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Apple pro apps and Creator Studio licensing

This article is about licensing Apple's professional and productivity applications for Mac (Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, Motion, Compressor, MainStage, Pixelmator Pro, Pages, Keynote and Numbers), bought once from the Mac App Store or through the Apple Creator Studio subscription. It is not legal advice.

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Apple pro apps are Apple’s professional creative applications for the Mac: Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, Motion, Compressor, MainStage and Pixelmator Pro. Apple licenses them, and its free productivity apps Pages, Keynote and Numbers, under separate software licence agreements listed on its SLA index.[8] They are also available as a bundle in Apple Creator Studio, a subscription that gives access to the pro apps and to premium content and intelligence features in Pages, Keynote, Numbers and Freeform.[4][5] The standalone Mac apps are still sold as one-time purchases on the Mac App Store.[5] Whichever way they are bought, the per-app licence sets how an organization may count them.

Editions

Offering Price (USD) Who it is for Governing terms 
Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, Motion, Compressor, MainStage, Pixelmator Pro (standalone) One-time Mac App Store purchase (price set on the App Store) Individuals and organizations Per-app SLA plus Apple Media Services Terms[1][5] 
Pages, Keynote, Numbers, Freeform Free Everyone Per-app SLA[2][5] 
Apple Creator Studio, standard $12.99 per month or $129 per year after a free trial Individuals; shareable through Family Sharing Creator Studio Terms plus Apple Media Services Terms[4][5] 
Apple Creator Studio, students and educators $2.99 per month or $29.99 per year Verified college students and educators; individual use Same[5] 

The catalog records the four Creator Studio prices: monthly, annual, students and educators monthly and students and educators annual. Apple publishes no part numbers or business-specific price list for Creator Studio.

Metrics

The per-app SLAs share one metric, recorded as Mac Computer (per individual or shared). A commercial enterprise or educational institution may run one copy “(a) by a single individual on each of the Mac Computer(s) that you own or control, or (b) by multiple individuals on a single shared Mac Computer that you own or control”.[1][2] Where the apps are bought in volume through Apple Business, the Volume Content Service counts them by Device Assignment or User Assignment.[7] Creator Studio is sold per Apple Account.[5]

Counting / floors

Organizations: one individual, or one shared Mac (Final Cut Pro effective 2025-04-19; Pages effective 2024-10-08). For personal, non-commercial use, an individual may run one copy on each Mac they own or control. A commercial enterprise or educational institution may run one copy either for a single individual across the Macs it owns or controls, or for several individuals on one shared Mac. The SLAs give two examples: one employee using both a desktop and a laptop Mac, and students using a library Mac one after another.[1][2] The Logic Pro agreement linked from the index, the Logic Pro X agreement of 2013, contains the same two grants.[3] The Apple Media Services Usage Rules apply the same model to Apps generally, and add that each device used serially or collectively by several users requires a separate licence.[6] Catalog proof: Final Cut Pro and iWork for organizations: one individual or one shared Mac, App Store apps for Enterprises: one individual or one shared device per licence.

Volume licences. Where the app was obtained under a volume or maintenance licence program with Apple, that licence determines the number of copies. All other SLA terms still apply unless Apple agrees otherwise in writing.[1][2] Through the Volume Content Service, a device-assigned app needs a separate purchase for each unique device, and the organization keeps ownership and may reassign it.[7] Catalog proof: Device Assignment requires a separate licence per unique device.

Preinstalled iWork apps. Pages that came preinstalled on a Mac is licensed as one copy on a single Apple-branded computer. If the user associates it with a Mac App Store account, the other Apple apps preinstalled on that Mac are associated with the account too.[2]

Restrictions common to the SLAs. The apps may not run on non-Apple-branded computers. Unless otherwise licensed, only one user may use a copy at a time, it may not be made available over a network for several computers at once, and it may not be rented, leased, lent, sold, redistributed or sublicensed.[1] The Final Cut Pro agreement also prohibits using its Content, Digital Materials or Sample Content to train, test or evaluate machine learning or AI models.[1]

Bundled content. Final Cut Pro’s Sample Content may be used royalty-free to create original soundtracks for film, video and audio projects, and those soundtracks may be broadcast or distributed. The individual files may not be distributed on their own or repackaged as clip art, stock animation, audio samples, sound files or music beds.[1] Logic Pro X has an equivalent Sample Content clause.[3] In Pages, photographs, images, graphics and clip art in templates and themes may not be extracted or distributed on a standalone basis.[2]

