# What is a license key?

> A license key is a code that proves you bought an app. Learn how NotchStar's key works, how many Macs it covers and what happens offline.

Canonical: https://www.notchstar.com/glossary/license-key/
Last updated: 2026-11-04

Published 2026-11-04.

A license key is a code you receive when you buy an app. You paste it into the app, and the app treats your copy as paid. It replaces an account and a password for software that does not need one.

## Why it matters

A key lets an app stay account free. NotchStar has no sign up. After the [free trial](https://www.notchstar.com/glossary/free-trial/), you buy once, get a key, and paste it in Settings, License. One key works on up to three of your own Macs, and you can free a slot from the same settings screen.

## How NotchStar checks it

Activating a key sends the key and your Mac's name to Dodo Payments, which counts your devices. About once a week the app silently asks whether the license is still valid. If you are offline, nothing happens and the app keeps working, because offline never revokes a license. The key is kept in a file in the app's support folder on your Mac. The [privacy page](https://www.notchstar.com/privacy/) lists what is sent.

## If a trial ends without a key

The app asks for a key to keep the notch open. It never touches your data.

## Related

Dodo Payments is the [merchant of record](https://www.notchstar.com/glossary/merchant-of-record/) that issues the key. Compare payment models in [one time purchase](https://www.notchstar.com/glossary/one-time-purchase/). See what the app can do in the [Clipboard tool](https://www.notchstar.com/features/clipboard/) and read [is NotchStar safe](https://www.notchstar.com/guides/is-notchstar-safe/).

## Keep reading.

- [What is a free trial?](https://www.notchstar.com/glossary/free-trial/): A free trial lets you use an app in full for a set time before you pay. Learn how NotchStar's 7 day trial starts, what ends it and what happens to your data.
- [What is a merchant of record?](https://www.notchstar.com/glossary/merchant-of-record/): A merchant of record is the company that legally sells to you and takes responsibility for the sale, including tax. See why NotchStar uses Dodo Payments.
- [What is a one time purchase?](https://www.notchstar.com/glossary/one-time-purchase/): A one time purchase means you pay once and keep the app, with no monthly fee. Learn how it differs from a subscription and what NotchStar's $4 covers.
- [Clipboard history that lives in your notch](https://www.notchstar.com/features/clipboard/): Searchable clipboard history in the Mac notch: text, links, images and files. Skips password manager copies. Click any item to copy it again.
- [Is NotchStar safe? Signing, permissions and what it sends](https://www.notchstar.com/guides/is-notchstar-safe/): NotchStar is signed and notarized by Apple, needs no account and sends nothing unless you opt in. See every permission it asks for and how to check it yourself.

## More in Buying and licenses.

- [What is a free trial?](https://www.notchstar.com/glossary/free-trial/): A free trial lets you use an app in full for a set time before you pay. Learn how NotchStar's 7 day trial starts, what ends it and what happens to your data.
- [What is a one time purchase?](https://www.notchstar.com/glossary/one-time-purchase/): A one time purchase means you pay once and keep the app, with no monthly fee. Learn how it differs from a subscription and what NotchStar's $4 covers.
- [What is a software subscription?](https://www.notchstar.com/glossary/subscription/): A subscription charges you on a repeating schedule, usually monthly or yearly, to keep using an app. Learn how it differs from paying once.
- [What is a refund window?](https://www.notchstar.com/glossary/refund-window/): A refund window is the number of days after buying when you can ask for your money back. Learn how NotchStar's 7 day window works and how to ask.
- [What is a merchant of record?](https://www.notchstar.com/glossary/merchant-of-record/): A merchant of record is the company that legally sells to you and takes responsibility for the sale, including tax. See why NotchStar uses Dodo Payments.