Free trial, buying and activating your licence

Mainspring is free to try for a day, with everything unlocked. After that, a one-time $29 licence keeps it working for good, on up to three Macs.

The trial

• It starts the first time you open Mainspring and lasts one day. No account or card needed.
• Everything works during the trial.
• A strip across the top of the window reads Free trial — 1 day left, with an Unlock — $29 button.

Buy a licence

1. Click Unlock — $29 in the trial strip. The unlock screen opens — “$29 once. Yours forever, on up to 3 Macs.”
2. Click Unlock — $29 there. Checkout opens in your web browser.
3. Complete the purchase. Checkout is set to send you back to Mainspring, which activates your licence by itself when it receives the key. Your licence key is also emailed to you, so you can paste it in yourself if you need to.

You can also buy from trymainspring.com. During the trial, Maybe later — 1 day left closes the unlock screen.

Activate

1. Open the unlock screen with Unlock — $29 in the trial strip. After the trial has ended, Mainspring shows the unlock screen in place of everything else the next time it starts.
2. Under “Already bought? Paste your license key”, paste the key.
3. Click Activate or press Return.

Once it's accepted, the trial strip is gone for good.

If activation fails

“That key isn't valid, or it's already used on 3 Macs.”

Check you copied the whole key. Each licence works on up to three Macs.

“Couldn't reach the licensing server. Check your connection.”

Activation needs to be online. Try again once you're connected.

When the trial ends

Without a licence, the next time Mainspring starts its window shows only the unlock screen — “Your trial has ended” — until you activate. Settings you changed during the trial stay as they are; Mainspring doesn't undo them. Activate, and everything is where you left it.

After you've activated

• Mainspring checks the licence when it starts. If you're offline, it trusts the licence already on your Mac, so it keeps working without a connection.
• The key is stored in your Mac's keychain.
• Activating sends the key and your Mac's name to the licensing service. Your settings and how you use Mainspring never leave your Mac.