ThingsBoard changed its licensing model on 29 September 2026. Up to version 4.3 there was a Community Edition (CE) under Apache 2.0 with no license cost and a commercial Professional Edition (PE). Since version 4.4 there is a single product under the Business Source License 1.1 (BUSL): free up to 100 devices on one server for commercial use, above that a commercial license at the former PE prices. ThingsBoard Cloud remains the hosted SaaS offering, billed by devices and data points. All prices in this article are as of October 2026. What the license change means for existing installations is covered in the post ThingsBoard 4.4 under BUSL 1.1. For what the platform does technically, see What is ThingsBoard.
The license paths at a glance
ThingsBoard is developed by ThingsBoard, Inc. Since version 4.4 the paths no longer differ by features but by size, branding and support (ThingsBoard, announcement):
| Path | License | Cost | Limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Community Edition up to 4.3 | Apache 2.0, permanent | no license cost | security updates for 4.3 until 20 Jul 2027, for 4.2 until 15 Feb 2027 |
| Free License from 4.4 | BUSL 1.1 | no license cost | commercial 100 devices and one server, non-commercial 1,000 devices; key and visible branding |
| Community Grant from 4.4 | BUSL 1.1 | no license cost, Professional Pack optional $2,999 one-time | size of the existing CE installation on 29 Sep 2026 plus 10 percent |
| Commercial license | BUSL 1.1 with commercial license | subscription from $99/month or perpetual from $4,999 | by plan |
| ThingsBoard Cloud | SaaS | from $0, Business $749/month | by plan and data points |
Sources: license text, release policy, Community Grant Program, pricing page.
Community Edition up to 4.3: free, but with an end of support
The CE up to version 4.3 remains under Apache 2.0. In practice that means:
- Free, permanent and commercial use with no license fee and no license key.
- No limit on the number of devices, assets or processed messages from the license.
- Core features such as telemetry ingestion, the rule engine, dashboards, multi-tenancy and MQTT/HTTP/CoAP interfaces are included.
The restriction is time: version 4.3 is Active LTS and receives security and critical bug fixes until 20 July 2027, version 4.2 only critical security fixes until 15 February 2027. After that, security maintenance lies with the operator. The CE is no longer developed as a separate product.
ThingsBoard 4.4: Free License under BUSL 1.1
The Additional Use Grant in the license text permits free production use in two cases:
| Attribute | Commercial | Non-commercial |
|---|---|---|
| Devices | at most 100 across the organization | at most 1,000 across the organization |
| Servers | at most one | any number |
| Branding | "Powered by ThingsBoard" visible | same |
| License key | free, online check roughly every hour | same |
The feature set is complete, including integrations, scheduler, reporting, SSO and fine-grained permissions. White labeling at any size, more devices or servers and the help desk are paid. Development and testing need no key. Each version becomes Apache 2.0 four years after release, ThingsBoard 4.4.0 on 29 September 2030.
Community Grant for existing installations
Organizations whose CE installation ran in production before 29 September 2026 can move to 4.4 through the Community Grant Program without paying for their size:
| Rule | Value |
|---|---|
| Devices | count on 29 Sep 2026 plus 10 percent, rounded up to the next 10; at least 10 and at most 1,000 additional; at least 100 in total |
| Servers | number as registered, no headroom |
| Deadline | registration until 20 Jul 2027, from the latest 4.3 LTS patch |
| Term | no expiry |
| Professional Pack | $2,999 one-time per installation for integrations, scheduler, reporting, white labeling and help desk in the first year |
Example from the program page: 3,268 devices result in a grant for 3,598 devices. Growth beyond that is billed at the commercial license price list.
