Activate your license

Activation happens inside VFxM, in REAPER — never on the website. The website only handles purchase, download and support.

Trial

On first launch, VFxM shows a splash screen with a Start Free Trial button. Click it once — no email or account is required. VFxM computes a privacy-safe hardware fingerprint and requests a signed trial token from the licensing server. The trial period then runs from that token, verified offline on every launch.

The trial cannot be reset locally

The trial is tracked server-side by your hardware fingerprint. Reinstalling VFxM, creating a new OS user account, or deleting local trial files does not reset the clock — the server recognises the same machine and returns the original start date.

Paid license

1. After checkout, your license key arrives by email from your Polar.sh order receipt.
2. Open VFxM in REAPER. On the splash screen (or Settings → License), paste the VFXM- key from your purchase email. Upper or lower case both work, and spaces around it are ignored.
3. VFxM sends the key, a machine ID and a hashed hardware fingerprint to the licensing server, which checks it and returns a signed token that VFxM stores locally. What is sent is listed in full under What the license check sends.

Each key has 2 concurrent activations. Activating a third machine tells you how many devices are in use and that deactivating one frees a slot; it fails until a seat is freed. Re-activating a machine you already activated does not count twice — see moving to a new machine below.

Working offline

Activation is the only step that needs an internet connection. From then on, VFxM verifies your license offline using the locally stored signed token, and a machine stays licensed indefinitely — there is no offline time limit and nothing to re-validate. When a connection happens to be available, VFxM quietly refreshes the token about once a day in the background; if it is not, nothing changes.

What the license check sends

Since 1.2.0 the daily license check also sends a short description of your computer, the system profile. It rides along with the check that already happens; there is no second call. The full list, and what the server keeps, is on the Privacy Policy page.

The daily check runs when REAPER loads VFxM and the last successful check is more than 24 hours old, and when you click Refresh License Status in Settings → License. It sends:

• your license key and this computer’s activation ID
• a hardware fingerprint (from 1.2.3): a one-way hash made on your computer, never the serial numbers it was made from
• the VFxM version
• the system profile: macOS or Windows, the system version, the processor type (arm64 or x86_64), the REAPER version, the VFxM language and interface scale you chose, and how many plugins are in your library

Activating sends the key, the hardware fingerprint and a machine ID. On a Mac the machine ID is a hash of the Mac’s hardware UUID; on Windows, from 1.2.4, it is a hash of the Windows MachineGuid made on your computer (versions before 1.2.4 sent the MachineGuid unhashed). Deactivating sends only the key and the activation ID.

The trial sends the hardware fingerprint, the VFxM version and macOS or Windows. Check for Bonus Days also sends the email address you type.

What is never sent

No plugin names or plugin list, only the count. Nothing from your projects, no audio, no file paths or files, no notes, ratings or favourites, and not your computer’s name or your user name.

Turning it off. From 1.2.4, Settings → License → Send system information with the license check (on by default) stops the system profile when you switch it off. The license check still needs the key, the activation ID and the fingerprint, so those are always sent.

Moving to a new machine

Before switching computers, deactivate the old machine first: in VFxM go to Settings → Deactivate. This frees the seat immediately.

If you can no longer access the old machine, use the License Portal on the website to reset all activations for your key, or contact support.

Splash screen re-bind

If you hit the activation limit unexpectedly, the splash screen offers a Reset & Re-bind All Activations to This Machine option, added in 1.1.1, so you do not need to leave the app to recover.

Next: your first session

• Quick start — scan your library and insert your first plugin.