Apple Creator Studio

What the subscription covers (effective 2026-05-22). The Creator Studio Terms supplement the Apple Media Services Terms. They give access to apps including Pages, Keynote, Numbers, Final Cut Pro, Compressor, Logic Pro, MainStage, Pixelmator Pro, Motion and Freeform, and each app remains subject to its own licence agreement.[4] Some features have usage limits, which Apple may change without notice. Exceeding a limit is prohibited, and Apple may take steps it considers necessary to enforce and verify compliance.[4]

Content rights. Content that Apple provides through Creator Studio, such as images, themes, templates, audio, video and 3D assets, may be used royalty-free “to create your own original projects for personal and commercial use”. It may not be republished as standalone files, incorporated into a logo, corporate ID, trademark or service mark, or used to train, test or evaluate AI models.[4] Outputs of the integrated AI features may not be used to train or benchmark other models, and subscribers are told to review generated output before relying on it.[4] Catalog proof: Creator Studio content: royalty-free for commercial projects, not for logos or AI training.

Sharing and end of subscription. A standard subscription can be shared with up to five other family members through Family Sharing. Student and educator subscriptions are for individual use only.[5] Family Sharing is a consumer feature: the Apple Media Services Terms describe it as sharing eligible subscriptions among up to six members of a Family, organized by an adult.[6] When a subscription ends, Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro and Pixelmator Pro projects stay on the user’s devices, but opening or editing them requires an active subscription. Pages, Keynote, Numbers and Freeform documents can still be edited, but not with paid features.[5] Customers who already own the standalone apps may keep using them.[5] Catalog proof: Creator Studio sharing and access after the subscription ends.

Commentary. The Creator Studio documents describe a subscription tied to an individual’s Apple Account and Family Sharing. The retrieved terms contain no organization-level subscription or per-seat business pricing. Organizations counting Creator Studio therefore have to rely on the Apple Media Services Usage Rules and on the licence of each included app.[4][6]

Virtualization & partitioning

The app SLAs contain no virtualization grant. They restrict use to Apple-branded computers, one user at a time, and no network use by several computers.[1] Running the apps inside macOS virtual machines is therefore governed by the macOS SLA, which limits guest instances to specific purposes. See macOS licensing.

Cloud / BYOL

Apple publishes no cloud or bring-your-own-licence terms for the pro apps. Creator Studio needs an Apple Account and an internet connection to subscribe, and some of its AI features use third-party models, which may have their own usage limits.[5]

Programs

Out of scope

This article does not cover the iPad versions of Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro, or the Final Cut Pro trial, all of which have separate SLAs on the index.[8] Nor does it cover the licences of third-party plug-ins and templates, which carry their own terms, or the legacy Final Cut Studio and Logic Studio products.

References

  1. Final Cut Pro Software License AgreementEA1947. §2A licence; §2B volume or maintenance licence; §2E Digital Materials; §2F sample content; §2G restrictions.Effective 2025-04-19. Retrieved 2026-09-26.
  2. Pages Software License AgreementEA1939. §2A licence; §2B preinstalled copy; §2C volume licence; §2F Digital Materials.Effective 2024-10-08. Retrieved 2026-09-26.
  3. Logic Pro X Software License AgreementEA1004, the Logic Pro agreement linked from the SLA index. §2A Mac App Store licence; §2B Sample Content; §2C volume licence.Effective 2013-05-31. Retrieved 2026-09-26.
  4. Apple Creator Studio Terms and ConditionsEA2004. §1 general and usage limits; §2 content and prompts; §3 contract changes.Effective 2026-05-22. Retrieved 2026-09-26.
  5. Apple Creator Studio product pageUS prices, included apps, Family Sharing and end-of-subscription FAQ.Retrieved 2026-09-26.
  6. Apple Media Services Terms and Conditions (United States)Usage Rules (Enterprise use of Apps); Family Sharing; Standard EULA.Effective 2026-09-14. Retrieved 2026-09-26.
  7. Apple Business Terms of Service (United States)LYL252. Volume Content Service Addendum.Effective 2026-09-09. Retrieved 2026-09-26.
  8. Software License Agreements (index)Lists the per-app SLAs for Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, Motion, Compressor, MainStage, Pages, Keynote, Numbers and Creator Studio.Retrieved 2026-09-26.

See also

Catalog Rows Cited

2Programs4SKUs3Metrics5Rules

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