Announcement: Fork Licensing

[DanPristupov]

Hi guys!

Some people might already noticed that in the recent versions of Fork there's a way to buy a license (About -> Fork Activation).

So, after 4 years of being free Fork is going to be paid. The price will be quite affordable and it will be a one-time purchase.

$49.99

• It is a one-time purchase (not a subscription☝️)
• The license includes both personal and commercial use
• 1 user / up to 3 machines (should be enough, I think)

The rest will remain the same. We will continue releasing new versions once or twice a month. There's still a lot of things in our todo list.

P.S. A corresponding topic in the Mac issue tracker: https://github.com/ForkIssues/Tracker/issues/562

[decadence]

As I understand there is no visible differences between free and paid version for now and this is just a way to support your family as a Fork developers?

1 user / up to 3 machines (should be enough, I think)

What if I change 3 machines throughout lifetime (or reinstall Windows), can license be extended or something?

Anyway thanks for your work and great Git client! Just bought a license. Keep it up! Earlier I have used SourceTree but now I can forget it like a nightmare.

[DanPristupov]

As I understand there is no visible differences between free and paid version for now and this is just a way to support your family as a Fork developers?

Yes, exactly.

What if I change 3 machines throughout lifetime (or reinstall Windows), can license be extended or something?

You can deactivate the license. Or you can always contact me and I'll help.

[decadence]

You can deactivate the license. Or you can always contact me and I'll help.

Thanks. This means I can use Fork on 3 machines at the same time and be able to deactivate license and activate it on another PC?

[DanPristupov]

@decadence yes, that's right.

[JulienMaille]

Will you keep a free version? Will the already released free version continue to work?

[DanPristupov]

Most likely we will not have a free version because we don't a time to support it. I'm not sure if the existing versions will work.

[kvnhck]

@DanPristupov How long will the earlybird coupon code be available?

[DanPristupov]

It's called 'early'... not so long then :). A week or a few may be.

[nstubbe]

When clicking on the buy button the price goes from 49.99 to 60.49, is this intended?

[DanPristupov]

@nstubbe our price is $49.99, but the VAT of your country may apply (depends on the country). For example in Germany VAT is 19%. Here in Czech we have 21%. For US there's no tax.

[nstubbe]

@DanPristupov Thanks for clarifying, we're not used to seeing 'VAT-less' prices where I'm from, and just wanted to make sure :)

[skyline75489]

@DanPristupov HI Dan, I purchased Fork on fork.dev yesterday but I don't know where to find my activition key. Is it going to be an email sent to me? I have on clue.

[DanPristupov]

@skyline75489 I see that you made a typo in your email. I will forward the key to the correct one manually.

[skyline75489]

@DanPristupov Thanks! I got the Paypal receipt and I thought it was good. Thanks for sharing fork with us 😄

[marsu-dev]

@DanPristupov Thanks your amazing work here! Hope that my next contribution will be a PR 😇

[ecca]

@DanPristupov Thank you for a great and smooth git client and awesome for us earlybirds.

[yasinkavakliat]

Activated. It was a no-brainer! Thank you for all your work over the last years!

And the 3 licenses is just perfect for me at the moment.

• macOS: using private at home
• Windows: using on my work-notebook
• Windows Server: the project where I am at at the moment (gov) only allows to develop on their dev-vms so I need/use git-fork there too.

The 3 activations are cross-platform, right?

Edit: could we pin this issue please?

[xmedeko]

I would expect the pricing (and licence) on the main fork site https://fork.dev/ top menu.

[DanPristupov]

@Coupz yes, the license is cross-platform

@xmedeko yes, sure. Now we are testing that everything works properly.

[empty-k]

I would expect the pricing (and licence) on the main fork site https://fork.dev/ top menu.

As would I, along with changing the text below the download buttons, which still indicate this is free software.

When is this change scheduled to occur?

[MisterJD]

Absolutely a no-brainer! Keep up your great work!

[gscottanderson]

Sorry but my policy is whenever free software suddenly becomes not free, then I drop it immediately. I just uninstalled Fork. Simply put, I just don't agree with doing that to people for any reason.

