Licensing FAQ

General#

Is bext open source?#

Yes. The engine is licensed under the AGPL-3.0 and most supporting crates and packages under MIT. You can read, modify, run, self-host and redistribute it. If you distribute the engine, or let users interact with a modified version over a network, you must offer them the source of your version under the AGPL-3.0. A commercial license is available for uses that can't meet that condition.

What's free?#

The whole engine and its basics: routing, automatic TLS, ISR caching, streaming SSR (PRISM), the compiler, HTTP/2 & HTTP/3, the base WAF (rate-limiting, IP/geo rules, OWASP-style detection), a single-node Redis cache, plugins, embedded PHP, the solo dashboard, and Prometheus metrics. Free in production, at any scale, forever.

What's paid?#

A single Pro add-on for the genuinely advanced bits: managed/auto-updating WAF rules + bot & threat intelligence, clustered/distributed Redis, the team dashboard (RBAC, SSO/SAML, audit logs, long-retention analytics, flow debugger), and OpenTelemetry tracing. Beyond that: bext Cloud (managed hosting, includes Pro), Enterprise (SLA/support/compliance), and a commercial license (embed the engine without the AGPL-3.0 conditions).

Do my applications need a license?#

No. Your apps are yours. The AGPL-3.0 covers the engine, not the applications it serves, so your application code can stay closed.

Keys and Validation#

Self-hosting the open core needs no key. A key unlocks Pro, or carries Enterprise / OEM entitlements.

Does the server phone home?#

No. Validation is 100% offline — a key is verified with an Ed25519 public key embedded in the binary. No network requests are made, ever.

What happens with no key?#

The server runs the full open core — every base feature active. Pro add-ons (managed WAF, distributed Redis, team dashboard, OTel) stay off until a Pro/Cloud/Enterprise key is present. No nag screens, no degraded behavior.

What happens if a key expires?#

There's a 14-day grace period with a logged warning. After that, Pro add-ons turn off and the open core keeps running. The server never refuses to start.

Can I use one key on multiple servers?#

Keys have a servers field. Check yours with bext-server license.

Cloud#

Is bext Cloud separate from self-hosting?#

Yes. bext Cloud is managed hosting and includes Pro. Self-hosting the open core is independent and free.

Licensing Overview — open core vs Pro
License model: AGPL-3.0 engine, MIT ecosystem, commercial license
License Setup — configure and verify a key
Feature Reference — every feature, free vs Pro, and its Cargo flag