Plans compared
Compare the KubeMQ evaluation, trial key, license key and offline license file: who each is for, how long it lasts, where it runs, and how to buy.
Every KubeMQ server needs a license. Four kinds exist. This page compares them, says which fits each situation, and links to the install step that adds each one. How licensing works explains what the server does with them.
Compare the options
| Topic | Evaluation | Trial key | License key | Offline license file |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Trying KubeMQ on a laptop | Developing on one server, or trying a production-shaped cluster | Production and staging | Sites with no internet access |
| Runs on | One Docker server | One Docker server, or one Kubernetes cluster of 3 servers, chosen when you request it. On Kubernetes the key stays with the first cluster it starts on | Docker or Kubernetes, with the number of servers in your order | Kubernetes, with the number of servers in the file. For one Docker server, contact support |
| Lasts | 14 days | 30 days | Your contract term | The end date in the file, up to one year |
| Signup | None | Email verification | An order from KubeMQ | An order plus your cluster's fingerprint |
| Needs internet | Yes, to start and while running | Yes, to start and while running | Yes, to start and while running | Never |
| Sends usage reports (Data sent to KubeMQ) | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| How to get and apply it | Starts by itself: Try KubeMQ | Install with kmq, Install with Docker or Install on Kubernetes | Install with kmq, Install with Docker or Install on Kubernetes | Install air-gapped |
What happens when each one ends is on How licensing works.
Which one fits
| Situation | Use |
|---|---|
| Try KubeMQ on your laptop | The evaluation |
| Automated tests and continuous integration | A license key that covers the number of installations your test runs create, or any key with one persistent volume per test host. Never the evaluation, and never a trial key on fresh volumes: each fresh volume counts as a new installation, so the evaluation may be refused, and a one-server trial key warns that it is over its cap from the second run (Troubleshooting) |
| Staging | A license key |
| Production | A license key on Kubernetes. Single-server Docker is for development and test only, and kmq, the KubeMQ command-line tool, refuses a production install on Docker |
| No internet access | An offline license file on Kubernetes. For one Docker server, contact support |
Buy
See Pricing for plans. To buy, or to ask about anything on this page, use Contact KubeMQ.
Send your request through the contact form with the details below. We reply within one business day. Kubernetes licenses above three servers and offline license files are issued within two business days of agreement.
- The license kind: license key or offline license file. A trial for more than 3 servers is a sales request too.
- The number of servers.
- Docker or Kubernetes.
- For an offline license file, the cluster fingerprint that Install air-gapped has you collect.
Manage an existing license
Email KubeMQ support to:
- renew a license key or an offline license file;
- replace a key that leaked;
- move a license to a new cluster;
- retire an installation you no longer run.
Apply the new key with the Replace the license later step of Install with kmq, Install with Docker or Install on Kubernetes. Apply a new offline license file as Install air-gapped shows.
Terms and policies
- Evaluation terms
- Trial terms
- Licensing policy: KubeMQ's commitments, key recovery, data retention and hosting region
- Privacy notice
- License agreement, for license keys and offline license files. Your order includes the license agreement; ask for it through Contact KubeMQ.
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