Licensing & Updates | Ghostable Desktop | Ghostable Menu Licensing & Updates License model ------------- Ghostable Desktop is paid software sold with a one-time license. The license does not expire for application versions covered by the purchase, and it includes one year of eligible Desktop updates from the purchase date. Buying a Desktop license is separate from repository permissions. A licensed person still needs a Ghostable device identity and grants for each encrypted project environment. No account required for purchase Guest checkout sends the license key to the purchase email. An optional Ghostable account can claim licenses for team management and recovery, but project secrets and device grants remain repository-backed. Plans and limits ---------------- `Personal — $49` 1 seat and up to 2 active device activations. `Team 5 — $249` Up to 5 seats and 5 active device activations. `Team 10 — $499` Up to 10 seats and 10 active device activations. `Business` Contact Ghostable for larger or custom licensing needs. These are the current one-time plans documented by the application. The [license purchase page](https://ghostable.dev/licenses) is authoritative for current pricing and terms at checkout. Activate a device ----------------- 1. Open **Application Settings → License**. 2. Paste the entire license key and choose **Activate**. 3. Desktop registers a fingerprint for this installation and stores a protected activation token locally. 4. Confirm that the panel reports the expected plan, seat allowance, activations, updates-through date, and offline-until date. A successful activation enables project windows. The launcher, license form, and Info page remain accessible when no license is active. ![Ghostable Desktop license activation form](https://ghostable.dev/images/generated/screenshots/ghostable-desktop-v3/license-activation-light.png)![Ghostable Desktop license activation form](https://ghostable.dev/images/generated/screenshots/ghostable-desktop-v3/license-activation-dark.png)Enter the purchase key in Application Settings to activate this Desktop installation. Seats and activations --------------------- A **seat** represents licensed usage under the plan. An **activation** is a registered Desktop installation or device. Personal includes two activations for one seat so the licensed person can use more than one machine; team limits scale with the selected plan. Activations do not replace project access grants. Releasing a Desktop activation does not revoke that machine's repository identity, and revoking a project device does not automatically free a paid Desktop activation. Offline use ----------- After online activation, Desktop caches a signed entitlement for offline use and attempts validation periodically. The default entitlement window is seven days and the client normally attempts validation every six hours; the **Offline until** value shown in License settings is authoritative for the entitlement actually issued. If the cache reaches its valid-until time without a successful validation, project access is blocked until Desktop can validate again. This does not mean the perpetual product license expired; it means the local cached proof is no longer current. Signed offline entitlement Desktop verifies the cached entitlement signature before trusting it. Editing the local license state cannot create a valid entitlement. Release or recover a license ---------------------------- Choose **Release Device** before selling, wiping, or retiring a machine. The release contacts the licensing service, removes this activation, and clears the local activation token. If the old machine is unavailable or the key is lost, open [Manage licenses](https://ghostable.dev/licenses/manage) and request a signed recovery link for the purchase email. Team owners who claimed a license can manage it through their account. Contact support when an activation cannot be released and automated recovery does not restore access. Never send project secrets or automation tokens with a license request. Updates and renewal ------------------- **Check for Updates** compares the installed Desktop version with the current release and asks the license service whether that version is covered. If the license's updates-through date covers the release, Desktop can offer the update. After the included update year, the installed covered version remains licensed. A newer release may report **renewal required**. Renewing update eligibility extends access to newer versions; it is not a subscription required to keep using the already-covered version. License data and privacy ------------------------ Activation and validation send the license key or protected activation token, application version, and device fingerprint needed to enforce the plan. Update checks send version and entitlement context. These requests are separate from Ghostable project operations and do not include environment names, keys, values, repository contents, or `.ghostable/` state. On macOS, the activation token is stored in Keychain under Ghostable's Desktop service. Other supported platforms use Electron-protected local storage when available. See [Privacy](https://ghostable.dev/privacy) for the service policy. On this page [ ![Ghostable](https://ghostable.dev/images/logo-dark.svg) ![Ghostable](https://ghostable.dev/images/logo-light.svg) ](https://ghostable.dev) Desktop [ CLI 3.x ](https://ghostable.dev/docs/3.x) [ Desktop ](https://ghostable.dev/docs/desktop) CLI 3.x introduction Documentation local first no login encrypted repository plaintext hosted service Installation Documentation brew homebrew npm npx linux windows PATH version update Start a new project Getting Started setup seed dotenv owner initialize Adopt an existing project Getting Started existing env import authoritative source adopt Onboard a team member Getting Started join request approve roles offboarding pull request Repository and storage Core Concepts .ghostable git conflict merge worktree private identity metadata Environments Core Concepts protected production preview staging push sync pull replace run mask-output Variables and promotions Core Concepts var promote copy context annotation key Access and devices Core Concepts identity reader writer grantor owner revoke rotate leave delete Daily development workflow Workflows pull diff validate review clean daily Review and secret scanning Workflows scan sarif github suppress secrets drift Hygiene and rotation Workflows rotation stale unused suppression environment key Automation credentials Automation & CI GHOSTABLE\_CI\_TOKEN ci deploy credential powershell revoke replace Continuous integration Automation & CI GitHub Actions fork pull request JSON stdout stderr exit codes mask-output Deployments Automation & CI Forge Vapor Cloud provider CLI dry-run preserve remote keys temporary files Validation Reference schema required nullable regex min max different\_from Command reference Reference --help --json NO\_COLOR flags aliases exit code automation Configuration Reference ghostable.yaml activity mode auditEnvironments scan ignores deployTarget dotenv syntax Security Reference cryptography XChaCha20 Poly1305 HKDF user presence threat model Backups & Offline Reference recovery offline restore clone key identity Agent integration Reference AGENTS.md capabilities allowlist coding agent Troubleshooting Reference no project found revoked identity stale policy user presence invalid CI token provider CLI git conflict diagnostics Ghostable Desktop overview Desktop Installation Desktop Projects and setup Desktop Interface tour Desktop Environments and variables Desktop Local environment files Desktop Validation and review Desktop Activity Desktop Access and automation Desktop Project settings Desktop Application settings Desktop Licensing and updates Desktop Security and storage Desktop Troubleshooting Desktop No results found