> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://pomeroy.app/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Buy and activate

> $19 once removes the weekly limit. This is what the checkout sends, what activation sends, and what happens when Pomeroy is offline.

Pomeroy is **\$19 once**. No subscription, no second purchase, and every update
to Pomeroy 1 is included.

## Buying

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the checkout">
    From the cap message, from the Pomeroy panel's buy button, or from
    [pomeroy.app/pricing](https://pomeroy.app/pricing). All three go to the same
    place.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Pay">
    The store is Lemon Squeezy. The checkout opens in your **browser**, so that
    is your browser talking to the store, not Pomeroy. Pomeroy sends nothing and
    learns nothing about it.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Find your key">
    It arrives by email from the store.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Activating

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open Settings → Licence">
    Click the Pomeroy icon in your menu bar, choose **Settings**, then
    **Licence**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Paste your key">
    Pomeroy checks it with the store and the weekly limit is gone.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## What activation sends

Exactly two fields, and nothing else:

| Field           | What it is                                                                |
| --------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `license_key`   | The key from your purchase email, exactly as you typed it                 |
| `instance_name` | `Pomeroy` followed by eight random characters, generated once on this Mac |

`instance_name` is **not** your Mac's name, serial number, hostname or account.
It exists so the store can show you which activation to free when you move to a
new Mac.

After activation, later checks send the key and the activation id the store
issued, instead of the label.

[Everything Pomeroy sends, on one page](/docs/privacy/what-leaves-your-mac)

## Being offline does not lock you out

A licence check that cannot reach the server changes nothing. A licensed Mac
keeps working offline for as long as it stays offline.

The rule is deliberately one-directional: a licence is trusted until the server
says otherwise. A flaky connection, a coffee-shop captive portal or a flight is
not an answer, so it is not treated as one.

## Troubleshooting

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="The key is rejected" icon="triangle-exclamation">
    Check for a trailing space from the copy, and that you are pasting the
    licence key rather than the order number. If it still fails, email
    [hello@pomeroy.app](mailto:hello@pomeroy.app) with your order email address.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="It says the licence is already activated" icon="laptop">
    A licence covers one Mac at a time. Free the old activation in the store's
    customer portal, where `instance_name` is how you tell which is which, then
    activate here. See [moving to a new Mac](/docs/licence/moving-and-refunds).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="I bought it but the limit is still there" icon="gauge">
    Buying and activating are two steps. Paste the key in **Settings →
    Licence**; the purchase alone does not reach your Mac, because Pomeroy has
    no account system to look you up in.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>