Types of Splunk Enterprise licenses

Each Splunk software instance requires a license. Splunk software licenses specify the features you have access to and how much data can be indexed. As a customer, you'll work with licenses for a Splunk platform instance like Splunk Enterprise. This topic briefly describes different types of licenses you can obtain for Splunk Enterprise software.

This web page provides a brief summary for convenience. It does not create or dictate the terms of any legal contract or license. To fully understand your rights and obligations under any Splunk license (including the licenses listed on this page), consult the license text itself. In the event of any conflict between this summary and the license text, the license text controls.

Splunk Enterprise commercial end-user licenses

Customers can purchase a commercial end-user license to Splunk Enterprise based on either data volume or infrastructure. These Splunk Enterprise licenses are the most common license types. They provide access to the full set of Splunk Enterprise features within a defined limit of indexed data per day (volume-based license), or vCPU count (infrastructure license). Pricing and purchasing information are available on the Splunk website.

The Splunk Enterprise volume-based license

The following important points apply to the volume-based license:

• This volume-based license gives you access to all Splunk Enterprise features.
• This volume-based license allows for both single-instance and distributed installations of Splunk Enterprise.
• The volume-based license can be stacked and assigned to license pools. For information on allocating portions of a license, see Allocate license volume.
• This license cannot stack with an infrastructure-based license (explained in the next section).
• The license prevents searching if your license stack is less than 100 GB of data per day and there are a set number of license warnings. * To learn about license warnings and violation, see What happens during a license violation?

Contact Splunk for information about purchasing this license for Splunk Enterprise.

The Splunk Enterprise infrastructure license

The following important points apply to the infrastructure-based license:

• The infrastructure license gives you access to all Splunk Enterprise features.
• The infrastructure license is for both single-instance and distributed installations.
• The infrastructure licenses can be stacked with one another and assigned to pools. For information on allocating portions of a license, see Allocate license volume.
• The infrastructure license cannot stack with a volume-based license.

Contact Splunk for information about purchasing this license for Splunk Enterprise.

Compare Splunk Enterprise licenses

Consult this table for a comparison of Splunk Enterprise license types:

License conditions	Enterprise: with less than 100 GB of data per day license stack	Enterprise: with 100 GB of data per day or larger license stack	Enterprise: Infrastructure (vCPU)
Currently blocks search while in violation	Yes	No	No
Logs internally and displays message in Splunk Web when in warning or violation	Yes	Yes	No
Stacks with other licenses	Yes	Yes	No
Enables full Splunk Enterprise feature set	Yes	Yes	Yes

Splunk developer licenses

There are two different Splunk developer licenses, the Dev/Test license and the Developer license.

These Splunk developer licenses are for development and testing of content for use with Splunk and cannot be used for production use cases.

Dev/Test license

The Test and Development license ("Dev/Test license") is only available to customers that have acquired a commercial, paid license to Splunk Enterprise and is subject to Splunk General Terms. It's used by customers with pre-production environments to test upgrades and evaluate customized app configuration changes before moving the changes into production. The following important points apply to the Dev/Test license:

• The Dev/Test license gives limited access to Splunk Enterprise features.
• The Dev/Test license cannot be stacked with other licenses. (For example, if you install a Dev/Test license after installing another non-Dev/Test Splunk Enterprise license, the Dev/Test license removes and replaces other Splunk Enterprise license files.)
• The Dev/Test license allows you to index up to the amount of data licensed per the relevant customer order. If you exceed that, you will receive a license warning.
• The Dev/Test license prevents searching if there are a set number of license warnings. To learn about license warnings and violation, see What happens during a license violation?
• Instances of Splunk Enterprise with a Dev/Test license are indicated by a "DEVTEST" stanza in the License XML file.

If you are employed by a Splunk customer with an active paid entitlement and wish to obtain a personal license to test Splunk Enterprise for your individual (non-commercial, separate from your organization's license) testing purposes, you may request a personalized Dev/Test license online: Personalized Dev/Test Licenses for Splunk Customers. This personalized license expires after 6 months (unless renewed) and allows you to index up to 50 GB of data per day in single-instance use only. Note that this license is currently not available for other products than Splunk Enterprise and only a limited set of features may be available.

