🔑 After Buying: Activate Your License on This Server
Once you've purchased a plan (Family / Pro / Enterprise) on the website or in the app, you still need to "install" the license onto this server before it unlocks the paid features. It takes about a minute, and only an administrator can do it.
The Free plan needs no activation — it works out of the box. The steps below are for users who have bought a paid plan.
1. Make sure you have an account
When you buy a plan, an OKNote account is created with a phone number or email + password — your license is tied to that account.
- If you ordered on the website, the phone/email and password you used at checkout are that account.
- If you don't have an account yet, place an order on the website's "Buy a plan" page first; you'll have an account once it completes.
Keep that phone/email + password handy for the next step.
2. Activate on this server
- Open Settings (⌘,) and click License in the left sidebar.
Don't see "License"? It only appears for administrators. Sign in with an admin account. You can also click "Activate server license" on the Account page to jump straight here.
- In the sign-in form, enter your phone / email and account password.
- Click Activate this server.
- After a few seconds the status card flips to activated and shows your plan name and unlocked features — done!
Once activated, every member on this server immediately gets the plan's capabilities (member limit, nested-notebook depth, public mapping, advanced AI configuration, and so on).
3. One server = one activation slot
The number of servers an account can activate depends on the plan:
| Plan | Servers you can activate | Local members |
|---|---|---|
| Family | 2 | 5 |
| Pro | 3 | 15 |
| Enterprise | Unlimited | Unlimited |
This counts self-hosted servers (NAS / desktop server). The Mac App Store in-app-purchase edition is a single-device license and does not consume one of these slots.
4. Switched machines / "limit reached"?
If activation says "activation limit reached," an old device is still holding your slot (e.g. you reinstalled the OS or swapped NAS units). No need to contact support — you can free a slot yourself:
- When the limit is hit, the page lists all currently bound servers (with each one's plan and last-verified time).
- Find the one you no longer use and click Unbind next to it.
- A verification code is emailed to your account address — enter it and click Verify and unbind.
- The slot is freed immediately; go back to step 2 and activate this server.
The email code confirmation exists so nobody who gets hold of your password can quietly kick your devices offline.
5. Activated but still shows "Free"?
- Refresh once: click refresh on the License page, or close and reopen Settings.
- Automatic check: the server verifies your license with the central cloud on its first launch each day; if the network is down that time, it retries periodically until it succeeds that day. So the odd network hiccup is harmless — just wait a bit or refresh.
- If you're sure the plan is purchased but the plan name is wrong, check whether you signed in with the wrong account (a plan under a different phone/email).
6. FAQ
- Can I install the same plan on several NAS units? Yes, as long as you stay within the plan's activation limit (see the table). Over the limit? Unbind one first.
- Can I deactivate? Yes — click "Deactivate license" on the activated status card to release this machine's slot; it falls back to Free capabilities afterward.
- Does buying auto-activate? Purchasing/upgrading directly in the app auto-refreshes this machine's license, so you usually don't need to activate again. Website purchases are activated once via step 2.
Next up: "🌐 Public Access: Your Own Domain + Cloudflare" — reach your OKNote securely from anywhere, not just at home.