SARAH is going 100% free.
As of v1.0.5, shipping early next week, there will be no licence key, no Premium edition and no Free edition. Just SARAH for Linux or SARAH for Windows — one download per platform, with every premium feature unlocked from the first launch.
That's a bigger change than it sounds, so here's what actually goes away.
What's being removed
The licence system. No key to buy, no key to activate, no activation screen. You install it and it runs.
The two-edition split. Right now there are separate Premium and Free builds. In v1.0.5 there's one build per platform. Premium features — sandboxes, multi-chat, GitHub writes — aren't gated behind anything any more. They're just part of the app.
The tier language. No "upgrade", no "unlock", no comparison table. There's nothing to compare.
What stays
Everything that makes the app useful stays exactly as it is: chat and plan modes, the built-in editor, terminal, local git, plugins, skills, projects, MCP servers, background runs, run receipts.
The install itself doesn't get heavier or worse. It gets simpler, because there's one thing to download instead of four.
Why
Honest answer: the tiering was friction. It meant maintaining two build pipelines, a signing and verification chain for licence entitlements, and an activation flow — all to separate people from features that were already written. Removing it makes the app easier to ship, easier to support, and easier to explain.
Fewer moving parts is a feature.
If you already have a key
You're not left behind. v1.0.5 gives you the same thing it gives everyone else, and you don't need to do anything to keep using the app. If you picked one up recently and feel hard done by, get in touch and I'll sort it out.
When
Early next week, targeting v1.0.5. I'll post the actual release notes and download links here when it lands.
Until then, v1.0.4 is still available at https://sarahai.co.uk
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