License Activation

Activate your Free or Studio license key and manage your devices.

Recaster uses a two-tier licensing model. A Free license gives you access to all local processing features at no cost. The Studio license unlocks cloud GPU processing, advanced models, and professional features for a one-time payment. Both tiers use cryptographically signed license keys that are delivered to your email.

Free vs Studio Comparison

Review the feature comparison below to understand what is included in each tier.

Feature	Free ($0)	Studio ($99)
Face Swapping	InSwapper (128, 128-FP16)	All Free + Ghost (1/2/3), BlendSwap (256)
Face Enhancement	GFPGAN (1.2, 1.3, 1.4)	All Free + CodeFormer, GPEN, RestoreFormer++
Video Upscaling	Real-ESRGAN (2x, 4x), SwinIR (2x, 4x)	All Free + Real-ESRGAN 8x, Temporal preset
Local Training	SAEHD, AMP, Quick96, XSeg	Same (all models available locally)
Cloud GPU Training	—	Vast.ai integration with live preview
Remote Quick Recast	—	Cloud GPU processing with video streaming
Remote Video Upscaling	—	Full pipeline support on cloud GPUs
Model Versioning	—	Snapshot and restore trained models
Multi-Session Training	—	Multiple concurrent training sessions
Cost Tracking	—	Budget management for cloud GPU usage

Free Tier is Fully Featured Locally

The Free tier gives you full access to all local features including face swapping, enhancement, video upscaling, training, and the complete workspace. The Studio tier adds cloud GPU capabilities and premium AI models. You can always start with Free and upgrade later.

Getting a License Key

Free License

A free license key is generated automatically when you create an account at recaster.studio/signup. The key is sent to your email and is also visible in the customer portal.

Studio License Studio

The Studio license is a one-time purchase of $99. Visit recaster.studio and click Get Studio to proceed through the Stripe checkout. After payment, your Studio license key is generated and emailed to you instantly. If you had a Free license, it is automatically upgraded.

Activating Your License

Once you have your license key (from the email or customer portal), activate it in the Recaster desktop application:

Open the License dialog

In Recaster, go to Help → Activate License in the menu bar. The License Activation dialog will open.

Paste your license key

Copy the license key from your email or portal and paste it into the text field in the dialog. License keys are long strings in the format data.signature (two base64 strings separated by a dot).

Click Activate

Click the Activate button. Recaster will validate the RSA signature on the key and, if valid, activate your license. The dialog will confirm activation and show your tier (Free or Studio).

Verify in the status bar

After activation, check the bottom-right corner of the status bar. It should display your current tier. If you activated a Studio key, you will see "Studio" and all cloud features will become available.

License Persists Across Sessions

Your license key is stored locally on your machine. You do not need to re-activate after restarting Recaster. The key is automatically loaded and validated on each launch.

Device Limits

Each license key can be activated on up to 3 devicessimultaneously. This allows you to use Recaster on your desktop, laptop, and a secondary machine without purchasing additional licenses.

If you need to use Recaster on a fourth device, you must first deactivate it on one of your existing devices:

Open the License dialog

Go to Help → Activate License on the device you want to deactivate.

Click Deactivate

In the License dialog, click the Deactivate button. This removes the license from the current device and frees up a slot.

Activate on the new device

On your new device, open Recaster and activate the same license key as before. It will now work because a device slot has been freed.

You can also manage your devices from the Devices page in the customer portal, where you can rename or remove registered devices.

Lost or Forgotten License Key

If you have lost your license key, there are two ways to recover it:

Customer Portal: Log in to recaster.studio/portal/license to view your full license key.
Email Resend: On the License page in the portal, click Resend License Email to receive a fresh copy of your license key at your registered email address.

Key Format

License keys are long strings that look like eyJlbWFpbCI6...Rczl0.kFGh...x9Q (two base64url-encoded segments separated by a dot). The first part contains your license data (email, tier, issue date) and the second part is a cryptographic signature that prevents tampering.

Upgrading from Free to Studio

You can upgrade to Studio at any time without losing your projects or settings. There are several ways to start the upgrade:

Click the Upgrade link in the bottom-right status bar
Try to use a Studio feature — an upgrade dialog will appear with a link to purchase
Visit recaster.studio and click Get Studio

After purchasing, you will receive a new Studio license key. Activate it in the desktop app using the same process described above. Your existing projects, settings, and trained models are all preserved during the upgrade.

License File Locations

For reference, the license key file is stored at the following location on each platform:

Platform	Path
macOS	`~/Library/Application Support/Recaster/license.key`
Windows	`%APPDATA%\Recaster\license.key`
Linux	`~/.config/Recaster/license.key`

Troubleshooting

Common license issues and their solutions:

Activation fails: Ensure you copied the entire license key including both parts separated by a dot. Check for extra spaces or line breaks.
"Feature requires Studio tier": Cloud features and premium models require a Studio license. Check the status bar to confirm your current tier.
License not loading after update: The license file may have been corrupted during an update. Re-activate with your original key from the portal.
Device limit reached: Deactivate from an unused device first, or manage devices from the portal.

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