Account & License
DimSum runs signed in to your Planbase account. You sign in once, in your browser, and DimSum activates the computer (2 computers per seat). It then works offline for up to 30 days, tells you every time it opens whether it is Online or Offline, and shows your plan, seats and computers in System Settings → Account & License. If a trial or license ends, your jobs still open read-only and export; nothing is deleted.
Overview
DimSum needs a Planbase account to run. That's how it knows who is using it and whether they're licensed.
- You sign in in your browser. DimSum opens Planbase's sign-in page in your normal browser and never sees your password.
- Each seat runs on 2 computers. Signing in on a computer activates it. Reinstalling DimSum on the same computer doesn't use another slot.
- 30 days offline. DimSum keeps a signed license on the computer, so it works without a connection for up to 30 days after its last check-in with Planbase.
- Online or Offline, every time it opens. A short message under the top bar, and a small indicator in the top bar that always shows the state.
- Your work is never held hostage. If a trial or license ends, DimSum goes read-only: your jobs open to look at, print and export. Nothing is deleted or changed.
- Nothing about your jobs is sent. DimSum sends only what the license needs (see What DimSum sends).
Where to find it
- System Settings → Account & License (
Ctrl+,, then Account & License in the list on the left, just above About / Updates). - The top bar: click the Online / Offline indicator (or Trial, Free until…, Read-only) to open Account & License.
- The sign-in screen, when no one is signed in on this computer.
How to use it
Accept the License Agreement
The first time DimSum opens on a computer, it shows the License Agreement before anything else. Click I accept to continue. Decline says DimSum can't be used without accepting the License Agreement., with Close DimSum and Back. It asks again only when a new version of the agreement comes with an update. Read it again any time from Account & License → License Agreement → View, or from License Agreement (EULA) on the sign-in screen.
Sign in
- On the Sign in to DimSum screen, click Sign in with your browser. The screen reads Finish signing in in your browser…, with Cancel and Paste a code instead.
- Your browser opens Planbase's sign-in page. Sign in (or create your account; see New here?), then click Continue on Sign in to DimSum on this computer as {you}? (or Use a different account).
- You can close this tab and go back to DimSum.* DimSum comes to the front, activates this computer and opens Home.
- If DimSum doesn't come back (a firewall or browser blocked the hand-back), the browser page also shows a code. In DimSum, click Paste a code instead, paste it under Code from the browser and click Continue. A code works once, for 5 minutes.
- More than one Workspace? DimSum asks Which Workspace is this computer for?, listing each one with your role, and remembers your answer on this computer. To switch to another Workspace, Sign out (or Deactivate this computer…) and sign in again: DimSum asks again. A computer signed out from your account page keeps the answer.
- Signing in needs the internet. Offline, the screen says You're offline. Signing in needs the internet; after that DimSum works offline for 30 days.
- While signed out, DimSum shows only the sign-in screen. The update chip and System Settings still open, with Account & License and About / Updates, so an update can always arrive. The Report a bug and Feedback buttons are there too.
New here?
On the sign-in screen, New here? Create your account — no card needed. opens the sign-up page in your browser. Your account comes with its own Workspace (your company's home for licenses and seats). Come back to DimSum and click Sign in with your browser.
Use DimSum on two computers
Each seat can be active on 2 computers at once, for example an office PC and a laptop.
- A third computer: DimSum says You're using DimSum on 2 computers already. and A seat can be on 2 computers at once. To use this one, deactivate one of the others. It lists your other computers, each with when it was last used and a Deactivate and use this computer button. DimSum asks once (Deactivate {name}? DimSum on {name} signs out the next time it connects.), then signs in on this computer. A lost or broken laptop never locks you out.
- When the whole Workspace is full: Your Workspace is using all its computers ({n}). Ask your Workspace admin to free one, or to add a seat.
- A computer someone else signed in on says This computer is signed in to DimSum for {them}. They, or your Workspace admin, need to deactivate it first.
Read Account & License
Open System Settings → Account & License. The rows read:
| Row | What it says |
|---|---|
| Signed in as | Your name and email |
| Workspace | Your Workspace's name, and Admin or Member |
| Plan | Trial — {n} days left (ends {date}), Free until {date} — {n} days left (the launch offer), Workspace license — renews {date}, Workspace license — ends {date} (a subscription you've cancelled), Complimentary or Enterprise |
| Status | Active, Payment problem — update your card, or Read-only — and the reason |
| Seats | {used} of {seats} in use |
| This computer | Its name and a short ID (ID XXXX-XXXX), with Deactivate this computer… |
| Your other computer | Its name and when it was last used, with Deactivate… (only when you have one) |
| Connection | Online · checked Today, 2:14 PM, or Offline · last checked {when} · {n} days left |
| License file | Valid until {date}, about 30 days after the last check-in |
| Offline activation | This computer's fingerprint: and the full fingerprint, with Copy (see A computer that can't connect) |
| License Agreement | Version {v}, accepted {date}, with View |
Under the rows: Check now, Manage account (your account page in the browser), a billing button when there's something to pay for, and Sign out. The billing button is Buy a license on a trial or the launch offer, Update payment when a payment didn't go through, and Renew when a license has ended. It opens billing in your browser; there's no checkout inside DimSum. At the bottom, Load a license file….
