FAQ

QLab 5 is compatible with macOS Big Sur or newer and Apple Silicon-based Macs. QLab 4.6.8 and later is compatible with Apple Silicon processors except for video. If you use Video, Camera, or Text cues in QLab 4, you should use an Intel-based Mac.

The first thing to do is download the software. It's a free download with a limited feature set. To unlock additional capabilities you can buy or rent a license from our online store.

After you've downloaded QLab to your macOS computer, you can launch it and start working right away. But if you'd like some help getting started, you can also:

Ask us for help

Browse our QLab documentation

Watch our tutorial videos

You can count on QLab support. We offer all of our users the same high-quality, free, friendly, and fast email-based support at support@figure53.com. If you email us during our business hours, 9 am - 7 pm Eastern US time Monday - Friday, we typically reply within an hour.

When you get in touch, please include any details that may help us understand your question, and we'll work hard to get you up and running. If you have a technical question, please include the version of QLab and macOS that you’re running.

Over the past 10+ years of supporting QLab, we've consistently found that email correspondence provides our users with the best and fastest help. We don't offer help over the phone or chat service because email allows us to quickly direct you to the team member who is best suited to answer your question and provides us with a clear record of all of your questions and what we've suggested. We are incredibly proud of our product support, and our dedicated team will get you the solution you need.

We're looking forward to hearing from you! Contact Support

The QLab software itself is free with a limited feature set. You can rent or buy licenses to unlock more features. You can find a chart of which features are available with each license type and the free version in our documentation.

You can purchase or rent a license from our online store. Your license will be added to your QLab Account. To sign into QLab, open the program and go into the QLab Menu => Manage Your Licenses. Sign in using your email and password.

For details on installing a license, see our documentation.

Each QLab 5 license can be installed on up to two machines. You can use the two installations for any purpose within your organization. For example, you could have a main and backup copy of one show, or you could use each installation for a different show. You can access our full license agreement by opening QLab and selecting "Read License Agreement" under the QLab menu.

If you want to try QLab’s licensed features you can use Demo Mode. Demo Mode creates a new workspace where you can use all of QLab’s licensed features for up to 60 minutes. You can start demo mode by launching QLab and selecting “Start Demo Mode” under the QLab Menu.

Rental licenses are an affordable way to access QLab for short periods of time. Rental licenses are short-term expiring licenses that stop working when the rental period ends. You can purchase and install rental licenses ahead of time and choose the date on which they will start. On the appropriate day, the license will activate and unlock the features. When the rental period is over, the license will simply time out; you do not need to “stop” or “cancel” a rental.

Our rental licenses are "rent-to-own," which means every dollar that you spend on rental licenses can be applied towards the purchase of a standard QLab license. At the end of each day, you'll receive "store credit" equal to the value of that day's rental. That store credit can be applied to the purchase of any standard, non-rental QLab license. You can view your store credit balance on your account page or on the checkout page.

Want to trade in a rental before it's finished? See the FAQ on Trade-Ins.

Your work is still saved in your workspace, even if your license expires. All the license does is unlock the features to allow you to run cues that require the license, it doesn’t affect the workspace file itself. Just rent another license next time you need it, and your cues will run just like they did the first time.

If you buy the wrong standard license, you can trade it in for an equivalent license. See the "How do trade-ins, rent-to-own, and store credit work?" section below for more information on trading in standard licenses.

If you rent the wrong license, you can reach out to support at support@figure53.com to help you trade for a different rental license. Store credit cannot be applied toward the purchase of rental licenses.

See below.

If you own a standard license from the version of QLab that is currently for sale, you can trade it in to receive its full purchase price as a trade-in discount.

In the Shop, add the licenses you wish to have to the cart. Go to "Review & Check Out", and you will see the "Upgrades, Trade-Ins, and Store Credit" section heading. Select "Show eligible trade-ins" under that heading. (Please note that trading in a license permanently deactivates the license and removes any existing installations of that license, which occurs at the moment of checkout.) Once you've selected your license for trade-in, you'll have a trade-in discount available that you can apply to the purchase of any standard, non-rental QLab license.

If you're renting a license, you'll receive store credit for the entire dollar amount you spend on rental licenses. The store credit balance updates once a day automatically.

