Question 1

How do I start a subscription or buy a perpetual license?!

Accepted Answer

It is not currently possible to start a Plugin Station subscription or purchase a perpetual license on the Plugin Station website. You can only do so through the Plugin Station app. Download the latest installer here to get started! After creating your account and verifying your email address, you will be prompted to either start a trial (subscription) or purchase a perpetual license.

If you already have a subscription and you want to buy a perpetual license, simply navigate to Settings > Buy Perpetual License in the app.

Question 2

I'm so tired of subscriptions. Can I buy a perpetual license instead of subscribing?

Accepted Answer

Yes! Plugin Station perpetual licenses are available. To view pricing options, please use the Pricing tab. Both subscriptions and perpetual licenses can only be purchased in the Plugin Station app at this time.

Question 3

Why Are Perpetual Licenses So Expensive!?

Accepted Answer

This is a very fair question! Especially when there isn't another plugin manager on the market that's priced like Plugin Station is. That said, there also isn't another plugin manager on the market that has all of the features that Plugin Station has.

In fact, while all other plugin managers out there are either a much cheaper one-time purchase or 100% free, what you'll find after trying them is that Plugin Station offers the most comprehensive feature set out of all of them. They also aren't as thoroughly maintained or consistently updated as Plugin Station is, nor do any of them offer technical support from someone with professional plugin technical support experience, if they offer technical support at all.

That's not to say that all other plugin managers are bad! At the end of the day, if you find one that does what you want and it's a lot cheaper, then go for it! But I'd strongly encourage you to at least try Plugin Station free for 7 days before deciding it's not for you :)

Also, if perpetual licenses are too pricey for you, then please keep in mind that subscriptions start all the way down at $4.99 USD per month. I know many of you don't love subscriptions, and I don't either. But the fact of the matter is that Plugin Station's database requires constant, daily maintenance in order for it to be reliable and useful. Plugins are added almost every day, and I'm always updating it with the latest plugin versions so that users can get accurately notified when they have plugins that are out of date. When you combine all of that with adding new features and the fact that Plugin Station is run by one person, cheap perpetual licenses are simply not an option.

Question 4

Why doesn't Plugin Station support Windows?

Accepted Answer

While I had some help with some aspects of the app (the icon, the logo, adding plugins to the database, etc.), I wrote all of the code for Plugin Station on my own, and I only know how to write code for macOS and other Apple platforms. All of this took me over a year.

I'd love to hire someone to write a Windows version someday. In fact, if the app turns out to be popular enough that I can afford to hire one or more developers, I will. However, at this stage, it's not feasible.

lf you'd like to get notified when and if a Windows version becomes available, sign up to receive Plugin Station new feature updates via email here: https://mailchi.mp/julianmichaeltechnologies/sign-up-form

Question 5

Can I get notified when and if a Windows version becomes available?

Accepted Answer

Yes! Sign up to receive Plugin Station new feature updates via email here: https://mailchi.mp/julianmichaeltechnologies/sign-up-form

Question 6

What is your refund policy?

Accepted Answer

If you'd like to request a refund for a purchase or renewal, you may do so within 7 days of the transaction by writing to support@julianmichaeltechnologies.com. So that I can help you as efficiently as possible, please include your invoice or receipt number in your email.

Question 7

Can I connect Plugin Station to my iLok account?

Accepted Answer

No, Plugin Station is not affiliated with or Endorsed by PACE Anti-Piracy in any capacity. It does not communicate with iLok License Manager or your iLok account. Plugin License Key Activation Locations simply act as representations of your iLok activation locations, and indicating that a plugin license key is activated to an iLok dongle, for example, does not actually activate that license key's license to that iLok dongle.

Question 8

Is there a Plugin Station user manual?

Accepted Answer

No, but I do have some in-depth overview videos you can check out! They have chapters, so you can skip through them pretty easily to find the info you're looking for:

https://youtu.be/jIcqIx_aj3U
https://youtu.be/CBuu3Vjuc8A

Question 9

Does Plugin Station download/run installers for me?

Accepted Answer

No, Plugin Station does not automatically download and run installers for you. There are a couple reasons why:

As a one-man team, creating and maintaining a list of download URLs that always work for all plugins on the market would be impossible. I'd want it to be reliable 100% of the time, and I wouldn't be able to guarantee that
Legal concerns. I'm sure that many manufacturers wouldn't appreciate me redistributing their installers without their permission. Currently, I'm able to do everything I do with Plugin Station within the bounds of Fair Use, but redistributing installers would cross that line

One day, I'd love to partner with some plugin manufacturers to make this happen, but I haven't yet. In the meantime, Plugin Station does the next best thing: It tells you when to update and it tells you where exactly to get the latest installers. This is a huge time saver on its own.

Question 10

Does Plugin Station backup/store my plugin files?

Accepted Answer

No, Plugin Station does not store your plugin files. It's not a file sharing/storage/backup app.

Instead, it does the next best thing: You can create a System Profile State to store a log of everything that was installed on your computer at a given time. Then, when you're setting up a new computer or restoring the one you already have, you can easily reference everything that was installed with direct links to the pages where you can get all of the latest installers.

I actually prefer this approach to a traditional backup/file restoration system. It helps you get all of your plugins reinstalled, while also ensuring you have the latest files from all manufacturers, as opposed to leaving you with all of the exact (likely out-of-date) files you had before.

Frequently Asked Questions