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License

Plans and License

Every plan

Stack Guard works for free. A license key adds the Pro or Agency features to a site. This topic explains how to add a key, what the status means, and what happens when a plan ends.

Free, Pro and Agency

Free needs no key. It includes the core protections: hiding the sign-in page, two-factor sign-in, lockouts after wrong passwords, hardening, security headers, manual bans, a manual malware scan and a 7 day activity log.

Pro adds more depth and automation, for example CAPTCHA, country blocking, firewall rules, scheduled scans, email alerts and a 90 day activity log.

Agency includes everything in Pro, plus white label for agencies that look after many client sites.

The Compare plans table on the License tab lists every feature and marks the plan this site is on.

Add your license key

A license key is a code you receive after buying a plan. It looks like four groups of six letters and numbers, for example ABCDEF-234567-HJKMNP-QRSTVW.

  1. Go to Stack Guard, then the License tab.
  2. Paste your key into License Key. Capital letters and dashes do not matter.
  3. Click Activate License. Stack Guard checks the key with the license server and switches on the features your plan includes.
  4. Check the License Status box: it should say Active and show your plan.

What the status means

Active: everything is in order.

Not checked recently: the site has not reached the license server for a long time, so paid features may pause until it does. Make sure your site can connect to the internet, then click Check license now.

Expired: the plan has ended. Renew it to switch the paid features back on.

Not recognised: the key was typed wrong or is for a different product. Copy it again from your purchase email or account.

Revoked or Inactive: the key no longer works on this site. Contact support.

Could not check: the license server could not be reached just now. Try Check license now later.

Sites used shows how many sites the key is active on, for example "3 of 5 sites". Each site uses one place.

Changing or moving your plan

To upgrade, renew or add sites, click Manage plan. After a change, click Check license now to see it straight away instead of waiting for the daily check.

To move a key to a different site, click Remove License on the old site first. That frees its place, so the key can be activated on the new site.

When a plan ends

Paid features switch off cleanly and your site carries on with the Free features. Your settings are kept, so everything comes back as it was when you renew.

Protections that could lock you out if they stopped, such as the hidden sign-in address, two-factor sign-in and the access token, keep working on every plan.

If the license server cannot be reached, a paid plan keeps working for up to two weeks, so a short outage never switches anything off.

To be reminded before a plan ends, switch on the license alert on the Notifications tab. It emails you two weeks, one week and one day before the end date.

Who can see this

Only people with full access to Stack Guard can open the License tab. The key is hidden on screen once it is saved.

How it works, for developers
  • The key is stored encrypted (smg_license_key_encrypted), with the status and plan details in smg_license_status and smg_license_data. None of these are included in settings exports.
  • A daily smg_license_refresh task checks the license. Reminders fire 14, 7 and 1 days before it ends. If the site cannot check in for 45 days, it falls back to Free.
  • Which plan each feature needs comes from one list, SMG_License::features(). The plan chips in this help are read from it, so they always match what the site allows.
  • Updates are delivered with your license and install from the normal WordPress Updates screens.

Quick answers about plans and license

How do I set up plans and license?

1. Go to Stack Guard, then the License tab. 2. Paste your key into License Key. Capital letters and dashes do not matter. 3. Click Activate License. Stack Guard checks the key with the license server and switches on the features your plan includes. 4. Check the License Status box: it should say Active and show your plan.

Which Stack Guard plan includes plans and license?

To upgrade, renew or add sites, click Manage plan. After a change, click Check license now to see it straight away instead of waiting for the daily check. To move a key to a different site, click Remove License on the old site first. That frees its place, so the key can be activated on the new site.

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