You buy it once and keep it. This note lays out the reasons the repository records, including the stretch in 2026 when the pricing block switched to subscription tiers and then switched back.
Key takeaways
- CoLateral is bought once, not rented: a single licence buys the whole workspace, including the Project Canvas, agents, terminal, notes, sheets, schedules and the ability to build a tool by describing it, with no monthly or annual seat.
- CoLateral supplies no model credits, so AI usage is billed by your own provider; the repository records that a one-time licence cannot pay for recurring inference.
- The CoLateral licence price rises in published steps as licences are sold, and the price you pay is locked to your licence.
- The only recurring charge in CoLateral is an optional module such as CoLateral Marketing, and cancelling a module leaves your workspace and projects where they are.
- CoLateral's pricing was not a straight line: it was a one-time licence on 2026-06-29, subscription tiers on 2026-07-03, and a one-time licence again from 2026-08-24.
Why is CoLateral a one-time licence?
Three reasons, all of them written down in the repository rather than reconstructed afterwards.
- The workspace is complete on its own. The comment above the licence ladder in the website's configuration says it directly: "CoLateral is bought once, not rented." A licence buys the workspace, and nothing in it is held back to be sold monthly.
- The AI is not part of the price. CoLateral supplies no model credits, so there is no ongoing inference bill for a subscription to cover. I explain that decision in why CoLateral uses your own AI account.
- The one recurring thing is separate and optional. Expansion packs and modules are the only charge that can renew, and they sit on top of a licence you already own. More on that below, and in CoLateral expansion packs explained.
CoLateral is bought once, not rented.
What does one CoLateral licence include?
The pricing page calls it "Everything, in one license". In plain terms that is the Project Canvas with its notes, sheets, documents, to-dos, terminals and tools, agent cards that run on your own provider login, and the ability to describe a tool you need and have it built on your canvas. The pieces that matter for the one-time decision:
- Two computers. One licence activates two of your computers. If both slots are in use you can release an old device and activate the new one.
- Three platforms. Windows, macOS and Linux are all covered by the same key. The download page says which installers are published at any time.
- A key by email. The key arrives when payment goes through, with a Download button. First activation needs the internet, and the app asks you to reconnect at least every 30 days to keep the licence verified. The FAQ adds that your licence is still yours if the connection drops.
- A locked price. The price you pay is locked to your licence. Nothing is charged twice.
For the current price and how to buy, go to pricing. I have left every figure out of this post on purpose, because prices change and that page is the one that stays correct.
How does the CoLateral licence price ladder work?
The price is not fixed, and I would rather say so plainly than let it surprise anyone. It rises in steps as licences are sold: a first group of ten licences, the next fifteen, and then from licence twenty-six onward the settled price. The whole ladder is published on the pricing page, and a rung never rises for a licence that has already been sold.
The reasoning is on that same page, and I cannot improve on it:
The earliest buyers back the product on the least evidence, so they pay the least.
The repository records how this is built. The website's configuration notes that the numbers are mirrored from the application's own licence-pricing module, which turns a live "licences sold" counter into the price a buyer is actually charged, and that a static page cannot read that counter. So the site names the rung it is currently advertising, and moves it when a rung sells out.
Did CoLateral always sell a one-time licence?
No. The git history shows me changing my mind, and it is more honest to show that than to present the current model as if it was obvious from day one.
A one-time tiered licence
The commit "Replace pricing with one-time tiered license + live counter" swaps a four-tier monthly subscription for a single licence whose price steps up as licences are claimed, backed by a licences-sold counter.
Subscription tiers
The commit "Replace About page pricing with subscription tiers and founder ladder" replaces that block with a grid of recurring subscription tiers.
Back to one-time
The commit message records that the platform had been a monthly or yearly seat with a separate lifetime tier "bolted on for scarcity", and that it is now a one-time purchase where the scarcity ladder is the price. The one recurring charge left is an expansion pack.
Say it plainly
The commit "Say the live one-time price instead of a rung on sale" records that the home pricing heading "sounded like a moving target", so it now names one-time.
That August commit also caught a bug the change would have caused. The licence issuer treated a "perpetual" licence as meaning one of the retired limited tiers, so once every licence was perpetual it would have granted a pack to every buyer. Pack access became an explicit flag instead. A pricing model touches more code than a pricing page, and that is one more reason I would not want to keep switching.
What is recurring in CoLateral, if the licence is one-time?
Only optional modules. The pricing page answers the question in three sentences: the licence "is paid once and never renews". "An optional module can have its own billing cycle." And: "Cancel CoLateral Marketing and your workspace and projects stay where they are." CoLateral Arcade is the built-in games module, and it starts enabled.
The repository states the product split behind that: the workspace is discipline-neutral and complete, and a pack "is a shortcut past the describing". A pack is prebuilt work for one area, layered on a licence you have already bought, and it can be cancelled without touching the licence. The expansion packs post covers which exist.
What does the CoLateral licence not include?
- AI usage. CoLateral supplies no model credits at any price. Agents run on your own Claude Code or Codex login, or your own Anthropic API key, and your provider bills you. Without one, the canvas and tools still work and the agent panel does not.
- Optional modules. They are separate, and any recurring billing belongs to them rather than the licence.
- Professional judgment. CoLateral is software, not professional services. Agent work stays a draft until you approve it, and responsibility for the final work stays with you.
- A refund after the fact. The FAQ states that purchases are final, and the Refund Policy has the details, including what to do about a duplicate charge.
How do I buy CoLateral?
Start at pricing. After payment the licence key is emailed to you with a Download button for Windows, macOS and Linux, and you enter the key on first run. If you want to see how the product is built before you buy, I wrote about that in building CoLateral in public, and the About page links the livestreams and the Discord.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Is CoLateral a subscription?
No. A CoLateral licence is paid once and never renews. Only an optional module, such as CoLateral Marketing, can have its own billing cycle, and cancelling a module leaves your workspace and projects where they are.
Does a CoLateral licence include AI usage?
No. CoLateral supplies no model credits at any price. The AI features run on your own Claude Code or Codex CLI login, or on your own Anthropic API key, and that usage is billed to you by the provider.
How many computers can I use one CoLateral licence on?
One licence activates two of your computers. If both are in use, activation lists your devices so you can release the old one and activate the new one.
Why does the CoLateral price go up as licences are sold?
The earliest buyers back the product on the least evidence, so they pay the least. The ladder is published in full on the pricing page, and a later, higher price never applies to a licence already sold.
Does CoLateral work if I lose my internet connection?
First activation needs the internet, and the app asks you to reconnect at least every 30 days to keep the licence verified. Your licence is still yours if the connection drops, and local workspace features can be used offline.
