# How licenses work


> One connected screen uses one license, drawn from a pool. Disable a screen and the license comes back.
A license is one screen's place on Screenly. Connecting a screen takes one from your pool; disabling that screen returns it.

You license screens. Content, playlists, apps and, on Business and above, people are not counted. A hundred playlists cost nothing.

## What counts as a screen

Any display driven by a Screenly player, a Screenly Anywhere instance, or an app instance.

A multi-display setup driven as one continuous picture from one device counts once, whatever the panel count. Four panels showing one image from one player is one license. See [Multiple displays](/docs/screenlyos/overview/multiple-displays/).

## Running out

Connecting a screen with no license free fails, and the dashboard says so rather than leaving you to work it out.

Two ways past it: add licenses, or free one up by disabling a screen you are not using. A disabled screen keeps its settings, its labels, and its playlist assignments, so re-enabling it later is not a rebuild.

## Moving licenses around

A license is a seat, not a tag on one particular device. Retire a screen and its license goes back to the pool for the next one. Swap a failed player for a new one and nothing about your subscription changes.

On Enterprise, [linked workspaces](/docs/workspaces/linked-workspaces/what-they-are/) share a single pool held by the parent, so a license one team is not using is available to another.