Your free trial — extend it, or use a code
Every copy of Storage Studio starts with a free trial — no card required. When it's running low, you have a few ways forward that don't mean paying right away.
How your free trial starts
Your trial begins on first launch, once you register. On the very first screen you enter a few basic details — your full name, email address and country — and then verify the email by typing back a one-time code we send to it. The moment the address is confirmed, your free trial is running. There's no card and nothing to pay; the details are used only to set up and support your trial, send that code, and email a couple of friendly reminders. Your files never leave your Mac — only these basic details are sent. You'll need an internet connection so the code can reach you, and if this Mac has already used a trial there's nothing to fill in.
This first-launch verification is separate from the trial extension below, which is an optional way to add more days later on.
A quick verification step. Screens that send a code or start something — starting or extending a trial, claiming an offer, sharing feedback, opening a support ticket, emailing your licence key, confirming your email for Delta Trust and writing to your partner — show a small Verification row above their button. It usually completes by itself in a second or two; now and then it asks you to tick a box. It only checks that a person is asking. If it can't load, Storage Studio carries on without it rather than leaving you stuck.
Extend your trial by verifying an email
You can add more free days by confirming an email address. On the trial screen, enter your email and we send a one-time code to it; type the code back in and your trial is extended on the spot. How many extra days you get is set by us and shown before you confirm.
A couple of ground rules keep it fair:
- Extensions are limited — often to just one — and counted **per Mac and per
email address** together. The offer disappears once you've used them.
- Disposable / throwaway email addresses (10-minute-mail and the
like) aren't accepted — use a real inbox you can receive the code at.
This is separate from a promotional free offer, which (when a campaign is running) hands you a full activation code through a short contact form.
Have a coupon or an onboarding code?
On the pricing page there's a "Have a coupon, partner or onboarding code?" link under the plans (the home page has the same box). The two kinds of code do different things:
- A coupon discounts the plan you pick from the cards above — you
still complete payment on the secure checkout page, just at the reduced price. Some coupons are locked to a single plan.
- An onboarding code is redeemed with nothing to pay. Enter it,
fill in a couple of details, and we email you a licence to activate in the app.
The box checks your code as you type and tells you which kind it is and what it applies to before you continue.
A code from a Storage Studio partner
If you got Storage Studio through a partner — a shop, an IT company or a reseller — they may give you a partner code. Each code works once. Enter it with your name and your email, either in the app (Settings → License → Activate) or on the website at storagestudio.us/redeem. On the website we first email you a one-time code to confirm your address: copy it from the email and paste it on the page — it's 12 characters and case-sensitive.
On the app's licence screen, choose I got it from a partner or reseller. It has two buttons: Enter my code, and Register with the seller's invoice, which opens our Redeem page for a code bought from a reseller with their invoice.
- If you've already paid the partner, your licence starts straight
away. A monthly or yearly code gives you one month or one year from the day you register it; a lifetime code never ends.
- If the code gives you a discount with us, a secure payment page
opens with the discount applied. Pick your plan (unless the code is for one plan), pay, and your licence is emailed to you as soon as the payment goes through.
Two weeks before a monthly or yearly partner licence ends, the app and an email give you two ways to keep going: enter another code from your partner (it's added on from your end date, so you lose no days), or set up auto-pay with us (nothing is charged before your licence ends; cancel any time). If you do neither, Storage Studio keeps working for 7 more days, then pauses new moves until you renew — everything you've moved stays where it is.
Adding a code in the app works on the Mac where your licence is activated. If your email already has a partner licence that isn't on this Mac yet — say you registered your first code on the website — the app asks you to activate it first: enter the code you used before, then the new one. Or redeem the new code at /redeem, where we confirm your email; it extends your licence wherever it is. This stops anyone who only knows your email from adding a code to your licence.
Codes that include Delta storage. A partner code can be for a combo — Storage Studio and a Delta storage plan together. If you've already paid the partner, both start at once and end on the same date: activate Storage Studio, then open Data Backup and press Set up my vault (it's already paid for). Another combo code adds a month or a year to both; auto-pay puts both on one payment, with nothing charged before your end date. If you do neither, your vault becomes read-only after the same 7 days — you can still open, download and restore everything, and nothing is deleted.
How long a coupon lasts. Each coupon discounts your first payment only, every payment (renewals too), or your payments for a set number of months — that's fixed when the coupon is made. With a first-payment-only coupon on a Monthly or Annual plan, renewals are charged the full price; your invoices show the discount on each payment it applied to.
The minimum payment. After any discount, a payment is either free or at least one US dollar — never a few cents, which can't actually be charged and would turn up later as a confusing balance. A code that would take every plan it covers below that can't be used, and the box says so; a code that only does that for some plans still works for the others, and checkout shows the full price for those few.
When your trial ends
The trial-ended screen first asks what you'd like to do, then shows only those steps — with Back (or Esc) to choose again at any point:
- Buy Storage Studio — your discount code, if you have one, is
already applied. Pick a plan and pay in your browser; your licence key and a one-click Activate link are emailed to the address you pay with.
- I got it from a partner or reseller — enter your onboarding or
partner code, or register with the seller's invoice.
- I've already bought a licence — enter your licence key with the
email you bought with, or have the key emailed to that address again.
A discount code is not a licence: it lowers the price when you buy, and nothing is emailed for it on its own. When you're still eligible, Extend your trial (above) is offered on the same screen.
Once you have a licence code in hand, see Activate your license for exactly where it goes.