Licensing

CedarDB is available in three editions to suit different needs, from free usage to full enterprise:

Type	Description
Community Edition	Free version of CedarDB with a 64 GiB database size limit and no enterprise features. Includes access to documentation and Slack for support. Find the license terms here.
Enterprise	Full-featured CedarDB with all enterprise capabilities. License must be renewed as negotiated. Includes dedicated Enterprise support.
Enterprise Trial	Time-limited trial of CedarDB Enterprise with all features. Includes Community Edition support (documentation and Slack).

Obtain a license

Community Edition is available free of charge under the Community Edition license.
To obtain an Enterprise license, contact sales.
To start an Enterprise Trial, visit the self-service console for a 90-day trial license.

Activate your license

Via environment variable

Once you have your license key, you can activate it using an environment variable. The method depends on how you’re running CedarDB:

Export your license key before starting CedarDB like this:

export LICENSE_KEY='<your_key>'
./cedardb <your args>

Pass the license key as environment variable when starting CedarDB (e.g., via docker run):

docker run --rm -p 5432:5432 -e CEDAR_PASSWORD=test -e LICENSE_KEY='<your_key>' cedardb/cedardb

At startup, CedarDB logs the license activation:

LOG:     initializing license.key=<your_key> from environment variable
INFO:    License registered to Customer Name, valid until 2025-08-20.
INFO:    You're running CEDARDB ENTERPRISE EDITION.

Via SQL

You can also activate a license while CedarDB is already running (e.g., without restarting) using SQL as a superuser:

set license.key='<your_key>'

⚠️

This method does not persist across restarts. Be sure to also set the environment variable to ensure your license is re-applied when CedarDB restarts.

Monitor your license

You can see your license expiration date at the CedarDB console:

console license page

Renew your expired license

To renew your Enterprise license, contact sales.
Enterprise Trial licenses cannot be renewed. To upgrade to an Enterprise license, contact sales.

FAQs

What happens if I exceed the Community Edition data size limits?

Your database will enter read-only mode. You won’t be able to insert, update, or delete data, but:

You can still query your data.
You can export it using SQL statements like COPY OUT (to CSV) or tools like pg_dump (to SQL).

What happens when my Enterprise trial license expires?

Your database automatically reverts to the Community Edition:

Enterprise features are disabled.
If your database exceeds the 64 GiB limit, it will become read-only.
You retain all your data, even if it exceeds the Community Edition limit.

Can I chain multiple trials?

No, you can only obtain and activate a single trial license per database.

Can I use CedarDB for academic research?

Yes. CedarDB has strong academic roots, and we’re happy to support research use cases. If you would like to use CedarDB in your own research, contact us.

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