How to Use the Free Trial

StringLane starts a 14-day free trial the first time you launch it — no sign-up, no email, no credit card. Every feature is unlocked. The trial gives you two full weeks to put the editor against a real project before you decide whether to buy a license.

What's available in trial mode

Everything. The trial is not a feature-limited preview — it's the full app, time-limited.

Capability	Available in trial
Open any project folder (Flutter ARB, iOS .strings / .xcstrings, Android XML, i18next JSON)	✓
Unified List View editor (sidebar + per-key detail pane)	✓
Search, filter, namespace grouping	✓
All seven validation types (Missing, Same, Param, Length, ICU, Guarded, Malformed)	✓
Issues Panel + Fix with AI / Fix all with AI	✓
Per-cell, per-key, and bulk AI translation	✓
ARB metadata editor + bulk-generate metadata with AI	✓
All 8 AI providers including local LLM via Ollama / LM Studio / llama.cpp	✓
Auto-save directly to your source files	✓
Command Palette (⌘P), Issues Panel (⌘J), customizable keybindings	✓
Unlimited keys, locales, and projects	✓

There is no key limit, no per-locale cap, and no project-count cap during the trial.

How long the trial lasts

14 days from your first launch on this device. The trial countdown is tracked server-side against a stable device identifier, so reinstalling the app or wiping local state does not restart it.

Two surfaces keep the countdown visible:

• Trial banner at the top of the editor — calm blue for most of the trial, switches to amber with a filled Buy now button at 3 days or fewer remaining ("3 days left — Buy now to keep editing"), then red on the final day ("Trial expires today — Buy now to keep editing").
• Welcome screen chip — when no project is open, a status chip ("10 days left in trial") sits on the Welcome screen and mirrors the same colour escalation. Click it to jump straight to the purchase page.

What happens after day 14

When the trial expires the License Gate appears on the next cold launch. Your project files are untouched — StringLane only ever wrote your translations back to them as you edited, so nothing in your repo depends on the app staying activated.

From the License Gate you can:

• Enter a license key — paste a key purchased from stringlane.app/buy, hit Activate, and you're back in the editor.
• Continue in read-only mode? No. Trial-expired means edit access is paused until you activate. The intentional choice here is that StringLane is a writing tool — a read-only mode would be misleading.

Upgrading to a full license

You can buy a license at any time — you don't have to wait for the trial to expire.

1. Open the About dialog from the app menu and click Buy a license (or visit stringlane.app/buy directly).
2. Complete the purchase. You'll get your license key by email within a couple of minutes — it ships from our payment processor, Creem.
3. Back in StringLane, open About → Enter license key. Paste the key and click Activate.

That's it. The trial banner disappears and the app moves into licensed state. Your license is saved in your OS keychain — no plaintext files on disk, no environment variables required.

For the full step-by-step activation walkthrough, including troubleshooting, see Activate Your License.

Frequently asked

Does the trial work offline? Editing, saving, validation, and local-LLM AI translation all work without an internet connection. The initial 14-day trial start needs to reach our trial service once to register your device; after that, you can work offline within the trial period.

Can I extend the trial? No. If you need more time to evaluate, email support@stringlane.app and we'll figure something out.

What happens if I switch machines mid-trial? The trial is per device. Starting on a second machine starts a fresh 14-day trial on that device.

Next steps

• Activate Your License — paste your key and unlock the full app.
• Open a Project — point StringLane at your existing localization folder.
• Set Up AI Translation in 5 Minutes — wire up your provider key to fill in the gaps automatically.