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Trial, licensing & devices

Short answer: The trial is 14 days with the full feature set and no card required; a paid license activates on up to 3 machines, and the app keeps working up to 30 days offline. Licensing checks send only your license key and a one-way-hashed machine fingerprint, never your files, chats, or your computer’s actual name.

How the trial works

One click in the welcome dialog starts a 14-day trial with the full feature set; there’s no separate feature-limited tier. Starting the trial needs an internet connection (it’s tied to your machine so it can’t be reset by reinstalling), but you don’t need a credit card to begin.

What happens when the trial ends

After 14 days there’s a 72-hour courtesy window, then the app gates at the next launch: you either activate a license or exit; it doesn’t keep running in a read-only mode. Nothing is deleted when this happens. Your workspaces, files, chats, and everything you made stay on disk exactly where you left them, and they’re all there the moment you enter a key.

How many devices can I use it on?

A paid license activates on up to 3 devices. The trial activates on 1. Deactivating a device (Settings → License → “Deactivate this device…”) frees that seat for another machine.

What if I’m offline?

Once activated, the app keeps a signed local entitlement file on your machine that lets it keep running fully offline for up to 30 days without checking in. That file is cryptographically verified on your machine before it’s trusted; an edited or forged copy of it doesn’t grant entitlement. If you go longer than 30 days without reconnecting, the app gates until it can verify your license again.

Subscription vs. one-time purchase

Both give you identical features. The difference is what happens when the clock runs out:

  • A subscription stops the app (after the 72-hour courtesy window) if it lapses.
  • A one-time purchase never locks the app, even after its included update window ends: expiry only stops new versions from installing (the updater offers “Renew” instead of “Install”). You can keep using the version you have forever without paying again.

What information does licensing send?

Activation and license checks send:

  • Your license key.
  • A one-way hash of your machine ID: the raw ID never leaves your device, and the hash can’t be matched against other software’s fingerprint of the same machine.
  • Your OS name, and a generic, app-assigned device label (e.g. “Build Perch device (windows)”) at activation, never your computer’s actual name.

Starting a trial sends only the fingerprint and the app version. In every case, your files, chats, prompts, and other content are never part of what’s sent; licensing calls only check entitlement.

Good to know

  • Perpetual (one-time-purchase) licenses are designed to never lock you out of the app you already own; only future updates are gated by an active update window.
  • Clock manipulation doesn’t extend a trial or grace period: the app tracks the latest time it has actually seen, so setting your system clock backward can’t buy extra time.
  • See Signed updates for how the update side of the license works, and The credential vault for where your license key is stored on your machine.