Trial, licence and updates

The free trial#

Pairbar is free for 7 days from the first time you open it, with everything on and no card or account needed. While the trial runs, a quiet line above the tab bar says how many days are left ("Trial · 6 days left") with a Subscribe link (the yearly plan's checkout). On the last day it becomes a card that counts the hours ("Trial ends in 5 hours") with Subscribe · $39 first year and Enter key.

Deleting Pairbar's preferences or reinstalling it doesn't restart the trial, and neither does setting the Mac's clock back.

When the trial ends#

Pairbar locks. The sidebar shows one screen instead of its pages:

• what Pairbar is and its price ($39 for the first year with the launch code, then $49 a year);
• Subscribe · $39 first year (the yearly plan), with Monthly · $9/month and Lifetime · $129 once next to it; each opens that plan's checkout in your browser, then "Waiting for your purchase…" (with Cancel) until Pairbar unlocks by itself;
• Already subscribed?: type the email you subscribed with and press the envelope button (Use my email), then click Activate Pairbar in the email, on this Mac. Enter a licence key swaps in a field for the key instead;
• Find my key (help with finding your key or moving it to another Mac), an email link for help, and Terms and refunds (the Terms of Sale on the website);
• Quit Pairbar.

While it's locked:

• scheduled workflows and check-ins don't run, and Run now and approvals do nothing (they carry on from their schedule once Pairbar is unlocked);
• ⌃⌥K quick search is off (⌃⌥K shows the sidebar instead);
• chat alerts are quiet.

Nothing is deleted: your pins, labels, workflows, check-ins and settings are all there when you unlock it. If Claude and Codex aren't open when Pairbar starts locked, the same screen opens in a window. The menu-bar icon's Licence… opens it too.

Subscribing and activating#

Every plan has every feature, for one person, on up to 3 of their own Macs. Choose how to pay:

Yearly and Monthly are subscriptions because Pairbar works with the Claude and Codex apps as they change, and it's kept up to date for them. Lifetime is a one-off for early supporters; once the first 200 are sold it's no longer offered.

You don't copy a key. After Subscribe, Monthly or Lifetime (on the lock screen, the trial line or Settings → Licence), finish paying in your browser (the button goes through pairbar.com, which opens that plan's Lemon Squeezy checkout): Pairbar shows "Waiting for your purchase…", asks pairbar.com every few seconds whether it has come through, activates the key by itself and says "Welcome to Pairbar — you're subscribed". Cancel stops the waiting; a purchase you still finish within a day is picked up when you come back to Pairbar or open it again. It waits for 30 minutes at most (every 3 seconds for two minutes, then every 15).

On another Mac, or after reinstalling: Use my email (the lock screen, or Settings → Licence) sends a link to the address you bought Pairbar with. Click Activate Pairbar in the email on the Mac you want to activate; the link works once, and for a limited time ("This link was already used or has expired — send a new one" otherwise). The thank-you page after buying has the same button.

The receipt email also has your licence key, if you'd rather paste it: Enter a licence key, paste, and press Activate. Settings → Licence then shows the plan and its status: Pairbar Yearly "Yearly · renews 1 Oct 2027 · licensed to you@example.com", Pairbar Monthly "Monthly · renews …", or Pairbar Lifetime "Lifetime · licensed to …". The renewal date comes from pairbar.com (Lemon Squeezy's licence check doesn't give it); if it can't be fetched, it says "Yearly subscription" instead.

Manage subscription… (Settings → Licence, and the lock screen once you've had a licence; Your orders… for Lifetime) opens Lemon Squeezy's page for your orders, where you cancel or resume a subscription, change your card, find your receipts and keys. Payments go through Lemon Squeezy; Pairbar never sees them.

If activation doesn't work, Pairbar says why:

Settings → Licence#

When the subscription ends#

This is about Yearly and Monthly; a Lifetime licence never ends. A subscription keeps working while it renews, while a renewal payment is being retried, and after you cancel it until the year or month you paid for is over. Pairbar doesn't remind you before it renews.

When Lemon Squeezy says the subscription has ended (cancelled and the paid period is over, or the payment couldn't be taken), Pairbar keeps working for 14 more days, with a line above the tab bar: "Subscription ended — renew to keep using Pairbar (works until …)" and a Renew link. Then it locks, and the lock screen says "Your subscription has ended", with:

• Renew · $49/year, which opens the yearly checkout (with Monthly and Lifetime next to it);
• Renewed already?: Use my email (or Enter a licence key for the key from the new receipt); renewing with Renew unlocks by itself;
• Renewed? Check again, if the same key was renewed;
• Manage subscription….

As soon as Lemon Squeezy says the key is good again, Pairbar unlocks. It asks when it starts, when you press Check now or Renewed? Check again, every day while the subscription has ended, and about once a week otherwise.

The weekly check#

About once a week, and when Pairbar starts, it checks the key with Lemon Squeezy in the background (see PRIVACY.md for exactly what's sent). If it can't reach Lemon Squeezy, nothing happens: Pairbar keeps working, and after the check has been failing for a while a line above the tab bar says "Licence not checked lately · works until …". It locks only if it can't check the key for 14 days after the check was due (three weeks in all); once you're online again it unlocks by itself, or press Check again.

If Lemon Squeezy says the key is no longer valid (for example after a refund), Pairbar keeps working for 14 more days with a "Licence problem" line, then locks.

A Lifetime licence is checked the same way (so a refund is still noticed), but it never locks for being offline, and it has no renewal date and nothing to renew.

Updates#

Pairbar checks for updates once a day and offers new versions in a window where you can read what's new and install. Turn this off with Settings → Licence → Updates → "Check for updates automatically". Check for Updates… is in the menu-bar icon's menu and in Settings → Licence → Updates. Updates are signed; Pairbar installs only an update signed with its own key.

Terms, refunds and support#

Buying Pairbar is covered by the Terms of Sale and the licence agreement (EULA); Lemon Squeezy sells it as the merchant of record. Refunds: within 14 days of your first payment for any plan, and within 7 days of a renewal you didn't use (the refund policy). For anything else, contact support.

In a narrow sidebar, the licence warning above the tabs uses a shorter status with its deadline and puts Renew or Details underneath. Hover over the status for the complete explanation; Licence shows the full status.

The lock screen scrolls and shows a scrollbar when needed. Plan buttons keep the full price visible, even in a narrow sidebar. Email and Licence key have visible field labels. While waiting for a purchase in a narrow sidebar, Cancel appears below the explanation. Support, terms and Quit wrap onto another line when needed.

Switching from licence-key entry to email clears the previous key error and keeps the entered key, so you can switch back without typing it again.