The short version: free, open source, no warranty.

Last updated · May 27, 2026

Blinken is free software, distributed under the MIT License. By downloading or using Blinken, you're agreeing to the MIT terms reproduced below, and to a couple of plain-English clarifications about what that practically means.

Use of the app

You can install Blinken on as many of your Macs as you like, run it for as long as you like, and use it however you like. You can also modify the source and run your modified version. There is no license key, no expiry, no usage limit, and no telemetry that would let us know whether you're using it at all (see Privacy).

The MIT License

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

In plain English

It's a small utility, given freely. If it works for you, great. If it doesn't, no one is on the hook.
No warranty. Blinken is provided "as is." If it somehow misreads a counter, hides your menu bar, or fails to start at login on a particular machine, that's a bug we'd love to know about, but it's not a legal obligation we owe you.
No liability for downstream effects. Blinken doesn't touch your files. It only reads system counters. But if you wire it into a workflow where it somehow matters, that's on you.
You can fork it. Build your own version, change the colors, rip out the swap bar. All fine. Keep the copyright notice, per the MIT terms above.

Trademark

"Blinken" and the LED mark are trademarks of Axiomic, LLC. The MIT license covers the source code; it doesn't grant you permission to distribute a forked build under the "Blinken" name. Call your fork something else and we're square.

Changes

If these terms ever materially change, the date at the top of this page will move and the previous version will be noted in the project's release notes.

Contact

Questions, concerns, fan mail, bug reports: all welcome at marc@marchoag.com.