You can see your store credit balance on your account page. When you check out, you have the option to apply any portion of your store credit balance to your purchase, or to hold on to it for later. Store credit can only be applied to the purchase of standard licenses, it can not be used for rentals.

If you rented QLab 4 licenses before the switch to our new store credit system and did not yet earn a permanent license, you’ll receive full store credit for all of your rental days.

*Our lawyer would like you to know that Figure 53 reserves the right to end or modify the store credit program at any time without liability (though we have no present intention of doing so!). Unless we end the store credit program, store credits do not expire. Store credits have no cash or cash surrender value, earn no interest, do not appreciate in value, are not adjusted for changing prices, and are not investments or securities. Store credit cannot be transferred, sold, assigned or otherwise traded without our consent - but we're happy to help you at support@figure53.com if you have questions or if your organization has multiple accounts and you did want to transfer credits between commonly owned accounts.

We do provide educational discounts. To access educational pricing you’ll need proof of status with an educational institution. Usually writing to support@figure53.com from an educational email address and attaching a copy of your ID is sufficient. If, for some reason, you are unable to provide these things, please write to support@figure53.com with an explanation. See this page for more information.

We offer site license options for larger institutions such as schools or rental shops. Read about our site licenses here or contact support@figure53.com with any questions.

QLab is made and supported by a small team, so unfortunately we’re not able to accept purchase orders. We apologize for the inconvenience. If it’s helpful we can provide a sole source letter stating that there is no other seller of our software.

We only sell QLab directly from our website, so we have no special relationships or pricing with dealers or resellers. We prefer to deal directly with our customers whenever possible. Of course, sometimes the end user isn't able to make the purchase, and a reseller is necessary. In that case, you're welcome to purchase the license from us and sell it to your client, but we do ask that you send them to us for support and help; they can reach us at support@figure53.com. We feel that we don't just sell QLab licenses - the support that comes along with it is part of the product.

If you do make the purchase on someone else's behalf, please ask them to create an account on our site. Then, once you've made the purchase, write back to us with the order number of the purchase and we'll transfer the license from your account to theirs. They can create the account at https://qlab.app/account/

if you’re a reseller buying on behalf of an educational institution please contact support so we can get you registered with educational discounts.

You can trade in your QLab 4 license to receive a significant discount towards a v5 license. As part of the upgrade process, your QLab 4 license will be permanently deactivated and you will be signed out of any existing installations. If you still need to access QLab 4 workspaces, you can do that using your QLab 5 license.

Ready to upgrade? Start the process here.

If you have a QLab 4 site license and would like to upgrade to QLab 5, please contact support@figure53.com

V5 contains a number of additions and improvements from v4, including a brand new video engine that vastly increases QLab’s speed and power when working with video. QLab 5 also allows multiple people to collaborate on a single workspace from networked machines.

There are many other changes and improvements: you can read the full list in our documentation.

Unfortunately, no. If you have a v4 license you may trade it in for store credit which can be applied to any v5 purchase, but v3 licenses no longer carry any store credit value.

QLab relies on a number of frameworks that are part of macOS, which means that to port it to another platform would require rewriting it from scratch. We’re a very small company of around a dozen people, and don't have any Windows development experience. We focus on the one platform in order to do the best work we can with the resources we have.

QLab 5 is a Mac-only program. It requires macOS Big Sur (macOS 11) or higher, and can run on any Mac that can run macOS Big Sur or higher. QLab 5 runs on both Apple Silicon processors and Intel processors. Because QLab is a flexible program that can be used in a variety of ways it’s difficult to outline strict rules for what properties your machine will need.

You can find a more detailed description of considerations and recommendations in our documentation, or you can write to our support team with specific questions.

No. QLab requires a full version of the macOS to run, so will not work on an iPad or iPhone. If you're only running sound, we make an audio-only playback program for iOS called Go Button. Go Button is a standalone iOS app that provides a self-contained show control system that runs on your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch. Go Button is free if you are only using it for one show.

V5 licenses work with QLab 4, as long as you are running QLab 4.7.0 or higher. You can download QLab 4 here.

QLab 3, QLab 2 and QLab 1 are no longer supported, and we are unable to generate new licenses for them.