Trial and Licensing
How REFRACT Platform trial licenses work, what happens at expiry, and how to convert to a full subscription.
Trial license
Every new deployment starts with a 30-day trial license. The trial includes full platform functionality. No features are restricted during the trial period.
The trial begins on the date the license file is issued, not the date of deployment.
What the trial license includes
- Full REFRACT Platform Dispatcher functionality
- All licensed adapters (Business Central, Dynamics Sales, Power Platform, as requested during onboarding)
- Vault Packs loaded during the onboarding session based on your selected products
- Access to your tenant admin portal
- Agent-assisted deployment support
- System Status Check and reporting
Vault Packs
During the onboarding session, the Vault engineer loads Vault Packs into your VaultLifecycle workspace. Vault Packs are curated sets of ready-to-use document templates selected based on the adapters and products you indicated when requesting access.
Once the System Status Check passes, your users can generate documents immediately using these templates. No template building is required to get started.
Vault Packs are included with both trial and paid licenses. You can customize the included templates or add your own at any time from the VaultLifecycle workspace.
License file
Your license is delivered as a file that you place in your Dispatcher configuration. The license is initially issued as an unbound key with no tenant attached.
On the Dispatcher's first call after deployment, your Microsoft 365 tenant ID is automatically detected from your Azure environment and the license becomes permanently bound to that tenant. Once bound, the license is specific to that tenant and cannot be used in a different Azure tenant.
Sandbox vs. production licenses
A sandbox license and a production license are separate because they are deployed into different Azure tenants, each with a different tenant ID. If you deploy to a sandbox environment first and later move to production, a new production license is issued for a new deployment. There is no charge for the sandbox license during evaluation.
Trial expiry
You receive automated reminder emails at:
| Days before expiry | Email content |
|---|---|
| Day 7 | Trial expiry reminder with subscription options |
| Day 3 | Follow-up reminder |
| Day 1 | Final reminder with direct link to subscribe |
If the trial expires without renewal, the Dispatcher stops processing document requests. The VaultLifecycle System Status Check will show the license as expired. No data is deleted.
Converting to a full subscription
When you are ready to subscribe:
- Contact the Vault team or use the subscription link in your reminder emails
- An invoice is raised based on your selected plan
- On payment confirmation, the Vault admin upgrades your license plan in the admin portal
- Your license features and limits update automatically on the next nightly sync (within 24 hours)
No reinstall, no file replacement, and no Dispatcher restart is required. There is only ever one license. When the plan is upgraded, the same license key is updated in place and your Dispatcher, adapters, VaultLifecycle workspace, and all Vault Pack templates remain exactly as they are.
Zero downtime conversion
Upgrading from trial to a paid plan requires no action on your end beyond the subscription confirmation. Your Microsoft environment configuration, adapters, SharePoint lists, and templates are unaffected.
Annual renewal
Full subscriptions are issued on an annual basis. You receive renewal reminders 30 days, 14 days, and 7 days before your license expiry date. Renewal follows the same process as the initial conversion: invoice, payment confirmation, and plan update in the admin portal. No file changes or restarts are required.
Migration paths
Trial Production to Full Production
This is the standard path for customers who trialed in their live Microsoft 365 tenant and are ready to subscribe. The same license is upgraded in place - no new license is issued.
| What changes | What stays the same |
|---|---|
| License plan (trial to paid) | Dispatcher deployment |
| Monthly document limits | VaultLifecycle workspace |
| Adapters and configuration | |
| Vault Packs and templates |
The Vault admin updates the plan in the admin portal. Your license features and limits are updated on the next nightly sync. No action is required on your side.
Demo or Dev Trial to Production
If you trialed REFRACT Platform in a sandbox or development Microsoft 365 tenant and are now deploying to production, this is a separate clean install in a different Azure environment. It is not an upgrade of the existing deployment.
This path applies when:
- You evaluated in a dev/sandbox M365 tenant and production is a different tenant
- You demoed in a partner or Vault-hosted environment and are deploying to your own tenant
What the production deployment involves:
- Request a production license through your tenant admin portal or by contacting the Vault team
- The Vault team issues a new production license
- A new onboarding session is scheduled to:
- Deploy a new Dispatcher to your production Azure subscription
- Set up a new VaultLifecycle workspace in your production SharePoint
- Configure your adapters to point to the production Dispatcher URL
- Load Vault Packs for your production environment based on your selected products
- The System Status Check confirms the production deployment is complete
Your demo or dev environment remains untouched. No data or configuration is migrated between the environments.
Why a new license is required
Each license is bound to the Azure tenant ID of the environment where the Dispatcher is deployed. A demo or dev tenant has a different tenant ID than your production tenant, so a new license must be issued for production.
Frequently asked questions
Can I extend my trial? Trial extensions are available on request. Contact the Vault team before your trial expires.
What if I need to redeploy to a different Azure subscription? The license is bound to your Microsoft 365 tenant ID, not your Azure subscription. You can redeploy the Dispatcher to a different Azure subscription within the same Microsoft 365 tenant and use the same license file. It will reactivate on first call.
What happens if I deployed a demo and now want to go to production? If your demo was in a different Microsoft 365 tenant than your production environment, you need a new production license. A new license is issued and a new deployment session is scheduled for your production environment. Your demo environment is unaffected. See Migration paths above for details.
Can I add adapters after initial deployment? Yes. Additional adapters can be added to your license at any time. Contact the Vault team to update your license plan, then install the additional adapter packages and configure them with your existing Dispatcher URL.
Do I receive a separate license for the trial and then a new one when I subscribe? No. There is a single license throughout your entire lifecycle. When you subscribe, the same license key is updated to the paid plan in place. Nothing in your deployment changes.
Direct Onboarding Path
Step-by-step onboarding journey for customers who start directly at the Vault onboarding portal rather than through Microsoft AppSource.
What is VaultPDF?
VaultPDF is a cloud-native document rendering engine that converts structured JSON data into polished PDFs entirely within your Azure environment. No third-party SaaS. No data leaving your tenant.