Commercial license: subscription by device plan
According to the vendor, the commercial license for self-managed installations matches the former Professional Edition prices. As of October 2026 (source: thingsboard.io/pricing, net list prices in USD, subject to change):
| Plan | Price/month | Devices | Assets | Production instances | Extra device |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 100 | 100 | 1 | - |
| Pilot | $99 | 100 | 100 | 1 | - |
| Startup | $299 | 500 | 500 | 2 | - |
| Business | $499 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 3 | $0.10 |
The former Maker ($10) and Prototype ($39) plans are no longer offered. White labeling is included from Pilot. Additional devices beyond the plan limit can only be purchased on the Business plan. Subscriptions can be cancelled monthly. The perpetual license starts at $4,999 one-time; new versions after the first year require an update fee. Only the perpetual license allows an offline key without online license checks, if the order specifies offline operation. Add-ons such as edge computing or Trendz Analytics can be added.
ThingsBoard Cloud: convenient, but per device
ThingsBoard Cloud is the hosted SaaS. You run nothing, but you pay by devices and data points. The license change does not affect the cloud. As of October 2026 (source: thingsboard.io/pricing, North America region in USD, Europe region in EUR):
| Plan | Price/month USD | Price/month EUR | Devices | Data points/month | Extra device |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1M | - |
| Prototype | 49 | 45 | 50 | 10M | - |
| Pilot | 149 | 145 | 100 | 100M | - |
| Startup | 399 | 385 | 500 | 500M | - |
| Business | 749 | 725 | 1,000 | 1B | 0.30 |
In the cloud, too, additional devices are only available on the Business plan, up to 5,000 devices. For larger, managed fleets there are private cloud plans (Launch from $1,499/month for 5,000 devices). The data point limits can also trigger extra cost if sensors report frequently.
Worked example: 5,000 devices compared
Example: 5,000 devices in continuous commercial operation, list prices in USD, as of October 2026, rounded:
| Model | Calculation | Cost/year |
|---|---|---|
| ThingsBoard Cloud (public) | Business 749 + 4,000 x 0.30 = 1,949/month | approx. $23,400 |
| ThingsBoard Private Cloud | Launch 1,499/month | approx. $18,000 |
| Commercial license, self-managed | Business 499 + 4,000 x 0.10 = 899/month | approx. $10,800 + server and operations |
| Community Grant (CE ran with 5,000 devices before 29 Sep 2026) | grant for 5,500 devices | $0 license + server and operations |
| CE 4.3 self-hosted | Apache 2.0 | $0 license until end of support 07/2027, then own security maintenance |
For new installations without a grant, the self-managed commercial license is therefore the cheapest ThingsBoard option from a few hundred devices, the cloud the most convenient. From 4.4 on, only those who fit the Free License or hold a grant remain free of license cost. An open stack of ChirpStack (MIT), Node-RED (Apache 2.0) and Grafana (AGPL-3.0) has no device license but does not replace every ThingsBoard feature. More on the trade-off in IoT self-hosted vs. cloud and in the comparison of open IoT platforms.
Total cost of ownership (TCO) when self-hosting
Without a license fee, self-hosting is still not free of cost. Regardless of the license path, you take on:
- Server and storage: CPU, RAM, fast NVMe for the time-series database. Telemetry-heavy workloads are I/O-intensive.
- Operations: installation, updates, monitoring, backups, scaling and high availability. This item dominates the TCO over the years.
- License management from 4.4: key from the License Portal, outbound connection to the license server (interruptions of up to 48 hours are tolerated) and the decision on the optional usage overview.
Whether ThingsBoard is the right tool for your use case or a LoRaWAN-focused stack fits better is shown in the comparison ThingsBoard vs. ChirpStack.
Our assessment
For prototypes and small fleets the Free License or ThingsBoard Cloud fit. Existing CE installations should be updated to the current 4.3 LTS patch and registered for the Community Grant before 20 July 2027. For larger new fleets the self-managed commercial license competes with an open stack. We plan, run and maintain ThingsBoard on your infrastructure, including license path, sizing and high availability; licenses are purchased directly from the vendor. Details on our ThingsBoard page and in the IoT hub. We calculate your scenario in an initial consultation.
