Your purchase includes the right to use the software, as well as updates and upgrades, which we publish within the maintenance period.

A special feature of our offer is that maintenance also includes all new major versions with new functions.

Licensing depends on the installation variation:

  • Stand-alone installation: If using PhraseExpress without a SQL Server, one license can be used by one person on up to three computers on which you use the same user name. On Windows, the "user name" is the "Windows user name" (this is not the Microsoft account name). On a Mac, the "user name" is the "Apple account name" (this is not the log in name). Each person requires a separate license. The actual user name that PhraseExpress uses for licensing is shown in the "About PhraseExpress" window.
  • Portable mode: If running PhraseExpress from a USB stick, the license key is bound to the USB stick, which you can use on any number of computers.
  • Client-/Server: If using PhraseExpress with a SQL Server, you need a separate license for each user connection to the server. The user can be identified by his or her user name or by the combination of user name and workgroup, or by the combination of user name, workgroup and computer name.

Licenses for Windows and macOS are separate purchases.

You can use a license key for either Windows or Mac but not at the same time.

The license can be moved from Windows to Mac (or vice versa) at any time.

No, the software is no subscription but a single purchase with a one-time payment. There is not recurring payment.

Yes, you can deregister your license key from one installation for use with another user name as often as you want.

You can also move the license from a Windows installation to a Mac installation (and vice versa).

Maintenance is much more than just updates.

It includes any update, upgrade and also major new version with new features we release within the maintenance term.

Your benefits

  • Licenses do not expire and are valid life-time.
  • Licenses are no subscription and there is no recurring payment.
  • If a new version should be released just a few months after your purchase, you don't need to purchase an upgrade. Instead such upgrades are free for you and included in your maintenance at no extra cost.
  • If you renew maintenance, you get additional discount.

Yes, licenses are valid life-time for all software versions which are released during your maintenance term.

Make sure to keep a local backup of your software installation file as we do not maintain a repository of older software versions.

Only maintenance (free updates, upgrades and new versions) expire after the end of the selected maintenance term, but you can continue to use your existing installation without expiration.

Returning customers get renewal discount. You can also upgrade to a higher product edition:

You can continue to use the version, that you were able to download within your purchased maintenance term for an unlimited time. You own a life-time license. The software itself does not expire.

Important: Make sure to secure your installer file for future installations as we do not host an installer archive.

However, you may then be using an unmaintained and out-of-date software without security bug fixes and updates to maintain compatibility with operating systems.

To stay up-to-date, renew the maintenance at discount.

You can also upgrade to a higher product edition, for example from the Standard Edition to the Professional Edition.

No, a "money-back guarantee" means, that you first have to pay, then you may find out, that the product does not meet your expectations and you would have to claim your money back. We offer you a more comfortable approach:

We don't want your money first - We want your confidence first!

You can extensively try out our software free-of-charge before you need to make a purchase decision.

Our demo software which is available in the download allows you to test everything. We don't urge you to buy! Please test the software for suitability and compatibility with your individual system environment. Only buy if you are happy. After purchase, you turn the demo version into a fully featured version by entering the license key.

Yes, you can release a license association from a user, a computer or a USB stick at any time to use it on another device (or for another user).

PhraseExpress supports connections to a Microsoft SQL Server but the SQL Server itself is not included.

Microsoft offers a free SQL Server Express Edition which can be used with PhraseExpress.

Our business is well-established for more than 22 years with a registered address in the heart of the very oldest city in Germany, Trier.

Payment processing is carried out, among others, using Stripe and PayPal, the largest and most established providers.

Yes, we offer attactive volume discounts if you purchase multiple licenses.

If you purchase online, simply enter the desired quantity and press "Update" to preview the voume discount.

We do not offer discount coupons for single/low quantity purchases.

No, each product variation is a separate purchase.

There is software which is based on a common source code, that is compiled for different operating systems with a single click of a button. The benefit is obvious but comes at a price: A common code basis has to be the lowest common denominator of all support platforms. Our software Macro Recorder uses such system because in this particular case, there is little which is lost caused by this restriction.

PhraseExpress, instead, aims to excel at what's doable for each operating system. As each version is a complete separate development with native development tools designed for the respective operating system, we need to charge for each variation separately.

Another challenge is, that Apple insists to sell iOS Apps. There is simply no other sales channel for iOS App.

