Activating your license
Most of the work in AI Subtitle Studio — transcribing, extracting, editing, converting, dubbing — needs an active license, while several screens are free. This page explains what needs one and what you will see before and after activating.
What needs a license
| Free, no license | Dashboard, YouTube Transcript, Embed, the Tools Shift Timing, Shift a Section, Color, Position and Clean Up, Settings, and the Workflows screen itself. |
|---|---|
| Credits instead of a license | Translate opens without a license and runs on translation credits. |
| License required | Transcribe, Extract, Edit Subtitles, AI Clean Up, Convert, Tools → Sync, Sermon Mode and Dubbing — and the matching steps in a workflow. Translating with your own DeepSeek key also needs one. |
Until a license is active, the sidebar tags the free screens (free) and Translate (credits).
The "Activation required" screen
If you open a screen that needs a license without one, you'll see an Activation required screen with two buttons:
- Purchase a key — opens the pricing page in your browser.
- Enter license key — takes you straight to Settings → License & Activation.
Settings is always reachable from the sidebar even in this state, specifically so you can get to the license screen.
When the app first launches, it briefly shows a "Checking license…" spinner while it verifies your stored license against the server — this prevents flashing the real app content before the check completes.
Activating a license
Go to Settings → License & Activation:
- Paste your license key (from your purchase email, format
WCSL-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX) into the License Key field. - Click Activate License.
On success, the button changes to a disabled License Active state with a checkmark, and a green "This installation is activated." message appears next to it. The footer status bar also switches to "License activated."
Activation registers this specific computer as one of the devices allowed on your license — see Managing your devices for how the per-license device limit works.
Checking status and deactivating
Below the activation form, two more actions are available:
- Check Status — re-verifies your license against the server and shows the result inline. Useful if you're unsure whether activation actually went through.
- Deactivate — frees up this device's slot on your license, so you can activate a different computer. This clears your stored license key from the app; you'll need to paste it in again to reactivate.
Deactivate before wiping or replacing a computer if you want to reuse that activation slot elsewhere.
What the app can and can't manage here
Settings → License & Activation only controls this installation's own activation — activate, check status, or deactivate the device you're currently using. It does not show a list of your other activated devices.
To see and manage every device on your license — including ones you no longer have access to — use the license portal on the website. See Managing your devices.