KUMA Timer is a single application — the same binary and the same code on every platform. A licence unlocks time, not features: every install begins with a 30-day Full trial, with every capability available from day one. When the trial ends, you either enter a £8 licence and remain on Full for life, or revert to Lite (free, core countdown) and continue at no cost.
Free forever · macOS · Windows
Activates automatically once your 30-day Full trial ends.
Signed & fully-featured
UK: +20% VAT at checkout · Outside UK: flat £8, no tax added
Lifetime licence. No subscription. Free updates for this major version.
| Feature | Lite | Full |
|---|---|---|
| Timer core | ||
| Countdown / count-up / CLOCK mode | ✓ | ✓ |
| Time format | MM:SS only | MM:SS · HH:MM:SS |
| Max preset length | 59:59 | 99:59:59 |
| Max cue length | 59:59 | 99:59:59 |
| Preset slots | 10 | Unlimited |
| Cue list entries | 10 | Unlimited |
| Scheduled cue auto-fire (HH:MM) | × | ✓ |
| Overtime modes & visual cues | ✓ | ✓ |
| Custom background image | × | ✓ |
| Outputs & displays | ||
| On-screen display (full-screen / window) | ✓ | ✓ |
| NDI output | × | ✓ |
| LTC input (audio timecode) | × | ✓ |
| CDEther / LimiTimer protocols | × | ✓ |
| Preview display (PVW) | × | ✓ |
| Messaging & effects | ||
| SMS / message banner on display | × | ✓ |
| Time Glide (smooth decimal ticking) | × | ✓ |
| Remote control & sharing | ||
| OSC input / output | ✓ | ✓ |
| Bitfocus Companion module | ✓ | ✓ |
| Web admin panel (LAN) | × | ✓ |
| KUMA Live — web viewer over the internet | × | ✓ |
| KUMA Companion app (iPhone & iPad) — local Wi-Fi or cloud relay | × | ✓ |
| Raspberry Pi specifics | ||
| AppImage (ARM64) — runs standalone on Pi 4 / Pi 5 | ✓ | ✓ |
| Kiosk mode (full-screen, boot-on-start) | × | ✓ |
| Web admin (required to operate a kiosk) | × | ✓ |
One-line installer script (install-pi.sh) | × | ✓ |
| NDI® output on Pi | × | — · see FAQ |
| Time Glide on Pi | × | ✓ · min interval 250 ms |
| Distribution & support | ||
| Signed installer (macOS / Windows — no OS warnings) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Free updates (this major version) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Move licence between machines (Mac ↔ Win ↔ Pi) | — | Yes · deregister portal |
| Priority email support | × | ✓ |
KUMA Timer is an independent project, not a venture-backed business. It exists because I kept needing a countdown timer that genuinely held up on show nights — and every alternative was either a $30-per-month subscription, a roll of the dice on the App Store, or an abandoned GitHub repository from 2019.
The £8 covers the running costs that keep this legitimate — an Apple Developer subscription, an Azure code-signing certificate, a relay server and Stripe fees — with a small margin left over. No outside investment, no growth targets, no "Pro" tier waiting in the wings.
Please don't expect enterprise-grade support or a four-hour SLA. You will receive direct email replies from the person who wrote the code, typically within a day or two. If that doesn't suit your operation, Lite remains free, with no obligation.
Price shown is net of VAT. UK buyers pay £8 + 20% UK VAT = £9.60 at checkout. Buyers outside the UK pay £8 flat — no VAT or sales tax is added; you're responsible for any local tax or duty due in your own jurisdiction. Payment processed by Stripe. See Terms & Conditions, Privacy Policy, Refund Policy.
One Full licence works on macOS, Windows or Raspberry Pi — the installer auto-detects the platform and the licence code is platform-neutral. Move between machines any time via the deregister portal.
KUMA Timer keeps working, but switches to the Lite feature set: 10 presets / 10 cues, MM:SS only, and without SMS, NDI, LTC, KUMA Live, web admin and Raspberry Pi kiosk mode. You can activate a Full licence any time from the About screen to unlock everything again — including any presets and cues you already have.
No. The trial starts automatically when you first launch the app — no account, no card, no email. It's tied to the machine's hardware ID so it can't be reset by reinstalling.
Yes — the £8 Full licence is platform-neutral. It's bound to one machine at a time, but you can freely switch between Mac, Windows and Pi by deregistering on one and registering on the other via the deregister portal. No extra purchase.
Yes. Visit the deregister portal (or use About → Deregister inside the app), enter your code, and click Deregister. Then install KUMA Timer on the new machine and enter the same code. There's no limit on how often you do this.
Email kuma@pl-tech.co.uk with the email address you used at checkout and we'll resend it.
Yes. Within 14 days of purchase, before you've activated the code, you're entitled to a full refund with no questions asked — that's your statutory right under the UK Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 (and the equivalent EU distance-selling rules). After activation that statutory right no longer applies (you've started using digital content), but if the app isn't working on your machine we'll fix the bug or refund anyway. And if you simply changed your mind after activating — email us. We usually say yes. See the refund policy for the full picture.
Yes. The Pi kiosk is driven entirely through the web admin panel, which is a Full-tier feature. You can still use the 30-day Full trial on Pi before deciding.
The November 2024 NDI® Technology License Agreement narrowed the royalty-free Products definition to "general purpose computing platforms such as servers, desktops, and laptops" and explicitly excluded "products built using hardware that may be categorized as an embedded device, and utilizing an operating system typically used for embedded devices, which includes (...) Linux, Linux derivatives" — using NDI on those targets now requires a separate commercial agreement with Vizrt. Since the KUMA Pi build ships as a single-purpose kiosk appliance running Pi OS (a Linux derivative), it lands in that exclusion. Rather than navigate the licensing ambiguity for a feature most Pi kiosks never use anyway, we've disabled NDI® output on Raspberry Pi from v1.10.23 onwards. macOS and Windows builds keep full NDI® support — they sit firmly inside the royalty-free "general purpose computing platform" definition. If you need NDI® broadcast, run KUMA on Mac or Windows and pair the Pi as a remote display via web mirror or KUMA Live instead.
Full licences are verified with our server at launch (and every 7 days after, with a 14-day offline grace period). Lite and Trial do not contact the server. See the privacy policy for what we collect and how long we keep it.
Yes. Churches, theatres, conferences, broadcast studios — all use KUMA Timer commercially. The Full licence is per-machine, not per-event or per-seat.