Signed out, the page says You're not signed in on this computer. with Sign in with your browser, and still shows This computer, Offline activation, the License Agreement and Load a license file….
Online and Offline
Every time DimSum opens, a strip under the top bar says how it's connected, once DimSum has checked in (or after about 10 seconds with no answer):
| You see | Means | It goes |
|---|---|---|
| Online · signed in as {email} · {Workspace} | DimSum checked your license just now | After 6 seconds, or ✕ |
| Online · Trial: {n} days left, with Buy a license | You're on a trial | After 6 seconds, or ✕ |
| Online · Free until Jan 1, 2027, with Buy a license | You're on the launch offer | After 6 seconds, or ✕ |
| Your last payment didn't go through. Update your card to keep DimSum running., with Update payment | A payment failed; DimSum keeps working meanwhile | Only with ✕ |
| Offline. DimSum works without a connection for {n} more days. | DimSum couldn't reach Planbase | Only with ✕ |
| The same, in amber, plus Connect to the internet before {date} to keep editing. | 5 days or fewer left offline | Only with ✕ |
| The read-only sentence, with its button | See When a trial or license ends | Only with ✕ |
The strip pushes the screen down while it shows; it never covers the canvas.
The top-bar indicator always shows the state. Click it to open Account & License; hover it for the detail.
| Indicator | Hover |
|---|---|
| ● Online | Signed in as {email} |
| ○ Offline · {n} days (amber at 5 or fewer) | DimSum needs to connect within {n} days. |
| ● Trial · {n} days left (amber at 3 or fewer) | Your trial ends {date}. |
| ● Free until Jan 1, 2027, then Free · {n} days left in the last 30 days (amber) | Your free period ends Jan 1, 2027. |
| Read-only (red) | The reason |
| Developer license · {n} days | A license file loaded by hand, with no sign-in |
When DimSum checks in: when it opens, every 4 hours, when your connection comes back, after you sign in, and when you click Check now. After a check that couldn't connect, it tries again in 30 minutes. "Online" only means the last check got an answer.
The 30 days count from the last check-in that got an answer. Each check-in renews them. If Planbase's own servers are down, DimSum just says Offline: an outage on our side never locks you out.
Sign out, or free this computer
- Sign out asks Sign out of DimSum on this computer? with a tick box, Also free this computer's slot (off to start). Without the tick, the computer keeps its slot, so signing back in costs nothing. With it, the slot is freed for another computer. A job that's open is closed cleanly first. Offline, Sign out only forgets you on this computer, and the tick is greyed.
- Deactivate this computer… asks Deactivate this computer? DimSum signs out here and frees the slot for another computer. Your jobs stay on this computer. A job that's open is closed cleanly first; then you see the sign-in screen. Offline, the button is greyed: Connect to the internet to deactivate.
- Your other computer → Deactivate… frees your other computer's slot from here: Deactivate {name}? DimSum on {name} signs out the next time it connects.
- Your jobs are files on your computer. Signing out or deactivating never touches them.
A computer that can't connect
For a computer that's never online:
- In Account & License (or on the sign-in screen), copy this computer's fingerprint (Copy, or Copy fingerprint). The hint reads For a computer that can't connect: send this to Planbase, then load the file you get back.
- Send it to Planbase at hello@planbaseestimating.com. You get back a license file (
.dimsum-license) made for that computer. - Click Load a license file… (or Use a license file… on the sign-in screen) and pick it. DimSum says License file loaded. Valid until {date}.
A license file works only on the computer it was made for, and it takes one of your seat's 2 slots. If it can't be used, DimSum says why: That license file is for another computer (ID {id})., That license file expired on {date}., or That isn't a DimSum license file, or it was changed.
Running on a license file with no sign-in, DimSum never connects, so it shows no Online or Offline message when it opens. The top bar says Developer license · {n} days.
The launch offer
For our first customers:
- Sign up by December 31, 2026 and DimSum is free until January 1, 2027. Your Workspace license costs nothing until then, needs no card to start, and puts no mark on your exports. A late sign-up still gets at least 14 days free: sign up on December 31 and it's free until January 14, 2027.
- A free second seat for founding customers, for as long as you keep subscribing. A founding Workspace starts with 2 seats (Seats reads 1 of 2 in use). Seats beyond that are $400 a year each, from day one.
- From January 1, 2027 the Workspace license is $600 a year (it includes your first seat); your free second seat stays free.
- If you don't buy by then, DimSum goes read-only like any license that has ended: Your free period has ended. Jobs open read-only until you buy a license. Nothing is deleted., and exports carry a small DimSum — license expired.
