Editions and licenses

The three editions

• Free needs no license, no account and no internet connection. Install it as many times as you like, commercially too; each installation has its own 1 site and 5 cameras.
• Pro is for one installation: up to 100 cameras on up to 10 sites, with email and webhook alerts.
• Integrator covers up to five separate installations, for example one per customer site you look after, each with up to 500 cameras and unlimited sites. Each installation is independent, with its own data; there is no central management across them. It includes the same alerting as Pro.

Licenses are one-time purchases with no renewal and no expiry. See pricing to buy.

Paid editions are separate downloads

The edition is built into each download. After buying Pro or Integrator you receive an email with your license key (it starts with ow_live_) and a link to download your edition, valid for 72 hours. Install that download; a license key cannot turn a Free installation into Pro. If the link has expired, request a new one on the download page.

Already running Free? Switching to a paid edition keeps all your cameras, sites and history: install the paid download the same way as an update. See Changing edition.

Activate a license

1. Open the License screen

   Sign in, open Settings and find License. A paid installation without a license says that no valid license is installed.

2. Paste your license key

   Paste the key from your purchase email into License key and choose Activate.

3. Check the result

   The screen shows the edition as licensed and activated online, with its License ID, limits and number of licensed deployments. Alerts and the higher limits apply immediately.

Activation is the only time OpticWatch needs the internet for licensing. The server makes one HTTPS request to the OpticWatch licensing service (cloud.opticwatch.dev, port 443), sending your license key and this installation's ID, and receives a certificate issued for this installation. From then on the license is verified on your server, works indefinitely offline, and is never checked again.

Each activation uses one of the license's deployments: Pro has one, Integrator five.

Deactivate a license

Deactivating gives the deployment back to your license so you can use it on another installation.

1. Open the License screen

   Open Settings and find License.

2. Deactivate

   Choose Deactivate license, then confirm with Deactivate.

OpticWatch first releases the deployment with the licensing service, then removes the license from this installation, which returns to Free. Cameras, sites and history are kept, and outbound alerts pause. If the licensing service cannot be reached, nothing changes and you are told so; try again once the server is online.

Move a license to another installation

1. On the old installation: deactivate

   Open Settings, License and choose Deactivate license.

2. On the new computer: install your paid edition

   Install the Pro or Integrator download, as in Install OpticWatch, or restore a backup of the old installation.

3. On the new installation: activate

   Activate the same license key there.

A restored backup keeps the installation's identity, so its license keeps working without activating again. That also means the restored copy is the same installation: do not run the original and a restored copy at the same time with the same license.

Servers without internet access

If the server can never reach the internet, email support with the Installation ID shown on the License screen and ask for a certificate issued for it. Install it under No internet on this server? Install a certificate on the same screen. It takes effect immediately, with no restart.

When a paid installation has no valid license

A Pro or Integrator installation without a valid license behaves as Free and says why on the License screen. Nothing is deleted. Monitoring follows the Free limits: the oldest site and up to five of its monitored cameras are checked, and the rest show Paused — plan limit. Alerts pause. When the license is back, everything resumes on its own.

License messages

• “Could not reach the licensing service”: the server needs outbound HTTPS to cloud.opticwatch.dev to activate or deactivate. Nothing changed locally. Check the server's internet access, proxy and firewall, then try again.
• “Every deployment is already activated”: the license is in use on as many installations as it allows. Deactivate it on one of them first, or contact support if that server was lost.