# Licenses and your Macs > How a Canto or Tulip license works: activating it, Your Macs and Release, working offline, finding a lost license, and renewals. Applies to Canto 1.0 beta 3 and Tulip 2.0 beta 2 · Updated Oct 10, 2026 · https://lonelyduck.io/docs/general/licenses Canto and Tulip use the same kind of license. You buy once, the license arrives by email, and you activate it on each Mac. After that, each Mac checks in with LonelyDuck about twice a week and keeps Pro working offline for up to 30 days at a time. No account is needed. | | Canto | Tulip | | ---------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | Where the license lives in the app | **Settings › Account** | **Settings › License** | | The license starts with | `canto-license-v1…` | `tulip-license-v1…` | | Activate page | [lonelyduck.io/canto/activate](https://lonelyduck.io/canto/activate) | [lonelyduck.io/tulip/activate](https://lonelyduck.io/tulip/activate) | | Covers | 1 or 3 Macs | 1 or 3 Macs | | Before you buy | Free on any Mac; most Pro features have 3 free tries | Free to browse and check; a 14-day Pro trial that starts when you choose | ## Activating a Mac 1. **Open the license email on the Mac and click its activate link.** The link opens the app and asks you to confirm: "Activate … Pro on this Mac?" Nothing is activated until you press **Activate**. The license sits after the `#` in the link, which your browser never sends to a server. 2. **Or paste the license, or the whole email**, into the app's license form. The app finds the license in the text and checks it on your Mac before anything is sent: you see who it's licensed to and the plan. 3. Press **Activate this Mac**. The app sends the license, your Mac's model and a code made for this license to lonelyduck.io, once. Nothing else about you or your Mac. When it's done, the app says Pro is on this Mac. Pro works offline from then on. Each app's guide has the details: [Canto](https://lonelyduck.io/docs/canto/license#activate-pro-on-a-mac) and [Tulip](https://lonelyduck.io/docs/tulip#license). ## Your Macs The license form's **Your Macs** lists the Macs a license is on: each Mac's model, when it was activated and when it last checked in. The app asks lonelyduck.io only when you show the list. **Release** frees a Mac's place so you can activate another. The released Mac drops to Free and shows a notice; nothing on it is deleted. * You can always release the Mac you're on. * In Canto, releasing *another* Mac from Your Macs needs Pro · 3 Macs. With a 1-Mac license, release the old Mac from that Mac, or from your account on the website. * If every Mac on a license is in use, activating a new one says so and lists the Macs: release one, then press **Activate again**. For Canto, you can also release a Mac on the website: sign in at lonelyduck.io with the email you bought with, then **Account › Canto › Your Macs** › **Release**. That works even when the old Mac is gone. ## Working offline A Mac with Pro checks in with lonelyduck.io about twice a week. It sends your license and the id made for that Mac, never your notes or your library. Each check-in extends how long Pro works without a connection: **30 days**. * With fewer than 5 days left, the app shows "Connect once to keep Pro." Connect once, or press **Check now** in the license settings. * After the 30 days, the Mac is on Free until it connects. Pro comes back by itself. Nothing is deleted. A **License status updates** switch (on by default, with Pro) downloads an anonymous list of turned-off licenses, so a release or refund reaches your Mac in seconds. Off, a Mac learns about it at its next check-in. A Mac without Pro sends nothing about a license. ## Notices When a license changes, the app shows one small notice and never stops you working: * "… Pro was released from this Mac": released from Your Macs. **Activate again** if a place is free. * "… Pro was turned off on this Mac": turned off by LonelyDuck support. * "The purchase was refunded" or "The payment was disputed": the Mac is on Free. * "Connect once to keep Pro": under 5 days of offline Pro left. Every notice says that nothing was deleted, and offers **Activate again** or **Contact support** where they apply. ## Lost your license? * In the app, open the license form and choose **Lost your license?** Type the email you bought with, and LonelyDuck sends the license to it again. * On the website, open [the Canto activate page](https://lonelyduck.io/canto/activate) or [the Tulip activate page](https://lonelyduck.io/tulip/activate) and use **Email my license**. If that address bought the app, the license is on its way; the page says the same thing either way, so it never reveals whether an address has a license. * Signed in at lonelyduck.io with the email you bought with, **Account › Canto** has **Copy license** and **Resend email** for Canto. Check your spam folder. Still nothing? Write to [support@lonelyduck.io](mailto:support@lonelyduck.io) with the email you bought with and your order id. ## Renewals and upgrades * **Canto Pro** includes 12 months of new Pro features, kept forever. Renewing adds another 12 months: $15 before your new-features date, $19 after. Upgrading a 1-Mac license to 3 Macs is $10. See [Free and Pro](https://lonelyduck.io/docs/canto/pro#renewing-and-upgrading). * **Tulip Pro** is a one-time purchase for every Pro feature, in every version. See [Tulip's pricing](https://lonelyduck.io/tulip#pricing). **Renewals and upgrades need you signed in** at lonelyduck.io **with the email you bought with**, because they apply to that license. You can buy the first time without an account; to renew or upgrade later, create an account or sign in with that same email. Bought with another address? Sign in with that one, or write to support. ## Older licenses * **Canto 0.x licenses** move to Canto 1.0 by themselves, cover 3 Macs and include 12 months of new features. See [Upgrading from Canto 0.10](https://lonelyduck.io/docs/canto/upgrade#your-license). * **Tulip 1.0 keys** work in Tulip 2 on up to 3 Macs, at no cost. Tulip 2 picks up the key Tulip 1.0 saved on your Mac; on another Mac, paste the key from your purchase email in **Settings › License**. * **TuneBoi** licenses keep working. See [Older apps](https://lonelyduck.io/docs/older-apps#tuneboi).