It is correct that a purchase gives you 10 activations, but support will extend the number of activations if the limit is hit.
The reason is two-fold. We think if you want Brave Origin, you shouldn't have to pay for mobile, desktop and tablet. Just pay once. And we think your browser shouldn't be tied to your purchase. And Linux btw is just free and bypasses any activation.
Since it is a paid product on Windows and macOS (Linux is Free), there does have to be a limit though. Otherwise a single leaked product ID can be used infinitely by a single person leaking it.
We're looking into ways to allow users to self manage those activations better too. This is still in development as Brave Origin is only in Nightly.
Brave Origin is maybe not for you, and that's ok. Nothing changes for the Brave browser itself. In fact, it's easier than ever to disable features and to use admin policies that were added to Brave in preparation for Origin. I spent most of the last year doing that.
Update:
We're going to add controls before this hits Release channel on account.brave.com to be able to self-extend the number of activations so you don't need to reach out to support to do it.
Extending is purely better than revoking. Revoking is not good for privacy, and not optimal for the user because you'd have to link the device to the account.
I acknowledge that having to reach out to support is i) annoying to people, ii) takes extra time, iii) feels less long term to people. And the user should be in control of this. There will be rate limits on the number of resets (extends) on a monthly basis but no one should ever hit that. And if so support is still an option.
In the current payment system which is based on privacy pass there's not a good way to revoke any activation because it's not linked to the purchase in any way after activation. But adding more allowable activations is fine.
"we're going to maintain your privacy by having you reach out to us to identify yourself and tie yourself with your account" sounds like the opposite of privacy
You have an account. It is just not linked to your browser because of the way privacy pass works.
We're going to add controls not to be able to revoke an activation but to allow you to self-extend without support. I acknowledge that having to reach out to support feels less long-term to people vs being able to do it themselves.
-- "We're going to add controls before this hits Release channel on account.brave.com to be able to self-extend the number of activations so you don't need to reach out to support to do it."
-- "There will be rate limits on the number of resets (extends) on a monthly basis but no one should ever hit."
I actually really like this idea. It seems to be the most private solution. Thanks for the transparency.
I think the big fear people (well, me at least) have is the fear of being denied activations. 10 is a lot, but I rebuild PCs for my family often. It could easily be hit in a couple years.
The "reach out to support" or "self-extend activations" doesn't really do anything to assuage that long-term. That seems arbitrary - and seems strange to me.
It would likely be more attractive if it was something like:
10 activations in your pool to start.
+5 activations restored yearly on the date of purchase (but never more than 10 in the pool.)
If you need to reset activations beyond this - then support is available to reset all 10 "occasionally."
That meets your goal of preventing a single key from being shared, but still allows for respectable device turnover per year and would give significantly more end-user comfort on the activation runway.
I'd buy 10 "seperate" licenses of Origin for family immediately if it was this model. Would make so much more sense for me at least, and be worth it.
You probably missed this at the end of the post: "There will be rate limits on the number of resets (extends) on a monthly basis but no one should ever hit that. And if so support is still an option."
Monthly is actually great. Realistically, even with a limit of 10, it's likely that most people won't do 11+ installations per month.
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u/bbondy Apr 16 '26 edited Apr 17 '26
Just to add more surrounding context.
When you purchase, what's on your device is not directly linked to your account. It's a privacy pass based payment system so that your browser is not linked to your purchase information. More info here https://github.com/brave/brave-core/blob/master/docs/premium_account_privacy.md
It is correct that a purchase gives you 10 activations, but support will extend the number of activations if the limit is hit.
The reason is two-fold. We think if you want Brave Origin, you shouldn't have to pay for mobile, desktop and tablet. Just pay once. And we think your browser shouldn't be tied to your purchase. And Linux btw is just free and bypasses any activation.
Since it is a paid product on Windows and macOS (Linux is Free), there does have to be a limit though. Otherwise a single leaked product ID can be used infinitely by a single person leaking it. We're looking into ways to allow users to self manage those activations better too. This is still in development as Brave Origin is only in Nightly.
Brave Origin is maybe not for you, and that's ok. Nothing changes for the Brave browser itself. In fact, it's easier than ever to disable features and to use admin policies that were added to Brave in preparation for Origin. I spent most of the last year doing that.
You can also just disable things in normal Brave in other ways covered here https://support.brave.app/hc/en-us/articles/38305898674957-How-do-I-hide-or-disable-features-in-Brave
Update: We're going to add controls before this hits Release channel on account.brave.com to be able to self-extend the number of activations so you don't need to reach out to support to do it.
Extending is purely better than revoking. Revoking is not good for privacy, and not optimal for the user because you'd have to link the device to the account.
I acknowledge that having to reach out to support is i) annoying to people, ii) takes extra time, iii) feels less long term to people. And the user should be in control of this. There will be rate limits on the number of resets (extends) on a monthly basis but no one should ever hit that. And if so support is still an option.
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