Licensing & Commercial FAQs
ArcticDB is licensed under the Business Source License 1.1 (BSL), reverting to an Apache 2.0 License after a two-year term.
Is ArcticDB free to use?
All versions of ArcticDB are free to use for non-production usage - except if being used to provide an offering that allows third parties (other than your employees and contractors) to operate a database.
Under the BSL, ArcticDB cannot be used for production usage. For more information on what constitutes production usage, please see the MariaDB BSL FAQ.
Once a version of ArcticDB has converted to the Apache 2.0 license, it may be used for production usage without acquiring an additional license.
License conversion timeline
| ArcticDB version | License | Converts to Apache 2.0 |
|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | BSL | March 16, 2025 |
Production usage of a BSL-licensed version
To use ArcticDB for production use, please contact us to purchase an ArcticDB Pro license.
Can I contribute to ArcticDB?
Yes! Contributions are welcome - please see our GitHub readme for more information.
Is ArcticDB part of Man Group?
Yes - ArcticDB is provided by Man Group.