Your ASCEND download

Getting started

1. Download and install ASCEND for your operating system above.
2. Launch it — you'll have 14 days of full access, no key required.
3. When your license key arrives by email, click Activate (top banner) or open Settings → License, paste the key, and you're licensed permanently.

Already purchased? Register your license to get your key →

First launch — one-time security notice. Because ASCEND is independent software (not signed with a paid certificate yet), your computer shows a one-time warning the first time you open it. This is normal and safe — here's how to get past it:

Windows: if a blue "Windows protected your PC" box appears, click More info → Run anyway.

macOS (Big Sur through Sequoia and newer): drag ASCEND into your Applications folder first. Double-click it once — you'll see "cannot be opened because Apple cannot check it for malicious software"; click Done. Then open System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll to the bottom, and click Open Anyway next to ASCEND (enter your password, then Open Anyway once more). It opens normally every time after that. (On older macOS you can instead right-click the app → Open.)

Linux: make the file executable — chmod +x ASCEND-Encoder-Linux.AppImage — then double-click it.