Free & Premium

BetterStickies comes in two versions. The free version has everything you need to get started, and Premium unlocks the full experience.

What's Included

Feature	Free	Premium
Create notes	4 (tabs count toward the limit)	Unlimited
Text formatting (bold, italic, headings, etc.)	✓	✓
Lists: checkboxes, bullets, numbered (with nesting)	✓	✓
Text highlighting	✓	✓
Code blocks	✓	✓
File shortcuts	✓	✓
Images and screenshots	✓	✓
Search	✓	✓
Export notes	✓	✓
Trash and recovery	✓	✓
Themes (dark/light/auto)	✓	✓
All supported languages	✓	✓
Keyboard shortcuts	✓	✓
Static background images (PNG, JPG, SVG, etc.)	✓	✓
Animated GIF backgrounds	✓	✓
Reminders (one per note)	✓	✓
Virtual desktop pinning	✓	✓

How Limits Work

Notes

The free version includes 4 notes, and each extra tab inside a note also counts as a note. One note with 3 tabs plus one plain note uses the whole allowance, and so do four single-tab notes, or two notes with 2 tabs each. If you're at the limit and try to create a note or add a tab, BetterStickies lets you know. Delete or trash a note (or close a tab) to make room.

If you've used Premium and switch back to Free (or you have more notes than the current limit from an earlier version), your extra notes aren't deleted. They become read-only, marked with a crown in their header: you can still see them (click the crown for details), but you'll need to remove some notes or tabs to get back to editing.

Everything Else

Notes are the only thing the free version limits. Reminders, animated GIF backgrounds, and every other feature work exactly the same in both versions. A reminder and a GIF background belong to a note, so your note allowance already covers them.

Upgrading to Premium

Upgrade to Premium for as many notes as you need, with tabs no longer counting toward a limit. (Every note holds up to 3 tabs in both versions.) To buy it, click Upgrade to Premium at the bottom of the ☰ menu, or visit betterstickies.com for details. In the Microsoft Store app, Upgrade to Premium opens the Store's purchase window.

Activate Premium in the app

Already bought Premium? You can unlock it right inside the app you have, with no second download (About shows which version you have): in the Snap and the AppImage from version 1.4.2, and in the Windows and Mac apps from version 1.5. The Flatpak gets the same once Better Stickies is listed on Flathub. The Microsoft Store app keeps buying Premium through the Store.

There is one download for everyone: no separate Premium AppImage on Linux, and from version 1.5 no separate Premium download for Windows or the Mac. Premium customers activate the same app as shown below. The 1.4 Premium downloads stay on your betterstickies.com account page for a while, and a Premium version you already have keeps working.

Open About from the ☰ menu and click Activate Premium…, or click Activate… on the message that says you've reached the note limit.
Check the Computer name. It's how this computer shows up on your betterstickies.com account page. Then click Continue in browser.
Your browser opens betterstickies.com. Sign in with the account you bought Premium with, check that the page shows the same code as the app, and approve this computer.
A moment later the app says Premium Activated. Read-only notes become editable right away, with nothing to restart, and About shows "Licensed to" with your name and a partly hidden email address, or only the partly hidden email address if your account has no name.

If the browser didn't open, or you'd rather use your phone, open betterstickies.com/activate on any device and enter the code the app shows. Open the page again opens the page in your browser once more.

Haven't bought Premium yet? Click Get Premium in the activation window, buy it, then come back and click Continue in browser. If the approval page says your account doesn't have Premium yet, buy it from there, then go back to the app and click Open the page again within 15 minutes to approve this computer.

Good to know about activation

One Premium account activates up to 5 computers. Activating the same computer again never uses another one, so reinstalling or updating the app costs nothing.
Reinstalling the operating system usually makes the computer count as a new one. On a Mac it may not, and then activating again uses no extra computer.
Activation goes online once, to approve the computer. After that, Premium works without the internet.
Switching between the Snap and the AppImage on one computer means activating again in the other one. It doesn't use another computer.
On Windows and the Mac, each person who signs in to the computer activates once in their own account. They all share the one computer on your Premium account.
On a Mac, the 1.5 app replaces a Premium app from version 1.4 when you drag it into Applications. Activate it once, and it's Premium again.
Moving to a new computer with Migration Assistant, a Time Machine restore or a copied Windows profile brings your notes but not the activation: activate once more on the new computer. It counts as a new one.
Something not working? See Activating Premium in Troubleshooting.

Good to Know

Each year from 5 December to 8 January, Better Stickies shows a short message once when it starts. Free users see a Premium discount. Premium users see a thank-you with donation links, which you can always find under About in the ☰ menu. During those weeks the app icon also wears a winter hat.