How Much Does LightBurn Cost? Core vs Pro, Renewals, Trial and Free Alternatives

LightBurn costs $99 for LightBurn Core and $199 for LightBurn Pro, as of October 2026. Both are one-time purchases that include a year of updates and activation on three computers. When that year ends the software keeps working, and another year of updates costs $40.

Core runs GCode lasers such as GRBL diode engravers. Pro adds the DSP controllers used on CO2 lasers (Ruida, Trocen, TopWisdom) and galvo lasers (EZCad2, EZCad3, BSL). Every price and term below comes from LightBurn's own store, documentation and announcements.

LightBurn Core vs Pro: price and what each runs

Prices are in US dollars on LightBurn's US store, October 2026.

The design side is the same in both editions. LightBurn's own comparison gives Core and Pro the same shape, text, tracing, boolean, offset and variable text tools, quick nesting, ten image engraving modes, kerf offset and GCode customization. What you pay for is the controllers you can connect. That starts to change with LightBurn 2.2, released as early access on September 16, 2026: its True Nesting is, in LightBurn's words, "the first LightBurn design/layout feature that is limited to Pro licenses only."

3D Sliced engraving, which carves a depth map into real relief over many passes, only works on galvo lasers. Galvo support is Pro only, so relief engraving on a fiber laser in LightBurn needs Pro.

Which edition do you need?

• Diode laser with a GCode controller (GRBL, Smoothieware, Marlin): Core. LightBurn pitches it at "most hobbyist or entry-level lasers."
• CO2 laser with a Ruida, Trocen or TopWisdom controller: Pro.
• Galvo fiber, CO2 or UV laser on EZCad2, EZCad3 or BSL: Pro.
• Several machines of different types: one Pro key covers all three controller families.
• Not sure what you have: find the controller name in your machine's manual or look up your model in LightBurn's hardware compatibility matrix, then prove it with the trial.

Bought Core and later added a CO2 or galvo laser? Upgrading Core to Pro costs $100, the price difference. The upgrade adds the new device types but does not add a year of updates.

Renewals, upgrades and extra seats

The three seats do not need to share an operating system, so a Windows shop PC and a Mac laptop can run the same key. Deactivate a computer you no longer use and its seat is free again. For a classroom, or more than three seats on a new key, LightBurn points to its educational and volume licensing page.

A key can go to a new owner, for example when you sell your laser, but only as a whole key. Selling or sharing individual seats is not permitted.

What LightBurn costs over three years

Renew before your update period runs out and each renewal covers 14 months instead of 12: LightBurn adds two free months to early renewals.

Why forum threads quote other prices

Most search results for LightBurn pricing are forum threads, and many predate the current terms. On October 1, 2024, LightBurn renamed its GCode license to Core at $99 and merged the DSP and Galvo licenses into Pro at $199, moving existing DSP and Galvo owners to Pro for free. LightBurn's legacy documentation lists a $30 renewal, and its 2024 announcement planned renewals from $40 to $50 depending on renewal history. The current store and License FAQ list one price: $40.

One-time purchase: what happens when updates end

LightBurn is not a subscription. Its License FAQ says you pay once and can use it forever, with a year of updates included. The key never expires. The update period does, one year after you first activate.

When the update period ends:

1. Nothing stops working. Every LightBurn version released before your expiry date keeps running on your key.
2. Newer versions will not run on that key. If you install one by mistake, download the last version from your update window from LightBurn's release archive, which keeps every build back to version 0.6.
3. You can renew at any time for $40. Renew before expiry and the new year starts at the old expiry date, plus two bonus months. Renew after it has lapsed and the year starts on the day you pay.
4. Your operating system can force the issue. LightBurn 2.1 needs 64-bit Windows 10 or 11, or macOS 12 or newer, and 1.7 was the last version for Linux. LightBurn's 2.2 announcement says Macs with M-series chips that move to macOS 28 will need LightBurn 2.2.00 or later. If your update period ended before 2.2 came out, that OS upgrade means a $40 renewal.

A sensible rhythm: renew when a release adds something you will use, or before a major OS upgrade, not on autopilot.

The 30-day free trial

LightBurn's trial runs 30 days and is, in its own words, "the full deal, no watermarks, no limits." The store asks you to test with your own hardware before you buy, and refunds are decided case by case, so the trial is the time to settle the question.

