IntelliJ IDEA EAP build stops after 30 days: paid license not accepted

Symptoms

• An IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate EAP (pre-release) build stops providing the Ultimate feature set after about 30 days of use.
• Help | Register does not accept an active paid subscription (for example, All Products Pack) as a way to extend a pre-release build past its built-in trial.
• After the built-in period ends, the build reports that the evaluation expired and blocks further usage.

Environment

• Customer type: Personal and commercial customers
• Region affected: All regions
• Product affected: IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate (EAP builds)

Cause

Pre-release (EAP) builds of IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate ship with a built-in, time-limited evaluation license of 30 days. This built-in evaluation is separate from paid-subscription activation: a paid license such as All Products Pack activates stable release builds and does not extend the built-in license of a pre-release build. When the built-in evaluation ends, the EAP build stops functioning. Each new pre-release build of a major version that is in active development carries a fresh evaluation period.

Resolution

To keep using the Ultimate feature set, use one of the following:

1. Update to the latest nightly/EAP build. Installing a newer pre-release build of a major version that is still in active development resets the built-in trial. This is the intended way to continue using pre-release builds over time. Newer builds are available through the Toolbox App (nightly/EAP channel) or the IntelliJ IDEA Early Access Program download page: https://www.jetbrains.com/idea/nextversion.
2. Switch to a stable release build and activate the paid license. Stable release builds accept the subscription in Help | Register. Use this when no newer pre-release build is available — for example, between EAP cycles when the development branch is approaching a release and new pre-release builds are no longer published for it.

Applying a paid subscription to a pre-release build to bypass its built-in evaluation period is not a supported scenario. A related request to allow continued use of an expired EAP build with a valid license is tracked as Ability to use EAP after expiration.