VisualSVN Server 4.1 Licensing Overview

Applies to: VisualSVN Server 4.1, 4.2, 4.3

Starting from version 4.1, VisualSVN Server is available under four different licenses:

• Community license (free). This free and fully functional license enables core VisualSVN Server features such as the VisualSVN Server Manager MMC console, PowerShell Scripting and Automation, rich HTML5-powered web interface and support for secure HTTPS. The free Community license is available for commercial use and allows creating up to 15 Subversion user accounts.
• Essential license (paid). This license allows using all features of the Community license and adds additional features such as Scheduled Backup Jobs and Multisite Repository Replication (VDFS). The cost of the license depends on the maximum number of users and the VDFS repositories allowed by the license.
• Enterprise license (paid). This license allows using all features of the Essential license and adds enterprise-grade features such as Windows authentication (including Active Directory Single Sign-On), Remote Server Administration, Access and Operational Logging and so on. The cost of the license depends on the maximum number of users and the VDFS repositories allowed by the license.
• Enterprise Multinode license (paid). This license comes with all Enterprise features and allows using a single license for all nodes of the VDFS cluster. For specific details please refer to KB158: Enterprise Multinode license overview article.

The complete license comparison matrix is as follows.

You can see the current prices for the Essential and Enterprise licenses on the Pricing page.

The server may also be evaluated for free by using the Evaluation license. This license may be obtained by starting the evaluation in the VisualSVN Server Manager console or via the Evaluation Request form (no registration required). The Evaluation license allows an unlimited number of users and distributed VDFS repositories and it allows using all VisualSVN Server features without limitations.

How many licenses do I need if I have multiple instances of VisualSVN Server?

Regular Essential and Enterprise licenses can only be used on a single VisualSVN Server instance, so you should have a separate license per every instance. Also there is an Enterprise Multinode license that can be used on all servers in a single «VDFS replication cluster» — a group of servers connected to each other by VDFS replication links.

Please note that as an exception, additional non-production instances of VisualSVN Server can share the same Enterprise license. Such instances can be used with a sole purpose of testing software updates and configuration changes without presenting a risk to the production environment.

Maximum users allowed by the license

The number of users allowed to access the server depends on the license type:

• For free Community license, this number is limited to 15 different Subversion users.
• For paid Essential and Enterprise licenses, the user limit depends solely on the chosen size of your license. Available license sizes and their prices are listed on the Pricing page.

The number of users that counts towards the limit is evaluated slightly differently for Subversion and Windows authentication modes. For Subversion authentication, it is the number of user accounts created on the server. For Windows authentication, it is the number of users that have accessed the server during the last 30 days. Read the article KB148: How VisualSVN Server calculates the number of active users for more information.

Maximum VDFS repositories allowed by the license

VisualSVN Server does not limit the number of regular non-distributed FSFS repositories on the server. But the maximum allowed number of distributed VDFS repositories is limited according to the license type:

• Free Community license does not support distributed VDFS repositories as it does not include Multisite Repository Replication feature.
• Paid Essential and Enterprise licenses come with a predefined number of distributed VDFS repositories. These licenses are provided on a per server basis. Each server instance has to have a separate license with a desired number of VDFS repositories. Visit the Pricing page to choose a license size that is right for you.
• Paid Enterprise Multinode license comes with a minimum of 50 VDFS repositories and can be applied to several cluster nodes with enabled VDFS replication between them. It is important to note that, although there is no limitation on the number of nodes within the cluster, the number of users and repositories on each individual node must not exceed the license size. Visit the Pricing page to choose a license size that is right for you.

License compatibility with VisualSVN Server 3.9 and older

The pre-4.0 Enterprise Edition licenses with an active maintenance subscription are treated as new Enterprise 4.0 licenses with an unlimited number of users and VDFS repositories. Therefore, the upgrade to VisualSVN Server 4.0 is fully transparent for VisualSVN Server Enterprise Edition installations that have a license key with an active maintenance subscription.

Please read the article KB147: How the licensing model changes in VisualSVN Server 4.0 for more information about compatibility of the new and old licensing models.

See also

KB147: How the licensing model changes in VisualSVN Server 4.0
KB148: How VisualSVN Server calculates the number of active users
KB158: Enterprise Multinode license overview