After the offer, a new Workspace gets a 14-day trial instead, with 1 seat and no card needed. During the trial every printed or PDF page (reports and marked-up plans) carries a small grey DimSum Trial at the bottom right, and a CSV export starts with a row reading DimSum Trial (delete the row if you like; nothing else is blocked or cut). The mark is never on screen. The top bar shows Trial · {n} days left.
When a trial or license ends
DimSum goes read-only. Nothing is deleted or changed, and your jobs are still yours:
- Home works, and every job opens read-only to look at, print and export (PDF and CSV). The job's read-only banner says why.
- Greyed out, with the reason when you hover: New Job, Import plans into a new job, the takeoff tool buttons, the Tool Designer's Add buttons, and the Reports tab's Design. Anything else that would change a job, a tool or a report says the same sentence, with a button.
- System Settings still work; they're this computer's preferences.
- Exports carry a mark: DimSum Trial after a trial; DimSum — license expired after a paid license or the free period ends. A paid license that's read-only only because it's been offline over 30 days has no mark.
| What happened | DimSum says | Button |
|---|---|---|
| A trial ended | Your trial has ended. Jobs open read-only until you buy a license. Nothing is deleted. | Buy a license |
| The launch offer's free period ended | Your free period has ended. Jobs open read-only until you buy a license. Nothing is deleted. | Buy a license |
| A license ended (not renewed) | Your license has ended. Jobs open read-only until you renew. Nothing is deleted. | Renew |
| Offline for over 30 days | DimSum hasn't connected for 30 days. Connect to the internet to keep editing. | Check now |
| The computer's clock was turned back | Your computer's clock looks wrong. Set the date and time, then press Check now. | Check now |
| The account is on hold | This account is on hold. Contact Planbase at hello@planbaseestimating.com. | Check now |
| This computer was signed out from your account page | This computer was signed out of DimSum from your account. This job stays open to look at. | Sign in |
A payment that didn't go through doesn't make DimSum read-only: it keeps working while the payment is retried, and says Your last payment didn't go through. Update your card to keep DimSum running., with Update payment.
When you renew, DimSum picks it up at the next check-in (or click Check now): Your license is active again. Close and reopen a job to edit it.
Updates after a lapse: only critical fixes install. Any other new version shows in About / Updates as DimSum {version} is out. Your license isn't active, so only critical fixes are installed. Renew to get it., with Renew. See Updates.
Seats, Workspaces and testers
- A Workspace is your company's account. Its admin buys the license, adds seats and assigns them to people in the account page (Manage account).
- A seat is one named person, on up to 2 computers.
- Beta testers are invited by Planbase by email. Accepting the invitation (signed in as the invited email, with the Beta and Tester Agreement) gives a complimentary license, so Account & License reads Plan Complimentary, and usually puts the computer on the Beta update channel. About / Updates' Update channel is then set for you, with a hint such as Your account is on Beta. When tester access ends, Planbase tells you by email first (usually 30 days ahead); after that it works like any license that has ended.
Updates need a license
- An active license gets every update, as Updates describes.
- Critical fixes must be installed within 3 days of DimSum first seeing them. Until then the update chip counts down (Restart to update · {n} days left). After that DimSum asks you to restart (Restart now or When I close DimSum), and at the next start it installs the fix before it opens (offline, you can still Open DimSum anyway (offline)).
What DimSum sends
Each check-in sends this computer's ID (a scrambled fingerprint, never the raw machine ID), its name, its system, the DimSum version and the update channel. Never your jobs, file names, plans, quantities or what you click. The page says so too: DimSum sends only what the license needs: this computer's ID and name, its system, the DimSum version and update channel. Never your jobs or what you do in them. There are no crash reports or usage tracking.
Options & settings
| Setting or row | Where | What | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| Also free this computer's slot | Sign out | Frees the slot as you sign out | Off |
| The Check now button | Account & License | Checks in at once | |
| Load a license file… | Account & License (and Use a license file… on the sign-in screen) | Loads a .dimsum-license file from Planbase |
Rules, limits & edge cases
- 2 computers per seat, at once. Reinstalling DimSum on the same computer keeps its slot. Reinstalling Windows makes it a new computer.
- 30 days offline, counted from the last check-in that got an answer. Setting the computer's clock back doesn't add days.
- Removed from a Workspace, or signed out from the account page: the next time the computer checks in, it signs out. A job that's open stays open, read-only, until you close it. The sign-in screen says why, once, for example Your seat in {Workspace} was removed. Ask your Workspace admin, or sign in with another account.
- Not used for a long while: You haven't used DimSum on this computer for a while. Sign in again.
- An account that's closed signs out at the next check-in: This account is closed. Download all your data from your account before it's gone. Download all my data Coming isn't on the account page yet.
- A copy where sign-in isn't switched on: Account & License reads Sign-in isn't switched on in this build. That copy runs as it did before accounts: no sign-in, no check-ins and no mark.
- Nothing syncs. Offline only means DimSum couldn't check your license; there's no cloud sync to pause yet.
- Windows only for now.
