Redpanda, Redpanda Console, and Redpanda Connect are available in community and enterprise editions. Each product has a single binary that supports both editions.
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Redpanda Community Edition is free and source-available on GitHub:
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Redpanda Enterprise Edition requires a license key and includes additional features.
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Ready to try Redpanda Enterprise Edition?
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Go to the Redpanda Self-Managed quickstart to set up a local Redpanda cluster and try the Enterprise Edition free for up to 60 days. |
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Note
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Redpanda Cloud is a managed deployment of Redpanda Enterprise Edition. To learn more about Redpanda Cloud, see the redpanda-cloud:get-started:cloud-overview.adoc. |
The Community Edition is licensed with the Redpanda Business Source License (BSL). These core features are free and source-available.
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.
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.
get-started:partial$licensing/block-upgrades-note.adoc
To evaluate enterprise features in Redpanda Connect, you must apply a trial license key. After the 30-day evaluation period, you are blocked from using enterprise connectors unless you upgrade to an Enterprise Edition license.
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Important
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Redpanda Console v2.8.3 or later is required with clusters running Redpanda 24.3 or later to avoid startup issues when a trial or Enterprise license expires. |
The following table lists the Enterprise features for Redpanda and how Redpanda behaves upon license expiration when each enterprise feature is enabled.
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Upon license expiration:
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The cluster continues to operate without data loss, but the further use of enterprise features is restricted (see the table 1).
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Configuration of enterprise features remains unchanged, allowing you to add a new license and continue using enterprise features as before expiration. For instructions, see get-started:licensing/add-license-redpanda/index.adoc
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After license expiration: You cannot enable enterprise features without a valid license.
| Feature | Description | Behavior Upon Expiration |
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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 |
Continuous Intra-Broker Partition Balancing
( |
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. |
Topic Recovery |
Allows restoring a single topic from Tiered Storage using remote recovery properties. |
You cannot create topics with the |
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. |
Whole Cluster Restore (WCR) |
Enables the recovery of cluster data from a source cluster’s snapshot. |
If the license is expired, you cannot perform WCR. To proceed, add a valid license to the target cluster. If the source cluster has an expired license, the target cluster inherits the restriction until a valid license is applied. |
The following enterprise features for Redpanda Console are activated with a valid Enterprise Edition license key:
| Feature | Description | Restrictions Without Valid License |
|---|---|---|
Authentication for Redpanda Console |
Enables authentication for Redpanda Console, including secure login through OIDC and OAuth 2.0 SSO. |
All pages are redirected to the license expiration landing page, and all other access is restricted. |
Authorization (RBAC) for Redpanda |
Manages user roles and permissions for accessing features within Redpanda and Redpanda Console. |
All pages are redirected to the license expiration landing page, and all other access is restricted. |
Debug bundle generation |
Enables generating and downloading debug bundles in Redpanda Console for comprehensive cluster diagnostics. |
All pages are redirected to the license expiration landing page, and all other access is restricted. |
Reassign Partitions |
Enables the ability to move partitions between brokers. |
All pages are redirected to the license expiration landing page, and all other access is restricted. |
The following enterprise features are available with a valid Enterprise Edition license.
| Feature | Description | Restrictions Without Valid License |
|---|---|---|
Allow or deny lists |
Limit the Redpanda Connect components that users can run within data pipelines on a Redpanda Connect instance. |
No change. |
Additional inputs, outputs, and processors available only to enterprise customers. |
All enterprise connectors are blocked. |
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Redpanda Connect configuration service |
A configuration block that you can use to send logs and status events to a topic on a Redpanda cluster. |
No change. |
Secrets management |
Retrieve secrets values from a remote system, such as a secret management solution, without setting environment variables. |
No change. |
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 get-started:licensing/add-license-redpanda/index.adoc.
Redpanda Console offers two methods for applying or updating a license, depending on your setup:
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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.
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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.
Redpanda Connect offers multiple ways to apply or update your license. See Apply a license key to Redpanda Connect.