Yes — the free Coupon Creator plugin is required, because Pro is an extension that builds on it.
Coupon Creator (free) is the open-source base plugin: it registers the coupon post type and the core display and print features. Coupon Creator Pro adds the advanced features on top — the [couponloop] shortcode, filter bar, coupon templates, image coupons, recurring and counter-based expiration, bulk edits, and more. Pro checks for the free plugin and will not activate without it.
So install and activate both: get Coupon Creator free from wordpress.org, then install Pro from your account at artifexrouting.com. Keep the two on matching versions — see What version of Coupon Creator do I need?. For step-by-step install help, see Install Pro manually (upload, FTP, or cPanel).