[marsu-dev]

Sorry but my policy is whenever free software suddenly becomes not free, then I drop it immediately. I just uninstalled Fork. Simply put, I just don't agree with doing that to people for any reason.

there's a way to buy a license It's not mandatory, juste a way to donate to this great free app

[DanPristupov]

@michel-foucault to be more precise:

after 4 years of being free Fork is going to be paid.

Since we are here... @gscottanderson this change is absolutely not sudden.

Simply put, I just don't agree with doing that to people for any reason.

I'm sorry for keeping Fork free for 4 years and making it paid after we both left our jobs to work on it full time.

[ProfessorX]

News from P.R. China.

I would like to give some support or even donations.

Sadly some (like 50%) of programmers in China are not well-paid. For me my salary is CNY 5,000 a month. So $50 is, a little beyond me HAHA.

Maybe you want to contact some retailers in China for a discounted price and sell it OFFICIALY on taobao (the Chinese ebay from Alibaba group).

Please check my humble opinion.

[L1cardo]

Actually, I would love to pay for Fork and $49.9 may be affordable for many developers, but it is a high price for a student, especially for a Chinese student. $49.9 is about ￥350, which is really high.

[mjfreelancing]

Happy to have purchased my license today. Keep up the good work.

[gscottanderson]

I'm sorry for keeping Fork free for 4 years and making it paid after we both left our jobs to work on it full time.

This kind of attitude is exactly why I wrote what I wrote. I am glad to find out things like this. For my team, SourceTree is free, bug free, and working great!

[joerghampel]

I'm not sure if the existing versions will work.

How so? Why would existing versions not continue to work, just as they do right now?

And please don't get me wrong, I fully endorse your move to paid software. If anything, that move hopefully promises that the already awesome product will get even better in the future.

[DanPristupov]

@joerghampel at the time (Dec 3, 2019) I didn't know what particular way we would go. Today I can confirm that all the versions will keep working.

[azimuthdeveloper]

At the moment there is a degree of uncertainty in continuing to use Fork and there isn't any official licensing words on the main Fork page. There's a registration option but not any difference being explained between free and paid versions (you do have a free and paid version at the moment, even if the feature set is the same).

Certainly the speed and ease of use of Fork means that it's the git client of choice for me, but I have this ominous "Register" button in my About toolbar, and I don't know if at some point my Fork client will just stop working unless I pay up, or what? I also don't know if I can use the free version at work?

I understand that you need income to work on Fork, and it's the best Git client available today, but right now it reminds me of how GitKraken went from free to paid. After updating one day it just straight up stopped working unless I cashed up.

I'd appreciate some wording like this: "If you want to keep using Fork, you will have to upgrade by April 2020, where Fork will be paid only from 1.50.0. Previous versions may stop working after this date".

Obviously I'm just a dude on the other side of the world making requests so I'm not fussed if none of the above happens. It'd just be nice to have some certainty around the future of Fork :)

[nadim-khalil]

Hello today I stopped using GitKraken because it is not free anymore, I have installed Fork because my search for the best "FREE" alternative directed me toward Fork, I hope I will not have to change again in the near future when Fork is not free anymore...

[Efreeto]

I think it will be more profitable for the team to leave the option to download the old and free version. You may even remove some features for the free version from the current version, but it will still be better than most paid ones out there. That way people can try it out and fall in love like I did.

But one-time life-time license will only collect a few bucks from already dedicated people, and they will run out soon. You need constant flow to keep supporting the family.

Also, some people may even upload old versions unofficially. So please keep the free version option!

[pinksynth]

I have used a few git clients and I don't like any of them, including the paid ones, as much as Fork. Great software, will be purchasing soon. ❤️

[gleblebedev]

Single price worldwide may not work out as people already suggested. If you don't want to manage it yourself you can sell it via Valve's Steam. Steam can calculate regional prices and mange updates delivery and it works across multiple platforms. And yes, you can sell software via Steam.

[BoSorensen]

@gleblebedev Be aware that companies could flag Steam as game-related, which would mean their users would be cut off from purchasing.

