted reductions to experience gains for Free-to-Play and Preferred players. There will no longer be a flat reduction rate applied at level 10. Instead, experience reductions will begin at level 12 and will gradually increase to the original flat rate at level 20. Free-to-Play and Preferred Players no longer have a lower cap on the number of Commendations they may accrue compared to Subscribers.
Update 2.1: Escrow Credit Transfers are now available for Free–to–Play and Preferred Status Players. Package denominations are available for 50K, 150K, and 600K . Each Package is a consumable that will immediately transfer the Package’s set amount of credits from the existing Escrow Balance as listed in the Currency tab of the Inventory Window to the Inventory credit balance. This transfer does not affect Inventory Credit Caps. Therefore, newly acquired credits will go into the Escrow Balance as normal. For example, if the player has a Credit Cap is 250,000 / The player has 100,000 in their Inventory. The player purchases a 600K escrow package bringing their Inventory credit total to 700,000. Until the credits in the player’s Inventory drop below 250,000 (the Credit Cap), the newly acquired credits will be funneled into Escrow. Cost: Small Package – 40 Cartel Coins Medium Package – 80 Cartel Coins Large Package – 240 Cartel Coins
Update 2.2: Players who go from Subscriber to Preferred and then back to Subscriber status now have their Crew Skills automatically reinstated without needing to speak to a trainer.
Update 2.3.2: Experience and Valor penalties for Free to Play players now apply beginning at level 20 instead of level 10.
Update 2.7.2: Preferred players no longer have Chat restriction, as intended.
Update 3.2: The cooldown on the Quick Travel ability has been reduced. For Subscribers and Preferred players the cooldown is now 6 minutes, and for Free-To-Play players the cooldown is now 26 minutes. The cooldown on the Emergency Fleet Pass ability has been reduced. For Subscribers and Preferred players the cooldown is now 90 minutes, and for Free-To-Play players the cooldown is now 180 minutes.
Update 3.2.1: Emergency Fleet Pass and Quick Travel cooldowns for Preferred players now match the Subscriber cooldowns as intended.
Update 4.0a in October 2015: Start At 60 Tokens are now available on the Cartel Market*! These Tokens can be purchased on the Cartel Market and used or sold on the Galactic Trade Network. Subscribers who begin Characters at Level 60 are given 3 Crew Skills, Preferred Players are given 2 Crew Skills, and Free To Play players are given 1. Please note that these Tokens do not grant access to Knights of the Fallen Empire or any previous expansion.
Update 4.6a – Increased the maximum number of Character Slots per server for Free-To-Play, Preferred, and Subscriber Players to 22/26/50 slots respectively.
Update 5.0: The available number of Character Slots have been updated: 52 slots for Premium Players 26 slots for Preferred Players 22 slots for Free to Play Players
Update 5.1.2: Free-to-Play chat restrictions have been adjusted in order to help address third-party service advertisement spam.
Update 5.2.2: Various Premium and Prototype items no longer require Artifact Equipment Authorization for Free-to-play players.
Update 5.3: A large quantity of items have had their status updated to no longer require Artifact Authorization for F2P and Preferred Status players.
October 2017: Operations Passes removed from the GTN / Cartel Market, causing preferred players to no longer be able to run operations without subscribing.
October 2017: EA Answers HQ opened, allowing non-subscribed players to request technical help or submit bugs for the first time. source
Update 5.5.1 in November 2017 – Server Merges – The default character slots per server has changed for all players: Free to play: Now 4 characters per server (up from 2) Preferred: Now 12 characters per server (up from 6) Subscriber: Now 24 characters per server (up from 12)
Update 5.9.3 in October 2018: Free-to-play players can now chat freely in Groups and Guilds.
Update 5.10.4 in July 2019: Free-to-play and Preferred Status changes – More hotbars, increased credit caps, unlimited medical probes, and unlimited quick travel for all F2P and Preferred status players!
Update 6.0 in October 2019 – Free to play players now have access to Rise of the Hutt Cartel and Shadow of Revan. This means the new F2P level cap is 60 (up from 50).
Update 6.0 in October 2019 – Free to play players can now play 10 Warzones per week (up from 5).
Update 6.0 in October 2019 – Free to play players can now receive rewards from 10 Flashpoints per week (up from 3).
Update 6.0 in October 2019 – Free to play players can now play 10 space PvE Missions per week (up from 5).
Update 6.3 in April 2021 – All players now have access to Displaying Titles and Unifying Colors. Free-to-play and preferred players used to not be able to freely unify the colors of their armor so all pieces automatically look good together and match. Often, the game had a bug where the player’s colors become unified, even if the player does not have the unlock. The unlock for free-to-play and preferred players cost 210 CC per character or 750 CC per account. Alternatively, the player could choose pieces that go well together without being unified, or use dyes in each individual piece to make them match each other. Free-to-play players could not choose to display any titles they receive above their character name. The unlock to display titles cost 90 CC per character or 200 CC for every character on the account. Free-to-play players could not choose to display the legacy name they choose at level 20 near their character name. The unlock to display legacy name cost 50 CC per character or 200 CC for every character on the account.
Update 6.3.1 in June 2021 – Free-to-play players can now create in-game bug report tickets with the /bug command.
Update 7.2 in April 2023 – All players, regardless of account type, can participate in [unlimited] PvP. During previous seasons, non-subscribers were restricted on the amount of matches they could play. With 7.2, free-to-play accounts will be able to participate in PvP; however, they will earn PvP points at a slower pace than Subscribers. Source
Update 7.01: The Customization Control: Display Legacy Name (account) item is now correctly working for Preferred players.
Update 7.2 in April 2023 – Ranked PvP Removed. Ranked used to be a subscriber-only form of competitive pvp. Source
Update 7.4.1 in March 2024 – While it’s not necessarily tied to the 7.4.1 update itself, we did open up a few sections of the forums to players who have Preferred accounts. Going forward, any player who has a Preferred account can now create threads and post replies in the New Player Help, Introductions, and Bug Reports sub-forums.

Questions or comments? Feel free to send me a message on Twitter @swtorista, Reddit /u/swtorista, Youtube Swtorista channel or by e-mail at the same name with gmail.com at the end. Have fun out there and may the Force be with you. ~ Swtorista