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Updates and license

This page covers the direct download. The Mac App Store version updates through the store and has no license screen. See App Store version.

The trial length, prices and license length below are placeholders and may change before launch.

Updates

Choose Settings › General › Check for Updates…. If a newer version exists, Frayo offers to install it.

To check by itself, open Settings › General and turn on Check for updates automatically. It is on by default.

Trial

You get a 14-day free trial. It starts the first time you open Frayo. The start date is kept in the macOS Keychain, so reinstalling does not restart it.

Open Settings › General to see days left in your trial. During the trial everything works.

What stays free

After the trial, or when a license expires, only Full Screen capture stays free, with copy to the clipboard and save to your captures folder. The floating thumbnail of a Full Screen capture still copies and saves.

Everything else is locked: Area, Window, Scrolling, Record and GIF, Self-Timer, Previous Area, Copy Text, Scan QR Code, the editor, code screenshots, the Library and Quick Search, projects, secret redaction, bug report export, command-line captures and cloud sync.

A locked menu item keeps its title and shows a small lock. Click it, or press its shortcut, and the License window opens with one line saying what you tried, for example "Scrolling capture needs a license". Nothing is captured.

Your existing captures are never deleted. They stay on disk and in your captures folder.

Prices

The holiday offer ends on 5 January 2027 (23:59 UTC, the same moment for everyone). While it runs, the window shows the regular price struck through next to the offer price, and "Holiday offer, ends 5 January". After that only the regular price shows. There is no larger tier.

Each license includes 3 years of use and updates from the day you buy it. These prices and dates are placeholders and may change before launch.

Buy and activate

1. Open Settings › General › License….
2. Click Buy on the 1 Mac or 2 Macs card to open the purchase page.
3. Paste your key and click Activate.

The About row then shows who it is licensed to, and the License window shows who it is licensed to, This Mac · 1 of 2, and Valid until with the end date.

If the key is wrong, you see the reason. A key for a different product is refused. If Frayo cannot reach the license server, you see "Couldn't reach the license server. Check your connection and try again."

Several Macs

A 1 Mac license works on one Mac. A 2 Macs license works on two. The License window shows This Mac · 1 of 2. Activate the same key on each Mac.

When a license expires

The end date comes from the license server, not from your Mac's clock. Frayo reminds you 30 days and 7 days before it ends, with a Renew button. When it ends, Frayo goes back to the free tier above until you renew. Renew by buying a new key and entering it, or choose Check Again if your key was extended. Your captures are untouched.

When the trial ends

You get one message a day: "Your Frayo trial has ended. Only Full Screen capture is free." with an Enter License… button, and a strip under the Library toolbar with the same button. Activate a key and both go away.

Offline

Once a week Frayo quietly asks the server if your license is still good. If your Mac is offline, nothing happens. After 30 days without an answer, the daily message and the Library strip come back, and the License window asks you to connect to the internet. Features stay unlocked meanwhile. Connect, and it clears.

Move a license to another Mac

1. On the old Mac, open Settings › General › License….
2. Click Deactivate this Mac. This frees its seat. It needs an internet connection.
3. Activate the key on the new Mac.

A deactivated Mac goes back to the trial state. If its trial is over, only Full Screen capture works there until you activate a key.