## Buying a theme directly from jkdevstudio
URL: https://hub.jkdevstudio.com/knowledge-base/installation/buy-direct-from-jkdevstudio
Updated: 2026-09-06
Summary: Buy a theme from the jkdevstudio store or from your account, compare the Regular, Premium and Agency tiers, and add activation units to a licence you already own.
Buying from the [jkdevstudio store](https://jkdevstudio.com/themes/) is the channel we recommend. It carries more purchase options than a marketplace listing can, and the license lives in your own account rather than in an account somebody else controls.
## Where you can buy
Three places, and the third one is the one people miss.
:::deflist
The product page
: The purchase block sits on the page for the theme itself, in [our catalog](https://jkdevstudio.com/themes/).
The pricing block
: The same offers with the tiers side by side, which is easier when you are still deciding.
[Your customer hub](https://hub.jkdevstudio.com/login)
: **Your account sells too.** The dashboard carries the rest of the catalog with a buy button on each item, and every license you already hold carries its own offers: **add activation units, move to unlimited, or upgrade the tier**.
:::
**Offers inside your account are priced with your credit already applied.**
What you paid for that license counts toward the upgrade, so you are never asked to buy the same thing twice. A public pricing page cannot do that, because it does not know who you are.
## The three tiers
Which tier you hold decides what the license does, and it is set by **where you bought and what you paid**, not by the theme.
| Regular | Premium | Agency |
| Bought | on Envato | direct from us | direct from us |
| Domains | one | the units you paid for, topped up any time | unlimited |
| Automatic updates | no | yes | yes |
| Integrations | no | yes | yes |
| Demo packages | the ones the author marked as available | all of them | all of them |
**Regular is the marketplace licence**, and it runs on [terms Envato sets](https://themeforest.net/licenses/standard) rather than ours. It activates, it verifies, and the theme works. What it does not carry is the delivery pipeline: the Version Control screen is not available to it, updates do not arrive on their own, and the [integration packages](https://hub.jkdevstudio.com/knowledge-base/jkd-toolkit/how-theme-integrations-work) are not part of it. See [what an Envato license covers](https://hub.jkdevstudio.com/knowledge-base/licensing/what-an-envato-license-covers).
**Premium is the direct licence.** Updates arrive in the theme's own Version Control screen, integrations are available, and every demo package is.
**Agency is Premium with the domain ceiling removed.** Same entitlements, no counting.
Why our prices changed
## Activation units, and adding more later
**A plan includes a fixed number of activation units, and one unit is one domain.** The Premium plan starts at one, which covers one live site.
You are not stuck with that number. **Units are sold individually from [your account](https://hub.jkdevstudio.com/login)**, they land on the key you already own, and nothing has to be reinstalled: the same license string simply gets a larger allowance. Moving to unlimited is the other direction out of the same screen.
Two things worth knowing before you count:
- **A staging site does not spend a unit.** Every license carries one free staging slot on top of the domains you paid for. See [activating your license](https://hub.jkdevstudio.com/knowledge-base/licensing/activating-your-theme-license).
- **Freeing a domain frees its unit.** Deactivating a site you no longer run puts the slot back, which is often cheaper than buying one.
The whole process, screen by screen: [buying more activations or another product](https://hub.jkdevstudio.com/knowledge-base/customer-hub/buy-more-activations).
## Buying
:::steps
### Open the product page or your account
Both carry the purchase block. From inside [your account](https://hub.jkdevstudio.com/login) the product and the license are already selected.
### Choose your terms
The set of available options changes over time, so go by what the purchase block shows on the day you order rather than by anything you read earlier.
### Complete the payment
Payment is processed by our payment provider. **Card details never reach jkdevstudio**, and we never ask for them by email or in a [support ticket](https://hub.jkdevstudio.com/knowledge-base/support/getting-help-with-your-theme).
### Keep the confirmation
A confirmation page appears immediately, and an email follows to the address you paid with. Both carry your license key and a download link.
:::
## Three ways to reach the file
All three lead to the same package. They differ in how long they stay reachable.
:::deflist
The thank you page
: Appears right after payment, with a download link on it. The fastest route, and the easiest one to lose by closing the tab. Do not treat it as your only copy.
The email
: Sent to the address on the order, with a direct link. If it has not arrived, check spam first, then confirm the order address was typed correctly. Links in old emails can expire.
[Your account](https://hub.jkdevstudio.com/login)
: The route we recommend. Your items, your download button and the version history all live there, tied to your account rather than to a link.
:::
**Sign in once, right after buying, and confirm the purchase is there.**
That single check is what makes the other two routes optional rather than critical, and it takes about fifteen seconds.
## Why the account is the copy that counts
You can download the package as many times as you like, so there is no need to archive the file yourself.
More usefully, **the account is not limited to the current version**. The version history lets you take an earlier release, which is what you need on the day an update has to be rolled back. A link in an email only ever points at one file.
## What is in the package
The direct package contains the same things as the full Envato package: the theme zip, the Pro plugin zip and the documentation. There is only one download, and it is the complete one.
Two rules apply, and they are the same everywhere:
**Upload the theme zip to WordPress, not the package.** The package is a folder of files; WordPress installs one theme archive.
**Do not unzip the theme archive and zip it back up.** Repacking adds an extra folder level and WordPress then reports a missing stylesheet.
The Pro plugin can be installed from this package or from the theme dashboard after the license is active. Both end in the same place, and the dashboard route gives you the version that matches your theme.
## Why direct is usually better
On a marketplace, the marketplace owns the relationship. Your license, your support window and your invoices are held by them, and the terms are theirs rather than ours. That is also why marketplace listings tend to offer exactly one way to buy.
Buying direct removes the middle layer. We set the terms, so a wider range of options exists, and support starts with the people who wrote the code instead of being routed to them. This holds across the WordPress theme market generally, not only here.
What you get when you buy direct
## Common questions
Where do I find my license key later?
In [your account](https://hub.jkdevstudio.com/login) on the purchase itself, and in the original confirmation email, so you never need to ask us to resend it.
Can I get an invoice with my company details?
Yes, enter the billing details during checkout and the invoice is generated with them, and for a reissue afterwards open a support ticket with the order reference.
I bought on Envato earlier. Can I move to a direct license?
Yes, and you do not lose what you paid: open the license in your account and take the Premium or Agency offer on it, where **the author share of your marketplace purchase is applied as credit** so you pay the difference rather than the full price. The key stays the same string and what changes is the tier, which is what turns on automatic updates and the integrations, and if you have not created an account yet then [buying on ThemeForest](https://hub.jkdevstudio.com/knowledge-base/installation/buy-on-themeforest) covers that first step.
Can I add activations to an Envato license?
Yes, from the same place, and the license keeps its Regular tier while simply allowing more domains, so if you want the entitlements as well as the domains then the Premium upgrade is the offer to take instead.
The payment went through and nothing arrived
Wait a few minutes and check spam, then sign in to [your account](https://hub.jkdevstudio.com/login), because the purchase is recorded there regardless of what happened to the email or the tab you closed. If it is genuinely not there, open a support ticket with the email address you paid with and the last four digits of the card, and **never send a full card number** to us or to anyone else.