Yes, you get free service packs, updates, upgrades and all major new versions during the selected mainentance term.

After maintenance expiration, your license does not expire and you can continue to use the latest version, you were able to download during your valid maintenance term.

Please keep the installation files as we only provide the latest, current version.

You will receive a confirmation email for your transaction immediately after you place your order online.

If you chose to pay by credit/debit card, your order will be processed immediately.

If you chose a different payment option, you will receive detailed information with your order confirmation explaining how to complete your payment. Orders are processed once payment has been received. You will receive a license key which is delivered to you by email immediately after receiving payment.

Yes, a license always includes maintenance for the selected maintenance term.

This ensures that you can always use the latest software. You cannot purchase a license without maintenance.

If maintenance is expired for your license, you can renew maintenance at discount.

The maintenance term starts with the month of license key delivery.

License keys are dynamically generated at the time of purchase. The end of maintenance is branded into the license key and can be read that out from the first set of 4-digits, e.g. "0421" means April, 2021.

Yes, we would be happy to coterm the maintenance term of your existing licenses with a new purchase.

You would purchasing new licenses together with a maintenance renewal of your existing licenses. Remaining maintenance of existing licenses are credited.

You will then receive a complete set of new license keys that have the same maintenance term.

You can also upgrade to a higher product edition at the same time.

What to do:

Please send us the list of your existing license keys, as well as the number and desired product variation (Standard, Pro, Enterprise Edition, NamedUser/ConcurrentUser).

Requirements:
  • Purchase of at least 10 new PhraseExpress Pro/Enterprise Edition licenses.
  • The edition of the new licenses must be at least the same as the edition of the existing licenses.
  • Existing licenses of varying product editions will be streamlined to a common product edition.
  • The maintenance period must exceed the maintenance period of the existing licenses.
  • Orders can only be placed directly, not in the online shop.

No, but we are watching the market closely - When we may release software for Linux in the future, we will offer it on our web site.

Make sure to actually register your purchased license key in the software. The act of purchasing alone does not license the software. You need to register the license key you received in the delivery email in the software. See the product documentation how to register the license key.

The "About" window informs if maintenance of your license key is expired. If you get license notifications because you are using a software version that has been released after maintenance expiration, you would need to renew maintenance for your license.

Our software is available in different product variations (Standard, Pro, Enterprise) with different sets of features as advertised in the comparison table of the respective shop webpage.

A special feature of our software is that you can try features of all editions, even if you purchased and registered a smaller edition that does not include such feature of any higher edition. However, in such case you will get occasional license reminders which list the features that triggered the license reminder. Those are not included in your license.

This approach allows you to consider upgrading to higher product variation even after your initital purchase decision.

Options:
  • If you already purchased the higher edition, make sure to actually deregister the license key of a smaller edition and register the license key of the higher edition.
  • Consider to upgrade to a higher edition.
  • Discontinue using features that are not included in your license.

Maintenance renewals are optional. However, we strongly recommend to use the latest PhraseExpress version to ensure data compatibility.

Example scenario: Microsoft may need to publish a security-critical Windows update that you must install to comply with corporate data security. Such Windows update may also require an update of PhraseExpress in order for PhraseExpress to work with the newer Windows version.

Of course, we strive for file compatibility between PhraseExpress versions. However, if you skip multiple major PhraseExpress versions, you may not be able to continue using your phrase library, as we cannot guarantee file compatibility across multiple PhraseExpress versions, as phrase storage scheme may increasinlgy change from version to version. That is, why we recommend using at least the current PhraseExpress major version.

Yes, we offer discounts for volume purchases: The discount is shown in the shopping cart after you enter the desired quantity.

However, we believe that providing individual discounts would be unfair to all users paying the full price. For example, imagine a customer who has been a loyal customer of a retail store for several years, regularly purchasing items at full price. If that customer were to see another customer receive a discount on the same item they just purchased, they may feel resentful and question why they were not given the same discount. This can lead to a loss of customer loyalty and trust in the business.

But you can easily earn the entire license price easily by recommending to others what you like. Please visit our affiliate page for details.

Additionally, we offer freeware versions for a selection of our products.

If you believe we do not meet the right price point, please consider that we do not compete on price but on quality and features. There are other options but this is the route we are going with success to the benefit of our customers for more than 20 years – "Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.”

The discount coupon feature in the shopping cart is used custom orders, only. For example to credit existing license keys for a product upgrade.

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