ThingsBoard License Portal - Terms of Use

Revision Date: September 15, 2026

These terms govern your use of the ThingsBoard License Portal at https://license.thingsboard.io (the “Portal”) and every license key issued through it. They are not a software license. Your right to use the ThingsBoard Software comes from the LICENSE file (Business Source License 1.1 and its Additional Use Grant), the ThingsBoard License Agreement, the Community Grant License Agreement, or a separate commercial agreement signed between yourself and ThingsBoard. Nothing in these Terms reduces the rights the LICENSE file grants you.

By accessing any part of the Portal, creating an account, requesting a key, or submitting a report through the Portal, you confirm your unconditional acceptance of these Terms. We record the fact and time of your acceptance.

1. Your account

You need a Portal account to receive license keys. Provide accurate and complete information, and keep your contact email current: it is where keys, notices and renewal reminders go.

An account belongs to the Organization named in it, not to the individual who registered an account on behalf of it or in its name. In the event that the individual who originally registered or administered the account and/or deployment disassociates from your Organization (whether through termination of employment, contract expiration, or other organizational changes), you need to promptly notify ThingsBoard in writing. Upon receipt of such notification, ThingsBoard shall exercise commercially reasonable efforts to assist you in verifying its authority and re-establishing administrative access to the deployment, subject to Organization providing satisfactory proof of ownership and identity as reasonably required by ThingsBoard.

You are solely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality and security of all login credentials associated with your account, and assume full legal and financial responsibility for all activities, actions, and transactions conducted under such credentials. If your Organization or your designated user submits billing or organizational details—including but not limited to the company name, business address, and Tax ID/VAT number—the individual submitting such information represents and warrants that they possess full legal authority to provide such information and to legally bind the specified entity to these terms and any associated payment obligations.

You represent and warrant that neither you nor your Organization is located in, operating under the control of, or a national or resident of any country or territory subject to comprehensive economic sanctions or export controls. You shall not request keys for, or deploy the Software in connection with, any embargoed or sanctioned parties.

2. License Key Types, Usage Restrictions, and Key Management

The Portal issues four categories of license keys: Development, Non-Commercial, Commercial, and Community Grant. ThingsBoard logs and retains records of the specific license key type selected by you and the date and time of issuance.

Each category is issued against a different set of terms:

Each license key is strictly issued to, and registered for use by, the designated Organization. License keys are strictly non-transferable. You shall not sell, lease, rent, sublicense, assign, or otherwise transfer any license key to any third party, nor make a license key issued to you available for use in a deployment that another legal entity operates.

Hosting the Software for your own customers is permitted. Providing access to a deployment you operate — including to your customers, and including through the Software’s multi-tenancy features — is not a transfer of your license key, and your customers need no license key of their own. The Device and other limits of your own license continue to apply to that deployment, and you remain responsible for its compliance and for the use your customers make of it.

Where another legal entity is to operate its own deployment of the Software — for example where you wish to distribute, resell, or embed it for that entity to run on its own infrastructure — that requires a separate written agreement with ThingsBoard. Reseller, distributor and OEM arrangements are available; contact us to discuss one.

License keys are issued in two forms, and the form follows the license type:

A Subscription License is always issued with an online key. A Subscription License cannot operate offline.

This applies to no-charge licenses as well as paid ones. A no-charge Non-Commercial or Commercial license is issued as a subscription with an online key by default. Where your deployment can only operate without external connectivity, and an Offline Deployment is authorized for it, that license is issued instead as a perpetual license with an offline key.

Development keys are issued as Perpetual keys. The periodic confirmation of non-production use described in section 5 is a prompt in the user interface; it is not a check performed by the license server, and it does not require network connectivity.

You assume sole responsibility for managing, storing, and administering your license keys. You expressly acknowledge that certain administrative actions—including, but not limited to, key deletion or license unbundling—may be irreversible and can immediately disrupt or terminate functionality for any deployments reliant upon those license keys.

Each license key is issued upon your acceptance of the documents listed for its category above, on the activation page. The Portal records the accepted document version, the account, and the time of acceptance. No-charge and Development keys do not require acceptance of the ThingsBoard License Agreement.

3. No-charge production keys

Production use of the Software at no charge is permitted only within the limits set out in the Additional Use Grant in the LICENSE file, which govern.

In these Terms:

• “Device” means each distinct physical or logical source of data ingested into or managed by the Software, whether connected directly or through any gateway or intermediary; an intermediary is a Device only as to data it originates.
• “Organization” means you together with every entity that controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with you.
• “Commercial Purpose” means use in connection with any activity intended for or directed toward commercial advantage or monetary compensation, including use in the operations of an organization that operates for profit. Use by an accredited educational institution, or by a non-profit organization as defined by applicable law, is not a Commercial Purpose, provided such use is not for commercial profit.

For the purposes of key issuance, no-charge key allocations and their device limits are counted cumulatively across your entire Organization, across all deployments, whether operated directly by your Organization or by a third party on your Organization’s behalf.

