Support & licensing
Everything about keys, activation and moving BiggSky between computers. There is no account and no password — your licence is your email address and a 16-character key.
What do you need to do?
Get a trial key
Request a free 30-day key. It arrives by email, and the clock does not start until you validate it.
Manage your computers
See which machines are using your licence, and free one up.
Activate without internet
For an imaging machine that is never online.
Email support
Anything not covered here gets a direct reply.
Activating BiggSky
Two steps, and they are the same whether you are on a trial or have bought a licence.
- Get your key. For a trial, request one at biggsky.com/activate or press Get Demo License on the License tab inside BiggSky. If you have bought, your key is emailed automatically after checkout.
- Paste it in and press Validate. Open the License tab, paste the key, press Validate. BiggSky checks it with the licence server and unlocks.
No account is created, and there is nothing to log in to — anywhere.
After that, it works offline
Once activated, BiggSky does not need a connection. It quietly re-checks the licence about once a week, and it does that when you close the application so it never slows down your startup.
If the network is unavailable it simply carries on with the licence it already has, and shows an offline note on the License tab.
Using BiggSky on more than one machine
Seats are concurrent — they limit how many computers a licence is active on at the same time, not how many you may ever install on.
How many at once
- Trial — up to 3 computers at a time
- Paid licence — up to 5 computers at a time
The same limits apply to every edition.
Moving to a new computer
Activate the new one. If that would take you over the limit, free a seat first: press Deactivate on the License tab of the old machine, which releases it immediately.
Free a seat from anywhere
Dead, wiped or sold — you do not need access to it. Use the seats page from any browser with your email address and licence key.
You never lose your work
When a trial or subscription ends, BiggSky switches to Free mode rather than locking you out.
Everything you have already processed still opens, displays and exports exactly as before. Your projects and your exported images are yours regardless of licence state — that does not change, ever.
What Free mode does not include are the premium operations: stacking, deconvolution, the one-click pipeline, GPU and multi-core acceleration, and star removal and analysis. Those need a current licence.
Recovering a lost key
On a trial: request it again with the same email address at biggsky.com/activate. Your existing key is re-sent — you will not be given a second trial, and you do not need one.
Bought a licence: press Get License inside BiggSky using the email address you purchased with. If you have no working install, email us and we will send it over.
Frequently asked
Do I need an account?
No. There is no account, no password and nothing to log in to. Your licence is your email address and a 16-character key.
How do I start the trial?
Download BiggSky, then either request a key at biggsky.com/activate or press Get Demo License on the License tab inside the app. The key arrives by email. Paste it into the License tab and press Validate.
When do my 30 days start?
When you install BiggSky and validate your key — not when you request it. Asking for a key costs you nothing, so there is no reason to hold off until you are ready to sit down with it.
Is the trial the full application?
Yes — every feature, for 30 days. No watermark, no export restrictions, and no card details to begin.
I bought a licence. What happens next?
Your key is emailed to you automatically after checkout. Paste it into the License tab and press Validate — the same two steps as the trial. There is no account to set up.
How many computers can I use it on?
A paid licence can be active on 5 computers at a time; a trial on 3. These are concurrent limits, so you can move between machines freely by freeing a seat when you need one back.
Can I move BiggSky to a new computer?
Yes. Press Deactivate on the License tab of the old machine to free its seat, then activate the new one. If the old machine is gone, dead or wiped, free its seat from any browser at the seats page using your email address and licence key.
Does BiggSky need an internet connection?
Only to activate, and briefly about once a week to re-check the licence — which it does when you close the app, so it never slows down startup. Between those it runs entirely offline.
What about a machine with no internet at all?
Use the offline activation page. Copy the details from the app's License tab, paste them into the page on any connected device, and paste the result back into the app. It is also emailed to you.
I lost my licence key
Trial: request it again with the same email address at biggsky.com/activate and the existing key is re-sent.
Paid: press Get License inside BiggSky with the email you purchased with, or email us.
What happens when my trial or subscription ends?
BiggSky switches to Free mode. Everything you have already processed still opens, views and exports. The premium operations — stacking, deconvolution, sharpening — need a current licence.
Do I lose my work?
No. Your projects and your exports are yours regardless of licence state.
Where do my card details go?
To Stripe, on Stripe's own checkout page. They are never seen by or stored on biggsky.com.
How do updates work?
BiggSky checks for a newer version and points you at the installer. Updates within the major version you bought are included — see the release notes for what has changed.
Get in touch
Licensing problems get a direct answer. For anything other users might also want the answer to, the community is often faster.
Bug reports
Include your version, operating system and the file type you were processing — it turns a two-week exchange into a one-email fix.