ActivTrak uses a license-based billing model. Understanding how Users, Agents, and licenses interact is essential for efficient license management and accurate billing. This guide explains the relationship between these components and provides strategies for optimizing your license usage.
Important: The number of licenses being used is directly linked to the number of User Agents actively collecting and/or storing data. ActivTrak plans are billed on an annual contract basis.
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How licensing works
ActivTrak offers annual plans with billing based on your Subscription Plan selection and the number of licenses you choose to purchase.
An ActivTrak license lets you track one unique user across their devices. Our licensing is based on people, not machines, so someone using multiple devices with the same username and logon domain only uses one license. Licenses determine how many users you can simultaneously analyze activity for and directly affect your billing. Your organization pays annually for licenses, with options to add more as needed throughout the year.
Note: User tracking is automatic. Any user who logs into a computer where the Agent is installed will automatically be tracked and counted against user licensing quantities.
When more licenses are needed, Admins can use the self-service cart feature to add them. The system automatically prorates new licenses so all licenses remain on the same term and factors in any existing discounts.
Payment can be made by credit card or, for eligible accounts, via invoice (check, wire transfer, or direct deposit). For billing questions or to request copies of invoices, contact billing@activtrak.com.
Note: Only users with Admin permissions can access the self-service license purchasing feature.
What happens when licenses are exceeded?
Our paid plans include a 14-day grace period to make adjustments and avoid penalties when you exceed your license limit. The grace period resets when your user count drops to or below your purchased license limit.
You can check your current license usage by clicking your account avatar in the top right corner of the ActivTrak app. The dropdown menu displays your users-to-licenses ratio (for example, "211/242" means you're tracking 211 users with 242 purchased licenses).
Users-to-Licenses Ratio
When you exceed your license limit, account Admins receive an email notification about the start of the grace period. Within these 14 days, an Admin must complete one or both of the following actions:
- Add more licenses through the self-service cart feature
- Reclaim licenses by deleting historical data, setting users to Untracked
If no action is taken before the grace period ends, data collection will continue, but all users will lose access to data and reports until the account is brought back into compliance.
Note: Free accounts don't receive a grace period. They lose access to data and reports immediately when exceeding their three free licenses. To regain access, either remove users or upgrade to a paid plan.
License usage
A license is consumed whenever a user has historical data stored in ActivTrak (i.e., a User Agent is collecting data for that particular user). To identify which users are consuming licenses, navigate to the Users page (Settings > Users & Groups > Users). The Agents column shows the number of User Agents associated with each user record; this is equivalent to the number of licenses associated with that user.
User Agents collect activity data based on the unique username and logon domain associated with a specific user. When someone logs into a computer with ActivTrak installed, the User Agent identifies them through their User Principal Name (UPN), email address, or device login to collect work activity data.
Rather than just tracking devices, User Agents help you understand how your team works by showing productivity patterns and work habits for specific people.
ActivTrak's licensing is user-based, not device-based. This means:
- A user using the same login credentials (i.e., identifiers) on three unique devices will consume one license
- Five users using unique login credentials on the same device will each consume one license, for a total of five licenses
A single user may consume more than one license when:
- They use devices on different domains (i.e., standalone devices)
- They use different login credentials on the same or different devices
- The device name is changed
The User Merge feature allows you to combine historical and future records for multiple users into one user, thereby freeing up license/s. Learn more about the User Merge feature here. (This feature is only available to Admins of paid plans.)
Domain-connected devices
In a domain-connected environment (using Active Directory, Azure/Entra ID, or similar systems), ActivTrak identifies users by their login credentials rather than by device.
When, for example, Jennifer logs into any domain-joined computer using their credentials, the system recognizes them as the same user regardless of which device they're using. This means Jennifer can work from their office desktop in the morning, a conference room laptop at midday, and their department's shared workstation in the afternoon—all while consuming just one license.
Standalone devices
In a standalone environment (not domain-connected), each computer works independently. When different individuals use the same device, the ActivTrak Agent treats each login as a separate user. In these environments, proactive license management is essential to optimizing license usage.
