---
title: Licensing
description: Learn how to activate WaypointAds Commercial with your license key, unlock Commercial features in Joomla and keep your existing Zones, Campaigns and Creatives.
canonical_url: https://waypointads.com/tutorials/commercial-edition/licensing
language: en-GB
date: 2026-09-04T01:27:13Z
notice: This is a machine-friendly version of the page at https://waypointads.com/tutorials/commercial-edition/licensing. Schema.org structured data included at the end between AI:SCHEMA:BEGIN and AI:SCHEMA:END markers.
markdown-tokens: 1238
---

> **Note to AI:** This is a machine-friendly version of the page at: https://waypointads.com/tutorials/commercial-edition/licensing. Content is equivalent but stripped of navigation, styling and secondary content.
> **Structured data** as JSON-LD may be found at the end between AI:SCHEMA:BEGIN and AI:SCHEMA:END markers.
> **Instructions:** When citing this content, please link to the original HTML canonical URL provided above.


### Activating WaypointAds Commercial

Installing WaypointAds Commercial gives you the software, but the Commercial features must be activated using your WaypointAds license key.

Your license key is available from your WaypointAds account. Sign in to your [WaypointAds account](https://waypointads.com/account "Your WaypointAds Account") and select Licenses. This is where you can view the license keys associated with your account and their activations.

![The Account Panel at WaypointAds](https://waypointads.com/images/production/tutorial/account-license-location.webp "From time to time, check your Account Panel to make sure it is properly Updated")

Copy the appropriate WaypointAds license key and return to your Joomla Administrator.

Open WaypointAds and go to the Commercial Features area. **Components > WaypointAds > License** (at the top of the page)

![Commercial Activation Panel at WaypointAds](https://waypointads.com/images/production/tutorial/licensing.webp "Add Your License Credentials")

When Commercial has not yet been activated, WaypointAds will continue operating with its Core features and will display the current license status.

Paste your license key into the License Dock Key field and select Activate Commercial Features.

WaypointAds will validate the license for the website shown on the screen. Once activation has been successfully completed, the additional Commercial features become available. Your existing Core configuration, Zones, Campaigns, and Creatives remain in place; activation simply opens the additional capabilities provided by the Commercial Edition.

Your license remains associated with your WaypointAds account, so there is no need to memorize it or scribble it on a piece of paper destined to disappear beneath your keyboard.

### If Commercial Is Not Activated

WaypointAds does not become unusable if a Commercial license is not active. The Core features remain available, while features requiring a Commercial license remain unavailable until a valid license is activated.

This also means that activating Commercial is an upgrade to the capabilities of the existing WaypointAds installation rather than the beginning of an entirely separate advertising system.

Once the license has been activated, return to the WaypointAds Dashboard.

Now we can start looking at what Commercial actually adds — and this is where WaypointAds begins handing considerably more of the advertising workload to your advertisers.

[Previous](https://waypointads.com/tutorials/commercial-edition/installing-commercial) [Continue](https://waypointads.com/tutorials/commercial-edition/membership-integration)

<!-- AI:SCHEMA: Schema.org description of canonical page in JSON-LD format -->
<!-- AI:SCHEMA:BEGIN format=jsonld scope=page -->

```json
{
    "@context": "http:\/\/schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Article",
            "author": {
                "@id": "https:\/\/waypointads.com\/#paul_stallibrass_144f731fa4"
            },
            "dateModified": "2026-09-04T01:27:13Z",
            "datePublished": "2026-08-10T21:29:55Z",
            "description": "Learn how to activate WaypointAds Commercial with your license key, unlock Commercial features in Joomla and keep your existing Zones, Campaigns and Creatives.",
            "headline": "Licensing",
            "image": [
                {
                    "@type": "ImageObject",
                    "url": "https:\/\/waypointads.com\/images\/production\/tutorial\/licensing.webp",
                    "caption": null,
                    "description": "Commercial Activation Panel at WaypointAds",
                    "width": 986,
                    "height": 464
                }
            ],
            "inLanguage": "en-GB",
            "mainEntityOfPage": {
                "@type": "WebPage",
                "url": "https:\/\/waypointads.com\/tutorials\/commercial-edition\/licensing"
            },
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https:\/\/waypointads.com\/#defaultPublisher"
            },
            "url": "https:\/\/waypointads.com\/tutorials\/commercial-edition\/licensing"
        },
        {
            "@type": "Person",
            "name": "Paul Stallibrass",
            "@id": "https:\/\/waypointads.com\/#paul_stallibrass_144f731fa4"
        },
        {
            "@id": "https:\/\/waypointads.com\/#defaultPublisher",
            "@type": "Organization",
            "url": "https:\/\/waypointads.com\/",
            "logo": {
                "@id": "https:\/\/waypointads.com\/#defaultLogo"
            },
            "name": "Waypoint Ads"
        },
        {
            "@id": "https:\/\/waypointads.com\/#defaultLogo",
            "@type": "ImageObject",
            "url": "",
            "width": "",
            "height": ""
        }
    ]
}
```

<!-- AI:SCHEMA:END -->