The developer offers a fully functional free trial that never completely locks you out. Yes, the muting is annoying, but for casual use (a single live show or classroom activity), you can restart the program during breaks. Many users save up for a few months – it’s a one-time payment, not a subscription.
Also consider:
Marcel Blum is an indie developer. Soundplant is his livelihood. Using a stolen key steals the fruits of thousands of hours of coding, documentation, and support. If you use Soundplant professionally (especially paid gigs), pirating it is legally actionable.
Modern Soundplant versions check against known stolen keys. If the software detects a pirated key, it may silently revert to free mode or refuse to load sounds after a reboot.