The account number

You do not need an account to use ForestVPN, and never will — the free tier and every paid plan work with no email, no username and no password. The account number exists for one reason: to use the same subscription on more than one device. If you only ever use one device, you can stop reading here.

What it actually is

A 32-character number, created once, shown once, on screen, in the app — under Account → Create. There is no identity behind it: no email address, no username, and nothing that connects it to you personally. It is the account, in the same sense a gift-card code or a Wi-Fi password is the thing it unlocks: whoever has it can use it, and there's no separate password on top to prove it's really you.

That is a deliberate trade. An email-and-password account would let support look you up and reset something; it would also mean we hold an email address that ties a person to their VPN use, which is the one thing this product exists to avoid. The number is what's left when you remove that.

Treat it like a credential, because it is one

Anyone holding the number can attach a device to your subscription. Don't send it over email or chat, don't paste it into a support ticket, and don't read it out loud somewhere it could be overheard. If someone asks you for it — including someone claiming to be ForestVPN support — that is the request to refuse. Support can see a short-lived diagnostic code you generate yourself under Account → Get help; they never need your account number to help you.

Where the app keeps it

On iPhone, iPad and Mac, once you create a number the app saves it in iCloud Keychain, so it carries over automatically to your other Apple devices signed into the same iCloud account — including a replacement phone, once it's set up. This needs iCloud Keychain turned on in Settings; if it's off, the number lives only on the device that created it, and writing it down somewhere you control is the only backup.

Restoring a subscription onto a new device

Right now, the account number is the reliable way to move a subscription onto a replacement device: create one on your current device before you need it, then enter it on the new one under Account → Sign in. Restoring a purchase on a device that has never seen your original account number is not guaranteed to reattach it, so if you expect to replace a device — or already run more than one — create the number first rather than after.

Creating and using it

1. Account → Create, on the device that already has your subscription. The number is shown once; save it somewhere you control before leaving the screen.
2. On another device, Account → Sign in, and type the number in.
3. For a device with no keyboard — Apple TV, a router — see devices and linking for the pairing-code flow instead.

You can sign a device out or remove it from the account at any time — see devices and linking for how, and what to do if a device is lost.

Pay codes

A pay code lets someone else pay for your Premium without ever seeing your account number. It looks like K7Q-4MZ-9TW: nine characters, in three groups of three. You can get one in the console at console.fvpn.net, under Account → Pay code, or on the Account screen of the Windows and Linux desktop app.

Whoever has your code can add Premium time to your account: they open the checkout, choose Someone else (I have their pay code), type the code and pay once. The time is added after any Premium you already have, and it never renews on its own, so there is nothing for them to cancel later.

A pay code can't do anything else. It can't sign in, see your devices or change your plan, and the person paying learns nothing about your account.

Changing your number

If your account number leaked, or you just want a fresh one as a precaution, you can replace it. On the Account screen of the app or the console, choose Change account number. Your old number keeps working until the last step, so you can't lose access halfway through: you get the new number first, save it, type it back to show you have it, and only then does the old one stop.

Your devices stay signed in and your plan doesn't change. Before you start, look through your devices and remove any you don't recognise (see devices and linking); a device that joined with your old number keeps working until you remove it.

A browser can't change the number while one of your devices is active; do it in the app, on a device that has been on the account for a week or more. There is also a daily limit on changes. If you reach it, the screen tells you when you can try again.