I guess this means that Fork is no longer free software ?

[CraigHead]

Is it paid as in donation paid or as in "certain things won't work unless paid for" paid. I personally love Fork and think supporting independent developers. But I could see how this would turn people off. I suggest looking at LinqPad's licensing tiers as an example.

[DanPristupov]

@CraigHead

Fork will keep working with all the features.

Is it paid as in donation or paid as in "certain things won't work unless paid for" paid?

It's paid as a purchase.

https://fork.dev/license:

You can download and evaluate the Software for free, but need to purchase a license for long-term use.

[Edditoria]

I've just get notice in app today. I hope I am still having a "early-bird" price.

Congratulation to make your profit into a profit stream. I'm a "lite-"developer from Hong Kong. I would say $49.99 is a fair price comparing to Sublime Merge (And it's very cheap comparing to Tower).

However, 3-machine license is far not enough for me. 4 shops & office and 2 houses. That's 2 iMac, 1 MBA, 2 MBP, 1 iMac and 4 Windows. I will need to buy 2-4 licenses for my own use. It becomes more experience than Sublime Merge (Btw, I already bought it)

[L1cardo]

I've just get notice in app today. I hope I am still having a "early-bird" price.

Congratulation to make your profit into a profit stream. I'm a "lite-"developer from Hong Kong. I would say $49.99 is a fair price comparing to Sublime Merge (And it's very cheap comparing to Tower).

However, 3-machine license is far not enough for me. 4 shops & office and 2 houses. That's 2 iMac, 1 MBA, 2 MBP, 1 iMac and 4 Windows. I will need to buy 2-4 licenses for my own use. It becomes more experience than Sublime Merge (Btw, I already bought it)

I would say that $49.9 is not cheap in mainland China

[ravenblackhart]

Just wondering if you would have an educational price version? I teach at a school and I've been getting all the students to use fork since it's easy and was free - and students being students, they aren't exactly loaded (yeah, the educational support money they get is pretty much rent and gone)

[DanPristupov]

@cafiendstudio students can keep using Fork as an evaluation (it will not stop working) and buy it when/if it helps them to earn money in the future.

[Gama11]

@DanPristupov You might want to mention this on https://fork.dev/license (or https://fork.dev/buy / wherever it fits)?

[mylemans]

I'm without a job at the moment, otherwise I would pay for it, but 3 installations would not have been enough when I had a job. I had it installed on 5 devices when I had a job (work PC, work mac, home PC, home mac, home laptop) so reconsider those limits please :/ (not saying 5 but I can see the 2 home 2 work situations happening a lot)

[ravenblackhart]

@mylemans - agreed on that; have a job but kinda don't wanna buy 2 licenses so i can use on 4 machines... would very much rather pay slightly more on a higher tier to get more licenses. Also - @DanPristupov - sorry for being a nuisance - any plans for bulk discounts? say if a studio wants to purchase for all the users

[DanPristupov]

@DanPristupov please contact me by email: support@fork.dev

[Edditoria]

Is it paid as in donation paid or as in "certain things won't work unless paid for" paid. I personally love Fork and think supporting independent developers. But I could see how this would turn people off. I suggest looking at LinqPad's licensing tiers as an example.

It is one-time payment and keep it forever. All features are available in evaluation.

Didn't use LinqPad, but I appreciate Sublime Text's model: Evaluation forever, and pay when I'm sure it's my daily tool. :)

[Sorata]

Good job! Thank you for the awesome software. And the discount for China.

[JeReT]

Just opened a ticket in the company I am working at to buy fork licenses for the guys working with git.

You can download and evaluate the Software for free, but need to purchase a license for long-term use.

I also think this license model is not very smart. You need to make people addicted to the software (like you did with me). If I would read a sentence like the one quoted above, I wouldn't even download the tool for personal use because I would rather live with sourcetree than trying something I would need to pay after some time.

So I suggest to change the sentence to:

You can download the Software for free and use it for non-commercial purpose or evaluation. For commercial use you need to purchase a license.

This would attract students, hobbyists and open source developers which may later bring the software to the companies they will work at.

[CraigHead]