Developer license

The Developer license is available to developers under the Splunk Developer Agreement. The Developer license is for developing content in connection with Splunk Enterprise alongside various development tools so that developers can test that content prior to its release on Splunkbase. This license is different from the license provided to partners participating in our Build Motion Partner program, described in the following section. The following important points apply to the Developer license:

• The Developer license gives you access to various Splunk developer tools on dev.splunk.com and a full set of Splunk Enterprise features.
• The Developer license is for single-instance and distributed installations of Splunk Enterprise.
• The Developer license expires after 6 months. You can submit a request to renew your license one week before it expires using the request form at Splunk Developer License Signup.
• The Developer license allows you to index 10 GB of data per day. If you exceed that you will receive a license warning.
• The Developer license prevents searching after a set number of license warnings. To learn about license warnings and violation, see What happens during a license violation?

To request a Developer license, see Splunk Developer License Signup.

Build Partner license

The Splunk Build Program formerly known as the Splunk Technology Alliance Program provides developers an opportunity to become Splunk Partners by signing the Splunk Partnerverse Partner General Terms (PGT) and the Splunk Build Addendum. Build Partners receive all the benefits mentioned in the Partnerverse Program Guide including a continuously renewable (if in good standing) 50 GB NFR license to Splunk Enterprise (and access to other products) and Partnership support via the Splunk Partner Portal & the Splunk Build/TAP Team. If you want to build Splunk-interoperable solutions to commercially market and distribute with Splunk's assistance, this license is the right one for you.

Other types of licenses

Splunk provides other licenses for specific uses:

The Splunk Enterprise Trial license

When you download and install Splunk Enterprise, a Splunk Enterprise Trial license is automatically generated for that instance. The following important points apply to the Enterprise Trial license:

• The Enterprise Trial license gives access to all Splunk Enterprise features.
• The Enterprise Trial license is for standalone, single-instance installations of Splunk Enterprise only.
• The Enterprise Trial license cannot be stacked with other licenses.
• The Enterprise Trial license expires 60 days after you install the Splunk Enterprise instance, unless otherwise specified to customers.
• The Enterprise Trial license allows you to index 500 MB of data per day to Splunk Enterprise. If you exceed that limit you receive a license warning.
• The Enterprise Trial license prevents searching if there are a set number of license warnings. To learn about license warnings and violation, see What happens during a license violation?

If you want to set up a trial Splunk Enterprise distributed deployment consisting of multiple Splunk Enterprise instances communicating with each other, each instance must use its own self-generated Enterprise Trial license. You cannot use centralized license management with the Enterprise Trial license.

If you need a more customized version of a trial license to prepare a pilot or proof of concept for a large deployment or with a longer duration or indexing volume, Contact Splunk or your sales representative with your request.

Free license

The Free license allows a completely free Splunk Enterprise instance with limited functionality and license usage. The following important points apply to the Free license:

• The Free license gives access to a limited set of Splunk Enterprise features.
• The Free license is for a standalone, single-instance installation of Splunk Enterprise only.
• The Free license cannot be stacked with other licenses.
• The Free license does not expire.
• The Free license allows you to index 500 MB of data per day. If you exceed that you will receive a license warning.
• The Free license prevents searching if there are a number of license warnings. To learn about license warnings and violation, see What happens during a license violation?

For a list of features that are disabled in Splunk Free, see About Splunk Free.

Pre-release license

Splunk invites certain customers to participate in its pre-release programs from time to time. These pre-release licenses are subject to certain beta terms similar to those in the Splunk Pre-release Software License Agreement, where users are limited to using a newer version of Splunk Enterprise for testing and evaluation purposes only. These licenses are not compatible with other Splunk software releases. Pre-release licenses typically enable specific Splunk Enterprise features for a specified testing duration.