For example, if Jennifer logs into Brian's computer, ActivTrak will automatically count this as a new user. Now, Jennifer will be consuming two licenses - one for her computer and one for Brian’s computer.
If two or more agents are associated with the same user in ActivTrak, Computer Aliases can be created to view the combined data in reports and dashboards. Please note that creating a Computer Alias will not reduce the license count.
However, to save on license consumption, you should merge users when a user moves from one device to another. For example, if Brian’s MacBook Air dies and the company issues him a new MacBook Pro, the two agents can be merged to ensure his data is continuous across historical and future activity reports and dashboards. This will reduce the number of licenses consumed by Brian from two (one for each device) to only one.
To identify the number of licenses a user is consuming, navigate to the Users page (Settings > Users & Groups > Users). Click on the user to navigate to their User Details page. In the Agents associated with User panel, three agents are listed, one for each device associated with Brian; this is equivalent to the number of licenses associated with that user.
Agents associated with User - User Details
Managing licenses
The Users page gives you complete control over your license usage. Here are the key things to understand:
- Historical data continues to consume a license, even for ex-employees
- To free up a license, you must delete the historical data for that User
- When you delete historical data, the User Agent is removed from the User, but the user's identifiers are maintained in their record
Managing former employee data
When managing data for employees who've left your organization, you have three options:
- Keep historical data (for HR purposes, compliance, etc.); this will continue to consume a license
- Delete historical data to free up the license
- Export data using the app export capabilities or the ActivConnect API, then delete the data to free up the license
Tracked vs. Untracked Users
The tracking status of a user affects license consumption differently:
- Tracked User: Actively collecting new data; consumes a license once data has been recorded
- Untracked User with Historical Data: Preserving past activity records without collecting new data; consumes a license
- Untracked User without Historical Data: Neither collecting new data nor storing past activity; does not consume a license
To completely free up a license, you must delete a user’s historical data. Historical data in the ActivTrak app is attached to a User Agent, and each User Agent is associated with a license.
Remember that Users set as Untracked (rather than removed) will remain in your system, preventing them from being accidentally tracked again if they log into a device with the ActivTrak agent installed.
Summary of License Consumption
GDPR and CCPA compliance and data security
When deleting historical data:
- The process is not reversible
- This permanent deletion supports GDPR and CCPA compliance requirements
- It enhances data security by removing unnecessary personal data
Azure AD/Entra ID integration
For teams using Azure AD/Entra ID, we've improved how you can automatically manage licenses in the Do Not Track (DNT) and Delete groups. These improvements make user management more flexible and transparent.
If you're using Azure AD/Entra ID integration, be aware of these important distinctions:
- DNT Group in Azure AD: Users placed in this group will be added to the Do Not Track (DNT) list, but will continue to consume licenses if historical data is maintained
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Delete Group in Azure AD: Users placed in this group will both stop tracking and free up licenses (the Delete group functionality automatically adds users to DNT as well)
- Note: While historical data is deleted, the User record(s) are conserved in the ActivTrak system
To prevent accidental tracking and unintentional license consumption
- Add users to the Delete group in Azure proactively
- This prevents accidental tracking and license consumption if users access a device with the agent
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I keep historical data without consuming a license?
No. A license is consumed whenever you store historical data, even for inactive users.
Is there an option to download historical data?
Yes. You can use ActivConnect or export data from existing reports (up to 50K rows at a time). The Activity Log is an excellent option for exporting log-level data.
Does an Untracked User consume a license?
If the Untracked User has historical data, a license will be consumed. If the Untracked User has no historical data or you’ve deleted their historical data, no license is needed.
How can I free up a license?
To free up a license, delete the historical data associated with a user, which removes the User Agent from the User record.
When does a user consume multiple licenses?
- When they use devices on different domains
- When they use different login credentials on the same or different devices
- When a device name is changed
What happens when a user changes domains or email addresses?
- If a user's UPN (User Principal Name) changes, they may consume multiple licenses
- This can happen during domain migrations or company rebranding
- The User Merge feature allows you to combine historical and future records for multiple users into one user, thereby freeing up license/s.