The Portal issues one no-charge commercial production key per Organization; a request for a second concurrent key may be refused or routed to review. Issuance of a non-commercial license key is strictly contingent upon you providing an affirmative legal declaration confirming that the Software will be used exclusively for non-commercial purposes. ThingsBoard records and retains this declaration along with an electronic timestamp for compliance and auditing purposes. False or inaccurate declarations shall constitute a material breach of the License.

4. Production and non-production use

For the purposes of key issuance, Software use, and these Terms:

Production use means any use of ThingsBoard Software other than non-production use.

Non-production use means: (a) development, testing, quality assurance, integration testing, performance testing, benchmarking and continuous integration; (b) staging and other pre-production environments that mirror a deployment but that no person or system relies on; and (c) training, internal demonstrations and evaluation of the software - in each case only while all of the following are true: (1) every Device sending data is a test or laboratory Device, or a Device under your own physical control and not in service for any operational purpose; (2) no customer, end user or other third party relies on the deployment; and (3) no equipment is operated or controlled through it. Data replicated or forwarded from another deployment does not count as a Device “sending data” to the receiving deployment for the purposes of clause (1).

Evaluation with real devices. Evaluation or proof-of-concept use involving Devices in live operation is non-production use for up to 30 days from the first connection of such a Device. After that period it is considered production use.

Development mode. The Software includes a “development mode” feature, designed exclusively for non-production testing and evaluation, which displays a visible development notice within the user interface. You acknowledge and agree that development mode is a technical operational state of the Software and does not constitute a license status, grant, or exception.

Operating the Software in development mode does not convert, reclassify, or excuse an active production deployment. If your deployment or use of the Software satisfies the criteria for production use set forth in this document or relevant License Agreement, such use shall be legally deemed production use.

Production use strictly requires a valid production license key, regardless of:

• whether the Software is actively running in development mode;
• the arbitrary naming, labeling, or classification you assign to the environment (including, but not limited to, “staging,” “testing,” or “demo”); or
• whether the development notice is displayed within the interface.

5. Development keys

A Development license key is granted strictly for non-production use and permits an unlimited device count. Software operated under a Development key strictly excludes white-labeling features, displays a mandatory development notice, and requires periodic confirmation of non-production use every thirty (30) days.

Non-production operation of the Software does not require a license key and may run in keyless development mode by default. However, obtaining and applying a Development key:

• waives the thirty (30)-day cumulative operating-time limit of keyless development mode; and
• authorizes ThingsBoard to send critical security notices and operational communications directly to you or your Organization.

6. Community Grant registration and the Instance Check Report

Registration for the Community Grant Program must be processed through the Portal and strictly requires the submission of an unaltered Instance Check Report. You generate the report by running the verification tool against your own deployment; the tool operates locally under your control, opens the database read-only, and produces a single encrypted report. When you proceed with a grant registration, the tool uploads the report automatically. Where your deployment has no outbound connectivity, the tool cannot upload it, and you transfer the encrypted report and submit it through the Portal Yourself. Submission of a valid Instance Check Report is a mandatory condition precedent to receiving or maintaining a grant.

The Instance Check Report contains solely operational and structural metadata, including entity counts, creation-time histograms for devices and assets, server instance counts, database table sizes, system timestamps, technical identifiers of your deployment, two PostgreSQL server markers (the age of the database transaction counter and the server start time), and statistical checks that the deployment’s recorded history is genuine. The Instance Check Report shall not contain, extract, or transmit telemetry data values, individual device names, dashboard contents, or personal data.

ThingsBoard logs and retains every Instance Check Report submitted, linked to the corresponding instance identifier, for the entire duration of the associated license or grant—including reports that do not result in a grant award. You acknowledge and agree that the Instance Check Report serves as the evidentiary basis for any perpetual no-charge license granted, and ThingsBoard reserves the right to retain such evidence for as long as the license remains active.

Generation of a Community Grant key additionally requires acceptance of the Community Grant License Agreement.

Offline Deployments. For deployments operating without internet connectivity, ThingsBoard makes available a read-only reporting tool downloadable exclusively via the Portal to execute against your local database. You shall not modify, reverse engineer, decompile, or tamper with the reporting tool, nor shall you generate, alter, or submit an Instance Check Report through any unauthorized or external means. Submitting an Instance Check Report, or proceeding with a grant registration that uploads one, constitutes your binding representation and warranty that the report was generated natively by, and originates unchanged from, the specific deployment named therein.

If a submitted instance identifier is already associated with another registered account within the Portal, the Portal will display a masked email address of the current registered holder alongside available resolution pathways. You acknowledge that fraudulently or mistakenly registering an instance identifier that does not belong to you conveys no legal rights or license grants, as the legitimate operator retains the ability to verify ownership directly from the physical deployment.

7. Purchases and billing

Paid licenses purchased through the Portal are strictly governed by the ThingsBoard License Agreement and the specific commercial terms displayed at checkout. ThingsBoard does not collect, process, or store your payment card details. All billing transactions are conducted through ThingsBoard’s third-party payment processor, Stripe, and are governed by Stripe’s applicable terms, conditions, and security standards.

8. Truthful declarations

No-charge license keys and Community Grants are strictly conditioned upon the absolute truthfulness and accuracy of the representations and declarations made by you or your Organization, including but not limited to statements regarding non-commercial operational status, total device counts, and organizational identity.

