Free and Pro License

JPGBoost Free gives you every feature that runs with the app open, automation included, though simply capped. Only the command-line tool, which runs without the app, requires a Pro license. Here is how the two tiers work, how to activate a license and how to manage your devices over time.

Free and Pro at a glance

JPGBoost doesn't rely on any user account. Activating a license and adding a device happen online, but every check below, run each time the app launches, stays entirely local and requires no network request.

Limits of the Free version

The free version gives you every compression, conversion and automation feature that runs with the app open. Two compression limits apply:

• 5 MB per file. Size is checked before decoding: a heavier file is flagged in the list without being processed.
• 50 images compressed per day. The quota resets at midnight, local calendar day.

The day's counter is visible at any time in Settings (⌘,) → License.

A third limit, separate from the two above, applies to export profiles. JPGBoost Free allows a single one. A profile compresses nothing by itself. It is a named configuration, and editing it, renaming it or overwriting it stays possible at all times, and only creating a second profile is refused. JPGBoost Pro has no such limit.

A fourth limit, also separate from the ones above, applies to watched folders. JPGBoost Free allows saving a single one. Editing or disabling it stays possible at all times, and only creating a second watched folder is refused. JPGBoost Pro has no such limit.

Security and bug fixes are free and available for an unlimited time on both tiers. New features, on the other hand, are reserved for Pro licenses. A Pro license never needs to be renewed or repurchased to keep benefiting from them. Learn more in the Update Check guide.

Activating a Pro license

After purchase, you receive a single-use activation token by email, in the form ACT-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX.

1. Open JPGBoost, then Settings with ⌘, (or the JPGBoost → Settings menu).
2. Select the License tab, then Activate My License.
3. Simply paste the token you received by email. The app automatically retrieves this machine's identifier and links it to the token during activation. There's nothing else to copy.
4. The displayed tier switches to Pro immediately, and the token is permanently consumed.

One license per user

The JPGBoost Pro license is personal: it is assigned to a single user and lets them use JPGBoost on up to two installations they use personally.

The number of installations allowed doesn't correspond to the number of Macs used, but to the number of installed instances. The graphical app (user interface) and the command-line tool (CLI) are considered two distinct installations, even when used on the same Mac.

In the app's License tab, these two slots are shown as Devices (1/2), indicating how many installations are currently associated with the license, out of the two allowed.

These two slots can be split up freely, for example:

• the app on your Mac and the CLI on a server you use for your own automations (continuous integration, a scheduled task);
• the app and the CLI on a single Mac, laptop or desktop;
• the app on two different Macs, for example a laptop and a desktop;
• the CLI alone, on a server that never opens the app (see License on a server).

An additional license becomes necessary as soon as you go beyond these two installations, or one of them moves outside this strictly personal use:

• a machine or server shared between several people;
• a colleague's Mac or server, who needs their own license.

Adding a device

Every device you add to your license is authorized online, in seconds, without going through email again:

1. On a device already activated, open Settings → License → Add a Device. A temporary pairing code is displayed (valid for 10 minutes, single use).
2. On the new device, open Settings → License, choose I Already Have a License, and enter this code.
3. The app reads this new machine's identifier, sends it along with the code, and the tier switches to Pro as soon as it's validated.

The License tab lists your devices, numbered, with a counter (Devices (1/2)). Once the limit is reached, Add a Device disappears until a slot frees up (see "Removing a device" below).

On a server with no graphical interface, the same operation is done with jpgboost-cli --pair <code> or --add-device. See License on a server.

The exact scope of the license is set out in the terms of sale.

Removing a device

JPGBoost licenses are perpetual. To free up a slot and cover another Mac, remove an existing device from the list (Settings → License, Remove button next to the device). The last remaining device cannot be removed.

The removed Mac drops back to Free locally, but no data is deleted: export profiles, watched folders, and export history stay intact and reappear if that device rejoins the license (via a pairing code generated from one of the remaining devices).

Long-running Pro services stop immediately on the removed device: folder watching stops and the local API server shuts down, with no need to quit the app.

Only a device currently on the license can manage it. On a removed Mac the device list stays visible, but the Remove and Add a device buttons no longer appear: the server refuses any management request from a device that is no longer authorized, even one still holding a validly signed license. To bring that Mac back, generate a pairing code from one of the remaining devices.

Troubleshooting