Free vs Pro: the 8-files-a-day limit, what's Pro-only
The free tier runs every 1FileTool feature at 8 files a day; Pro is a one-time $29–$89 payment that removes the cap and unlocks extras.
1FileTool's free tier is the whole app, not a cut-down demo: every tool, batch processing and background tasks, capped at 8 files per calendar day. Pro is a one-time payment that removes the cap and unlocks a short list of extras.
What counts toward the 8 files
Everything that writes a file counts — every output file, whether you pressed Run yourself, ran a Workflow Recipe, or an AI assistant ran the tool for you over MCP. A batch of ten photos is ten files.
Looking doesn't count: opening a tool, checking a file's info, viewing EXIF data, scanning a PDF for PII and previewing smart-folder rules are all free and unlimited.
The sidebar shows a live counter of today's files, and every tool's run bar shows the count before you start. Hit the cap and the app tells you — Daily limit reached — resets tomorrow.
What stays free
- All 295+ tools, in batch.
- On-device AI as previews: Read Aloud and Document to Audiobook read the first 600 characters, Voice Cleanup processes the first 60 seconds, Silence Cut exports stop at 60 seconds, and Background Removal exports a 512 px preview.
- Folder Monitor watches and plain auto-actions; smart rules can be built and dry-run for free.
What Pro adds
- Unlimited files per day — the daily cap is removed.
- Full-length on-device AI: whole documents read aloud, full recordings cleaned, background removal at full resolution.
- Auto-Redact PII — one-click detect-and-redact (scanning and manual redaction are free).
- Bulk duplicate moves in Visual Duplicates (scanning and grouping are free).
- Live smart-folder rules in Folder Monitor, and
workflow_watch_folderover MCP. - One year of updates to new versions.
Pricing and activation
Pro is a one-time payment through Lemon Squeezy: $29 for 1 device, $59 for 3, $89 for 5. No subscription; each license includes a year of updates.
After checkout you get a license key — paste it in Settings › License to activate. The same tab shows your registered email, device limit, devices in use, how long updates run, and lets you deactivate a device to move the license.
Since 1.12.0 the same field also takes StoicSoft store keys, which start with SS-. 1FileTool is part of three StoicSoft bundles — StoicSoft Complete (all twelve paid apps), The Local Stack (with 1LocalAITool, 1AIVault and StoicBrowser) and The Studio Stack (with 1VideoTool, 1AudioTool and 1DesignTool) — and one bundle key activates every app in it. The License page then names your bundle, lists the other apps the same key opens, and links to store.stoicsoft.com/key, where the key and its devices for every app are managed on one page.
An All Access subscription key works the same way, for every StoicSoft app while the subscription runs. The License page shows the date it is paid through; if a payment fails, Pro switches off within a week after that date, in every app on the key. Lemon Squeezy keys you already have keep working unchanged.
On the free plan, the License page also lists the bundles that include 1FileTool with their savings. On Pro, it shows the discount on your next StoicSoft app and, when your key covers fewer devices than the largest plan, offers to add more. Validating the license picks up a new bundle name or a higher device limit without re-activating.