If you or your Organization provide a false, deceptive, or manipulated declaration, such declaration shall constitute a material breach of these Terms, and any resulting no-charge permission, grant, or license shall be rendered null and void ab initio (from the inception of use). Consequently, all actual use of the Software during such period shall be legally deemed unauthorized and unlicensed, subjecting you or your Organization to full retroactive commercial license fees for the entire duration of use, without prejudice to any other remedies available to ThingsBoard at law or in equity.

If your operational model, deployment architecture, or organizational structure does not neatly align with standard form declarations, you must contact ThingsBoard directly to request written clarification or custom terms prior to submitting a declaration.

9. Data and privacy

By registering for or signing up to use the Portal, you consent to the collection and processing of the personal data required to establish and administer your account, including your name, email address, and organizational details. ThingsBoard’s handling, protection, and retention of personal data—including procedures for data deletion upon account closure—are governed strictly by the ThingsBoard Privacy Policy.

Deployment reports, usage metrics, and associated system records constitute organizational and technical data tied exclusively to your Organization and deployment, rather than to you personally. ThingsBoard retains all such technical data in accordance with Section 6 of these Terms and the License Agreement.

10. Closing your account; suspension

You may delete your user or Organization account at any time through the Portal settings. Account deletion immediately terminates your access to the Portal and its associated purchase history. However, account deletion shall not:

• relieve you or your Organization of any accrued, unpaid, or outstanding financial obligations; or
• revoke, invalidate, or alter any validly issued perpetual licenses, which shall continue in full force and effect in accordance with their respective governing terms.

Personal data following account deletion is handled strictly in accordance with the ThingsBoard Privacy Policy.

ThingsBoard reserves the right to suspend or terminate your or your Organization’s access to the Portal immediately in the event of a breach of these Terms or suspected fraudulent activity.

The suspension or termination of Portal access does not, in and of itself, revoke or terminate any software licenses previously granted to you or your Organization. Such licenses shall remain governed strictly by, and subject to the termination provisions of, the applicable LICENSE file and the License Agreement.

11. The Portal itself

The Portal is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis. While ThingsBoard employs commercially reasonable efforts to maintain the availability and operational stability of the Portal, ThingsBoard makes no warranties, express, implied, or statutory, regarding uninterrupted, error-free, or continuous access to or availability of the Portal.

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, ThingsBoard shall not be liable to you or your Organization for any indirect, incidental, consequential, special, or punitive damages, or for any loss of profits, revenue, data, or business opportunity arising out of or in connection with:

• any Portal downtime, interruption, or technical malfunction; or
• Your or your Organization’s administration, misconfiguration, deletion, or loss of license keys.

12. Relationship to other documents

These documents govern different subjects and are intended to be read together:

• (a) the LICENSE file (Business Source License 1.1 and its Additional Use Grant) governs the copyright license in the Software, including no-charge production use;
• (b) the ThingsBoard License Agreement, together with its Order, governs the paid commercial relationship for the deployments it covers — licensed scope, fees, support, and enforcement of that scope;
• (c) the Community Grant License Agreement governs a Community Grant license issued under the ThingsBoard Community Grant Program and, where it expressly says so, continues to apply after that license converts to a Commercial License;
• (d) these Terms govern the Portal, license key issuance and administration, and declarations made to obtain a key;
• (e) the ThingsBoard Privacy Policy governs the processing of personal data.

Each deployment is governed by the agreement corresponding to the class of license key issued for it. Where your Organization holds keys of more than one class, each agreement applies only to the deployments for which its key was issued.

Where the same subject is addressed by more than one of these documents and the terms genuinely conflict, the following order controls, highest first: (1) a written agreement executed by both parties, as to the terms it expressly addresses; (2) the Community Grant License Agreement, as to the terms its clause 8.3 states survive conversion; (3) the Order, as to the commercial terms it states; (4) the ThingsBoard License Agreement; (5) these Terms; (6) the LICENSE file.

Nothing in any of these documents reduces the rights the LICENSE file grants you.

13. Changes and contact

ThingsBoard reserves the right to update or modify these Terms from time to time. The current version of these Terms, along with its effective date, will always be displayed within the Portal. In the event of any material changes, ThingsBoard will provide advance notice to you by sending a notification to the primary email address associated with your Organization’s account prior to the date such changes take effect. Your continued use of the Portal following the effective date of any modifications constitutes your acceptance of the revised Terms.

For questions or notices regarding licensing, you may contact ThingsBoard at licensing@thingsboard.io. For administrative, account management, or billing inquiries, you may contact support at support@thingsboard.io.

14. Governing Law and Venue

These Terms, their subject matter and their formation (including any non-contractual disputes or claims) are governed by the laws of the State of New York, USA, without regard to its conflict-of-law rules.

You and your Organization submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in New York County, New York, and each party waives any right to trial by jury.

Before starting proceedings, the party raising a dispute will notify the other in writing and allow thirty (30) days for senior representatives to resolve it in good faith. This does not delay either party from seeking injunctive relief.