Licensing

DataPad runs without a licence, and a Pro licence unlocks the capabilities listed below. Your tier and your key are shown in Settings → License.

Free and Pro

DataPad is free to use. A Pro licence adds these capabilities:

• EF DLL connections — saving an EF DLL connection to the store (under Free it can still be added as a session-only connection),
• IntelliSense — host-backed completion suggestions in the script editor,
• Editor error popup — the compiler diagnostic popup over an error squiggle,
• JSON structure editor — the Manual / Paste / Infer graph editor for a JSON column,
• Connection encryption — encrypting connections at rest,
• MCP server — running the local Model Context Protocol server.

The in-app Help — both Features… and How to… — is free for every user. Only an agent reading the same content over MCP needs Pro.

Enter a licence key

Open Settings → License and enter your key. The status line shows the running tier, the licensee, and the key’s validity. A key is validated when you enter it and may be revalidated periodically, so validation can require an internet connection. No account is required, and DataPad never transmits your scripts, your connections or your database contents.

When Pro is required

When a gated action is attempted without Pro, DataPad does not fail silently: it shows the real structured LICENSE_REQUIRED_* error naming the capability, and offers the upgrade dialog. The upgrade dialog, the toolbar’s Upgrade to Pro control, and Help → License all lead to the License section.

Expiry and state

A key may be time-limited. If it expires, Pro capabilities stop working and the License section returns to the Free state; DataPad does not delete your data. An invalid or unsupported-version key is reported in the same place rather than treated as Free without explanation.