Farewell to our Enterprise License
Tags: database, opensource, sql
Published: 2021-03-23 16:02:12

Starting with the release of CrateDB v4.5.0, in Crate.io we're saying farewell 👋 to our Enterprise License. **Instead, we will be developing a single, open-source version of CrateDB licensed under Apache 2.0 from now on.** 

This means that CrateDB is (and will continue to be) completely free if you run it on your own premises. 

You can download CrateDB v4.5 [here](https://crate.io/download/), and also with [Docker](https://hub.docker.com/_/crate). 



### Why is Crate.io making this change?

CrateDB started out as an open-source project. Our database was built using open-source components from Elasticsearch, Lucene, and many others, and so it was a thrill for us to contribute back to the community.

However, in 2019 [we decided to try an open-core approach](https://crate.io/a/open-source-sustainable-company/), a model that was being widely adopted in the industry at the time. In theory, it allowed us to open new revenue streams while still offering an open-source variant to the community... But after operating this model for two years, we realized it was not for us. 

To offer a feature-limited version of CrateDB as the open-source product faced us with continual contradictions in our development ethos, as we are open-source developers at heart. So we decided to go back to fully open source, leaving the open-core approach behind. This lets us focus all our efforts on a single, open-source version of CrateDB, available to anyone.

### How will Crate.io build a successful business?

We know that the future is in the cloud. Daily, we see our customers' interests shift towards fully managed SaaS solutions, and we are confident this trend is here to stay. This new tech landscape gives companies like Crate.io the possibility to build a business without abandoning the open-source values.

For enterprise customers interested in an on-prem version of CrateDB with premium support, of course we will continue to offer it, including SLA’s and project and incident management. The same is true for partners that want to embed CrateDB into their stack, such as an IoT Platform or OEMs.  


### Is this decision ever going to change?

No, this decision is not going to change. (You can quote us). 

### Isn't Crate.io concerned about third parties (like cloud providers) potentially selling CrateDB as a service without contributing?

CrateDB wouldn’t be possible without the generosity of the open-source community. We celebrate third parties using our software for their own projects and commercial products, just as CrateDB has done with others.

When it comes to the possibility of other companies offering CrateDB as a service without significantly contributing back, we do not see this as a too significant problem. We are the originators and main contributors to the product, and we're confident that we will offer the best support and assistance to our users now and in the future.

### I am a CrateDB Enterprise user. How does this change affect me?

You will not see any changes. Your commercial agreement with Crate.io is still valid, including our SLAs, technical support, hotfixes, incident management, roadmap discussions, on-demand training, rich onboarding, and regular check-ins, and consultative support.

### I was already using the open-source version of CrateDB. How does this change affect me?

If you upgrade to CrateDB v4.5.0, you'll get the (previously called) Enterprise features:

* Access to [user management](https://crate.io/docs/crate/reference/en/4.4/admin/user-management.html#administration-user-management) for multiple database users
* Access to user privilege configuration
* Database management with [authentication](https://crate.io/docs/crate/reference/en/4.4/admin/auth/index.html#admin-auth) 
* [User-defined functions in JavaScript](https://crate.io/docs/crate/reference/en/4.4/general/user-defined-functions.html#udf-lang-js)
* Access to the following features in the [CrateDB admin UI](https://crate.io/docs/crate/admin-ui/en/latest/index.html):
      * [shards browser](https://crate.io/docs/crate/admin-ui/en/latest/shards.html)
      * [monitoring overview](https://crate.io/docs/crate/admin-ui/en/latest/monitoring.html)
      * [privileges browser](https://crate.io/docs/crate/admin-ui/en/latest/privileges.html)
* Access to the following system information functions:
      * [CURRENT_USER](https://crate.io/docs/crate/reference/en/latest/general/builtins/scalar.html#current-user)
      * [USER](https://crate.io/docs/crate/reference/en/latest/general/builtins/scalar.html#user)
      * [SESSION_USER](https://crate.io/docs/crate/reference/en/latest/general/builtins/scalar.html#session-user)
* Access to the [hyperloglog_distinct](https://crate.io/docs/crate/reference/en/latest/general/builtins/aggregation.html#aggregate-functions) aggregate function
* Access to the following [window functions](https://crate.io/docs/crate/reference/en/latest/general/builtins/window-functions.html#window-functions):
      * [first_value(arg)](https://crate.io/docs/crate/reference/en/4.4/general/builtins/window-functions.html#window-function-firstvalue)
      * [last_value(arg)](https://crate.io/docs/crate/reference/en/4.4/general/builtins/window-functions.html#window-function-lastvalue)
      * lag(arg [, offset [, default] ])
      * [lead(arg [, offset [, default] ]](https://crate.io/docs/crate/reference/en/latest/general/builtins/window-functions.html#window-function-lag)
      * [nth_value(arg, number)](https://crate.io/docs/crate/reference/en/latest/general/builtins/window-functions.html#window-function-lead)
      * [rank()](https://crate.io/docs/crate/reference/en/latest/general/builtins/window-functions.html#window-function-nthvalue)
      * [dense_rank()](https://crate.io/docs/crate/reference/en/latest/general/builtins/window-functions.html#window-function-rank)
* [JMX monitoring](https://crate.io/docs/crate/reference/en/latest/admin/monitoring.html#jmx-monitoring)

### Apart from the former Enterprise features, what other changes are coming with CrateDB v4.5.0?

As well as the above features, CrateDB v4.5.0 comes with improvements in the following areas:

* Performance optimization
* PostgreSQL Tool Compatibility (added regclass data type, pg_tablespace table)
* Better error messages
* Added SQL support for "CREATE TABLE AS <ref-create-table-as>" statement

____________________________________________________________

**You can get CrateDB v4.5 [here](https://crate.io/download/) and also in [Docker](https://hub.docker.com/_/crate).**