Docs Self-Managed Get Started Redpanda Licensing Editions and Enterprise Features Redpanda Licenses and Enterprise Features Redpanda, Redpanda Console, and Redpanda Connect are available in community and enterprise editions. Each product has a single binary that supports both editions. Redpanda Community Edition is free and source-available on GitHub: Redpanda Redpanda Console Redpanda Connect Redpanda Enterprise Edition requires a license key and includes additional features. Redpanda Cloud is a managed deployment of Redpanda Enterprise Edition. To learn more about Redpanda Cloud, see the Redpanda Cloud Overview. Community Edition The Community Edition is licensed with the Redpanda Business Source License (BSL). These core features are free and source-available. Restrictions and licensing terms Users cannot provide Redpanda as a commercial streaming or queuing service to others. The BSL code converts to Apache 2.0 licensing four years after each code merge. Enterprise Edition The Enterprise Edition is licensed with the Redpanda Community License (RCL). It includes the free features licensed under the Redpanda BSL, as well as enterprise features. License keys Enterprise features require an Enterprise Edition license key, sometimes referred to as enterprise license, license key, or license. Starting with version 24.3, new Redpanda clusters automatically receive a trial license that’s valid for 30 days, allowing unrestricted use of enterprise features. This evaluation period begins when the cluster is created for the first time. After this period expires, inactive enterprise features are disabled, and active features enter a restricted state. To get a trial license key or extend your trial period, generate a new trial license key. Or, upgrade to Redpanda Enterprise. Redpanda Connect does not accept trial license keys. To use enterprise features of Redpanda Connect, upgrade to Redpanda Enterprise Redpanda blocks upgrades to new feature releases if enterprise features are active without a valid license. Ensure compliance by obtaining a license to maintain access to the latest features and updates. Redpanda enterprise features The following table lists the Enterprise features for Redpanda and how Redpanda behaves upon license expiration when each enterprise feature is enabled. Upon license expiration: The cluster continues to operate without data loss, but the further use of enterprise features is restricted (see the table 1). Configuration of enterprise features remains unchanged, allowing you to add a new license and continue using enterprise features as before expiration. For instructions, see Add an Enterprise Edition License to Redpanda After license expiration: You cannot enable enterprise features without a valid license. Table 1. Enterprise features in Redpanda Feature Description Behavior Upon Expiration Audit Logging Records detailed logs of cluster activities for compliance and monitoring. Read access to the audit log topic is denied, but logging continues. Continuous Data Balancing Automatically balances partitions across a cluster to optimize resource use and performance. Continuous balancing is disabled, reverting to the default node_add setting that balances partitions only after a broker is added to the cluster. Continuous Intra-Broker Partition Balancing (core_balancing_continuous) Balances partition replicas across CPU cores in an individual broker to optimize disk space usage. Continuous Intra-Broker Partition Balancing is disabled. FIPS Compliance Enables compliance with FIPS security standards for cryptography. No change. Kerberos Authentication Provides secure Kerberos-based authentication. No change. Leader Pinning Specifies the set of availability zones where the leaders of partitions of a given topic should be located. Leader Pinning is disabled on all topics. OAUTHBEARER/OIDC Authentication Allows for OAUTHBEARER and OpenID Connect (OIDC) authentication. No change. Remote Read Replicas Enables remote clusters to read data stored in object storage for disaster recovery. Remote Read Replica topics cannot be created or modified. Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) Manages user roles and permissions within the cluster. Roles and ACLs associated with roles cannot be created or modified. Role deletion is allowed. Server-Side Schema ID Validation Validates schema IDs server-side to ensure schema compatibility. With schema ID validation, records associated with unregistered schemas are detected and dropped by a broker rather than a consumer. Topics with schema validation settings cannot be created or modified. Tiered Storage Enables data storage in cloud object storage for long-term retention and retrieval. Topics cannot be created or modified to enable Tiered Storage features. Additional partitions cannot be added to topics with Tiered Storage properties enabled. Redpanda Console enterprise features The following enterprise features for Redpanda Console are activated with a valid Enterprise Edition license key: Table 2. Enterprise features in Redpanda Console Feature Description Restrictions Without Valid License Redpanda Console Authentication Enables authentication for Redpanda Console, allowing secure access. All endpoints are redirected to the license expiration landing page, and all other access is restricted. Redpanda Console Authorization (RBAC) Manages user roles and permissions for accessing features within Redpanda Console. All endpoints are redirected to the license expiration landing page, and all other access is restricted. Redpanda Connect enterprise features The Enterprise Edition of Redpanda Connect includes additional connectors. An Enterprise Edition license is required to enable them. For all available connectors, see Connector Catalog. License expires during runtime: All enterprise features for Redpanda Connect become unavailable. License expired at startup: Redpanda Connect logs an error message and blocks the use of all enterprise features. Redpanda Connect does not accept trial license keys. To use enterprise features of Redpanda Connect, upgrade to Redpanda Enterprise Manage licenses for Redpanda Redpanda offers multiple ways to manage your license depending on your deployment method. Proper license management ensures access to advanced enterprise features and avoids restrictions when licenses are invalid or expired. See Add an Enterprise Edition License to Redpanda. Manage licenses for Redpanda Console Redpanda Console offers two methods for applying or updating a license, depending on your setup: If you use Redpanda Console without connecting it to a Redpanda cluster, you can configure the license through the local configuration file or environment variables. This method allows you to add a license for Redpanda Console independently of the Redpanda cluster. If Redpanda Console is connected to a Redpanda cluster, you can upload a license through the Redpanda Console UI. This method allows you to manage and update licenses for both Redpanda Console and the connected Redpanda cluster. Next steps Add an Enterprise Edition License to Redpanda Check the Status of an Enterprise Edition License Back to top × Simple online edits For simple changes, such as fixing a typo, you can edit the content directly on GitHub. Edit on GitHub Or, open an issue to let us know about something that you want us to change. Open an issue Contribution guide For extensive content updates, or if you prefer to work locally, read our contribution guide . Was this helpful? thumb_up thumb_down group Ask in the community mail Share your feedback group_add Make a contribution Redpanda Licensing Add License