License & Editions
CompassDocs is free and open-source software, licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 (AGPL-3.0). That open-source app is the Community edition, and it is complete on its own.
On top of it, two paid editions are offered for teams that need more: Enterprise (a self-hosted license that unlocks identity and compliance features) and Cloud (the same app, fully managed). This is an open-core model, in the spirit of tools like Snipe-IT: the core is fully open and free to self-host, while advanced features and hosting are offered commercially.
In plain terms
Section titled “In plain terms”- You can self-host and use the Community edition for free, including inside a company, and modify it however you like.
- The AGPL’s one condition: if you run a modified version as a network service for others, you must make your modified source available to those users under the same license.
- Enterprise features are the exception: they live in a separate, commercially licensed build and are unlocked by a license key. You never need them to run CompassDocs.
Editions
Section titled “Editions”| Community | Enterprise | Cloud | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free (AGPL-3.0) | $599 / yr flat, unlimited users | From $8 / user / mo |
| Hosting | You run it | You run it | Run & maintained for you |
| Users & documents | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| AI search, editor, roles, approvals | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| In-app audit log | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Backups, custom domain, HTTPS | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Private spaces & user groups | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Notifications (chat & email) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| SSO (OIDC & SAML 2.0) | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Microsoft 365 directory & Entra group sync | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Policy acknowledgements | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| SCIM provisioning | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Audit-log export (CSV / JSON) | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Training & onboarding | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Dedicated support (48-hour response) | — | $3,000/yr add-on | ✓ |
| Managed hosting & updates | — | — | ✓ |
| Source | Fully open | Core open; add-ins commercial | Core open |
See compassdocs.io/pricing for full details, and Applying an Enterprise license for how to activate a key.
How Enterprise licensing works
Section titled “How Enterprise licensing works”Enterprise licenses are offline, cryptographically signed keys — there is no license server to call and nothing that breaks if your install is offline or air-gapped:
- Each license is an Ed25519-signed token encoding the customer, plan, entitled features, seat count, and expiry date.
- Your CompassDocs server verifies it locally against a public key built into the app. No phone-home, ever.
- You apply it in Settings → License (or via the
COMPASSDOCS_LICENSE_KEYenvironment variable). - Licenses use short expiries with renewal. When one lapses, entitled features keep working for a 14-day grace period, then switch off — your core install and all your data keep running normally.
The Enterprise build is a separate image; the Community image on your machine will show enterprise features as unavailable even if a key is present, because the code for them isn’t bundled. See Applying an Enterprise license for the full flow.
Why open-core?
Section titled “Why open-core?”The AGPL keeps the Community edition open and ensures improvements made in hosted derivatives flow back to the community. Charging for enterprise identity features and managed hosting—rather than paywalling the core—funds ongoing development while keeping CompassDocs genuinely free and useful for everyone who self-hosts.
Full license text
Section titled “Full license text”The complete AGPL-3.0 license lives in the repository at
LICENSE.
Copyright © 2026 CompassDocs authors.