Canto
Tulip
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subtankFree and Pro
Canto is free to use, with no limit on the AI that runs on your Mac. Pro is a one-time purchase that adds a few things on top. Nothing in the app asks you to pay to keep using it.
What Free includes#
Free is the whole app, on as many Macs as you like. It just doesn't sync between them.
- The whole app, offline and encrypted
- Unlimited AI on your Mac: Ask with citations, web answers, rewriting and summarising
- Any model Canto offers, Ollama, LM Studio and other model servers, and OpenRouter on your own account
- Dictation and image descriptions
- Ask's edits to one note at a time, with your review
- Canvases and the vault graph
- Version history, backups and export
- 3 published pages
- Canto's own palette
Whatever plan you're on, these are never behind Pro: encryption, backups, Markdown export, version history, security updates, and your own models and servers.
A free copy of Canto sends nothing about a license.
What Pro adds#
| Feature | What it does | Free tries |
|---|---|---|
| Deep research | Research reports with an evidence ledger you can check and update. See Research and research notes. | 3 |
| Meeting capture | Record a meeting on your Mac and get notes, decisions and follow-ups. | 3 |
| Edits across many notes | Let Ask change several notes at once, each change shown for approval. | 3 |
| Write access for other apps | Let apps connected over MCP create and edit notes, not only read them. Each try gives connected apps a day of write access. | 3 |
| All palettes | Mist, Sepia and Graphite join Canto's own, each made for light and dark. | 3 |
| More published pages | Up to 50 published pages, and your own domain. | None |
| Sync between your Macs | Your notes on up to three Macs, through your own iCloud, end-to-end encrypted. Pro · 3 Macs | None |
| Move Pro between Macs | Release a Mac from Your Macs and activate another, from any of your Macs. Pro · 3 Macs | None |
Free tries#
Each Pro feature marked with tries can be tried three times on each Mac before you buy. A try is counted on that Mac only and never synced.
When you reach a Pro feature, its sheet shows a short preview, three plain lines and both prices. While you have tries left, Return tries it; once the three tries are used ("The three free tries on this Mac are used."), Return buys. I have a license turns the sheet into the license form.
Publishing more than 3 pages, sync and moving Pro between Macs have no tries.
Prices#
Pro is a one-time purchase.
| Plan | Price |
|---|---|
| Pro · 1 Mac | $29 (₩39,000) |
| Pro · 3 Macs | $39 (₩49,000) |
Each includes 12 months of new Pro features, and you keep every feature released in those 12 months forever. There is no subscription.
Buy from Settings › Account › Buy Canto Pro, which opens lonelyduck.io/canto/pricing. You can buy without an account. The license arrives by email; Your license and Macs explains activating it.
The store shows prices in won when your browser's language is Korean. PayPal doesn't take won, so a PayPal checkout charges the US price.
After the 12 months#
Your Pro features keep working. Only features that come out after your 12 months end need a renewal. Such a feature says so on your Mac: "… came out after this license's new features ended on date. Renew to add a year of new features."
Settings › Account shows the date: "New features until date, kept forever."
Renewing and upgrading#
| Price | What it does | |
|---|---|---|
| Renewal, before your new-features date | $15 (₩19,000) | Adds 12 months of new features |
| Renewal, after it | $19 (₩25,000) | Adds 12 months, starting from the day you renew |
| Upgrade to 3 Macs | $10 (₩10,000) | Your license covers 3 Macs and adds sync. Its dates stay the same. |
Renewing is optional. You can renew at most one year ahead.
In Canto, Settings › Account › Renew or upgrade opens your account on lonelyduck.io. Renewals and upgrades need you signed in with the email you bought with, because they apply to that license. On the website: Account › Canto › Renew or Upgrade. The store picks the early or regular renewal price by itself.
Your Macs get the new date at their next check-in, within a few days, or at once when you press Check now in Settings › Account.
If you bought Canto before 1.0#
Your license moves to Canto 1.0 by itself, now covers 3 Macs, and includes 12 months of new features from this release, at no cost. See Upgrading from Canto 0.10.
Refunds#
Refunds follow LonelyDuck's refund policy. A refunded license switches its Macs to Free; nothing on them is deleted. Orders, receipts and refunds has the details.