In those 30 days, check four things:

1. It connects. Your machine appears, jogs and runs a small job.
2. Your files import. LightBurn reads AI, SVG, DXF, PDF and PLT vectors and PNG, JPG, BMP, GIF and TIF images. It cannot import embedded fonts, so convert text to paths first.
3. Your settings hold. Run the Material Test (Laser Tools, Material Test), a grid that varies two of power, speed, interval and passes, on the stock you use most.
4. Whether you need Pro. LightBurn's 2.2 notes say Core owners can try Pro features for two weeks with the Trial Pro button in License Management.

Start the grid from a known point. Our settings tool gives starting power and speed by machine and material, then plans the test grid around them.

Is LightBurn worth it?

For most people who run a GRBL diode, Ruida CO2 or galvo laser every week, yes. $99 or $199 once buys design, layout, image engraving and machine control in one program, and you can stop paying after the first year without losing what you have.

It earns its price when:

• You sell what you make. Variable text handles names and serial numbers, kerf offset makes parts fit, and quick nesting saves material.
• You run more than one machine. One key works on three computers, and Pro covers GCode, DSP and galvo controllers.
• You want one workflow. Design, trace, lay out and burn without moving files between programs.

You can skip it when:

• Your laser is an xTool or a Glowforge and the maker's free app does what you need.
• You engrave the odd photo on a GRBL diode from a Windows PC. LaserGRBL is free.
• You only need to design. Inkscape is free and saves SVG files for your laser program.

Free and cheaper alternatives to LightBurn

LaserGRBL is the free pick for GRBL diode lasers on Windows. It is open source under GPLv3, converts photos to grayscale or dithered engravings, vectorizes images, loads G-code with a job preview, and gives you jogging, homing and live power and speed overrides (on Grbl newer than v1.1). It is not a design program, and its own README marks SVG import as experimental.

xTool Studio is xTool's own app and, in xTool's words, "the upgraded successor to XCS (xTool Creative Space)." XCS no longer gets updates on PC or mobile, and xTool machines launched after August 2025, starting with the P3, are supported only in Studio. Installers for Windows and macOS (Intel and Apple silicon) are on xTool's support site. Its release notes list only xTool machines.

Glowforge Print is, according to Glowforge, "free for life." Glowforge describes it as web-based; it runs on Mac, PC, Android, iPhone, tablets and Chromebooks and takes JPG, PDF, PNG and SVG files. Premium, from $20 a month after a 14-day trial, adds Magic Canvas AI art, a large vector art library, more fonts and saved custom material settings.

Inkscape plus a plug-in is the free design route. Inkscape is an open-source vector editor for Windows, macOS and Linux. J Tech Photonics' open-source Laser Tool plug-in turns Inkscape paths into a G-code file and is listed as working with Inkscape 1.4.2 (as of July 2025). You still need a sender such as LaserGRBL, which loads G-code, to run the job.

MillMage is LightBurn's app for CNC routers, sold on the same terms: Core $99, Pro $199, a year of updates, then $40 a year, three seats and a 30-day trial. It connects to GRBL, grblHAL, FluidNC, Duet and Smoothieware machines, and MillMage Pro adds V-carving, relief carving, texturing and True Nesting. It is the router counterpart, not a cheaper LightBurn for your laser.

For the full field by machine type, including EZCAD for galvo fiber lasers and RDWorks for Ruida, see our laser engraving software guide.

Free tools for LightBurn users

These are ours. They run in your browser and nothing is uploaded.

• Laser settings and test grid planner: starting power, speed, passes and interval by machine and material, with a grid plan for LightBurn's Material Test.
• QR code for laser engraving: a vector QR code sized in millimetres, as SVG or DXF, with an inverted option for dark materials and anodized metal.
• Depth map generator: an AI depth map from any photo, for relief engraving. On a galvo with Pro, 3D Sliced mode turns it into real depth; read 16-bit vs 8-bit depth maps before long jobs.
• Kerf calculator: measure one test cut and get the kerf offset LightBurn needs.
• SVG to DXF and DXF to SVG: clean conversions at real size when a file arrives in the wrong format.

Before you buy

Download the trial, connect your laser and run one material test on the stock you use most. If it connects and the workflow suits you, buy the edition your controller needs: Core for GCode, Pro for DSP or galvo. Near the end of your first year, look at what the latest release adds and decide on the $40 renewal then. For starting values on that first test, see laser power and speed settings by material.