> Markdown version of [Licensing & Maintenance](https://vaadin.com/docs/latest/building-apps/architecture/licensing-and-maintenance). Section index: [llms.txt](https://vaadin.com/docs/latest/building-apps/llms.txt)

# Licensing, Support & Maintenance

The Vaadin framework and its core UI components are free and open source under the Apache License 2.0, and you can use them in commercial projects. Some UI components and tools need a commercial subscription. This page explains how to tell which is which, what a subscription means for your builds and servers, and what it takes to keep an application on a maintained version. It doesn’t list commercial products or prices. For those, and for what each subscription includes, see [Pricing](https://vaadin.com/pricing).

## <a id="free-open-source"></a>Free & Open Source

The following are free to use in any project, under the Apache License 2.0:

- **The Vaadin framework**, which you build your views with.

- **The core UI components**: every UI component in the [component list](https://vaadin.com/docs/latest/components.md) that doesn’t have the dollar sign badge, such as Grid, Combo Box, Date Picker, Form Layout, and Upload.

- **Browserless testing**, which tests your views in Java without a browser. See [Testing](https://vaadin.com/docs/latest/building-apps/testing.md).

- **The AI integration core**: the orchestrator, the LLM providers, and the component interfaces. See [AI Integration](https://vaadin.com/docs/latest/flow/ai-support.md).

[Copilot](https://vaadin.com/docs/latest/tools/copilot.md) and the hosted [Vaadin MCP server](https://vaadin.com/docs/latest/building-apps/agentic-development/mcp.md) aren’t open source, and they depend on Vaadin’s online services. Copilot’s features that change your code require you to log in with a Vaadin account, and its AI features send source code and prompts to the Copilot server. See the [Copilot privacy summary](https://vaadin.com/docs/latest/tools/copilot.md#privacy).

Support for the open source core comes from the community, in the [Vaadin Forum](https://vaadin.com/forum).

## <a id="commercial-features"></a>Commercial Features

Commercial subscriptions add to the open source core. Depending on the subscription, they can include:

- UI components for advanced use cases.

- Tools for browser-based end-to-end testing and load testing.

- Kits for running applications in production, for example with session replication or monitoring.

- Tools for modernizing older applications.

- Longer maintenance and expert support.

In this documentation, commercial features have a dollar sign badge in the navigation and on cards, and their pages start with a Commercial Feature notice. You can try them for free in development, as described in [Using Free Trials](https://vaadin.com/docs/latest/flow/configuration/licenses.md#using-free-trials). For the current list of commercial features, and which subscription includes each one, see [Pricing](https://vaadin.com/pricing).

Deprecated tools have a deprecation notice at the top of their pages. Don’t use them in a new application.

## <a id="licenses-in-your-build-runtime"></a>Licenses in Your Build & Runtime

An application that uses only open source features needs no license key. When it uses a commercial feature, licenses affect your environments as follows:

- **Development:** Each developer validates their license with a Vaadin account the first time they use a commercial feature. Machines that can’t reach `vaadin.com` need an [offline license key](https://vaadin.com/docs/latest/flow/configuration/licenses.md#offline-license-key).

- **Continuous integration:** Build servers need a [server license key](https://vaadin.com/docs/latest/flow/configuration/licenses.md#server-license-key) to make production builds.

- **Production:** A running application doesn’t need a license. The exception is Extended Maintenance releases, which check the license key at startup, but only log an error if the check fails.

See [Licenses](https://vaadin.com/docs/latest/flow/configuration/licenses.md) for the details.

## <a id="releases-upgrades"></a>Releases & Upgrades

Vaadin releases a new minor version every three months, and a new major version every one to two years. A minor version adds features, and deprecates old ones without removing them, so upgrading to it is usually a version bump. A major version can remove deprecated features, and raise the required versions of Java, Spring Boot, and other technologies, so upgrading to it can take more work.

Free maintenance of a minor version ends one month after the next minor version is released. To keep receiving fixes without a subscription, upgrade to each new minor version as it comes out. After a new major version is released, the one before it receives free maintenance only for a limited time. After that, its fixes need a commercial subscription. See [Vaadin Releases](https://vaadin.com/releases) for the current release dates and maintenance periods.

To plan for these, see:

- [Supported Technologies](https://vaadin.com/docs/latest/compatibility.md) for the minimum versions of Java, Spring Boot, Node.js, build tools, application servers, and browsers.

- [Upgrading Guide](https://vaadin.com/docs/latest/upgrading.md) for the changes needed when you upgrade.

- [Version Comparison](https://vaadin.com/docs/latest/upgrading/version-comparison.md) for how the major versions differ.