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Compare open source and free tiers

vCluster is available as open source under the Apache 2.0 license and in several product tiers with additional features. This page explains the difference between the open source (OSS) and Free tiers, how licensing works, and how to activate the Free tier.

Overview​

vCluster Open Source is the foundation of the project. It provides full-stack tenant cluster isolation: dedicated Kubernetes control planes, resource syncing, multiple backing stores, and support for k3s, k0s, vanilla Kubernetes, and EKS distributions. OSS requires no license and no Platform connectivity.

vCluster Free tier adds capabilities on top of OSS at no cost, including embedded etcd, Private Nodes, custom resource syncing, sync patches, and HostPath Mapper. The Free tier requires connecting to the vCluster Platform for license validation but needs no credit card.

Beyond the Free tier, paid Enterprise tiers (Dev, Prod, Scale) add features like sleep mode, external databases, SSO, audit logging, FIPS compliance, and air-gapped deployments. For pricing details, see the vCluster Pricing page.

Sidebar badges

Documentation pages show tier badges in the sidebar: FREE (black) requires Platform activation, ENTERPRISE (orange) requires a paid license. Pages without badges are OSS features available to everyone.

Feature comparison​

The following table lists tier-gated features and the plans they apply to. Open source features are not shown here because they are available in all tiers without restriction.

Enterprise
Available in these plansFreeDevProdScale
Advanced UI Customizations
Air-Gapped ModeAdd-OnAdd-OnAdd-On
Apps
Argo Integration
Audit Logging
Auto Sleep
Auto Sleep for Namespaces
Auto Sleep for Virtual Clusters
Auto Snapshots
Built-In CoreDNS
Central HostPath Mapper
Centralized Admission Control
Cert Manager Integration
Cluster Access
Cluster Role Management
ClusterAPI Node Provider
Connected Clusters
Custom Branding
Database Connector
DRA Sync
EKS Pod Identity for External Database Connections
Embedded etcd
External Database
External Database RDS IAM Authentication
External Secrets Integration
FIPS
Generic Sync
HashiCorp Vault Integration
High-Availability Mode
Hybrid Scheduling
Isolated Control PlaneAdd-OnAdd-OnAdd-On
Istio Integration
Kube-vip Integration
KubeVirt Integration
KubeVirt Node Provider
Least Privilege Mode
Machine Management
Metal3 Integration
Metal3 Node Provider
Multi-Region Mode
Multi-Region Platform
Multiple SSO Providers
Namespace Management
Netris
Nvidia BCM Node Provider
Platform as OIDC Provider
Platform External Database
Private Nodes
Private Nodes Auto Nodes
Private Nodes VPN
Project Quotas
Regional Cluster Endpoints
Resolve DNS
Secrets Sync
Security-Hardened vCluster Image
Single Sign-On
Standalone
Sync Namespaces toHost
Sync Patches
Template Versioning
Terraform Node Provider
Translate Patches
vCluster Proxy Resources
Virtual Cluster Management
vNode RuntimeAdd-OnAdd-OnAdd-On

How licensing works​

The Free tier requires connecting your tenant cluster to the vCluster Platform for license validation. The Platform handles all license management automatically - you don't need to manually configure license keys.

License validation flow​

License validation happens at the Platform level, not within individual tenant clusters:

  1. Platform retrieves license: The vCluster Platform periodically contacts the Loft License API (admin.loft.sh) to retrieve and validate its license. This determines which features are available across all connected tenant clusters.

  2. Tenant cluster connects to Platform: Each tenant cluster authenticates with the Platform using an access key stored in a Kubernetes Secret. The Platform then provides license information to the tenant cluster.

  3. Features are enabled: Based on the Platform's license tier (Free, Dev, Prod, or Scale), the tenant cluster enables the appropriate features.

Network requirements

The Platform requires outbound HTTPS access to admin.loft.sh for license retrieval. Tenant clusters only need connectivity to the Platform, not to the external license API. For air-gapped environments, see the air-gapped installation guide.

What happens during validation​

When a tenant cluster starts or reconnects to the Platform:

  • The tenant cluster reads its access key from the configured Secret (defaults to vcluster-platform-api-key in the tenant cluster's namespace)
  • It establishes a secure connection to the Platform
  • The Platform validates the access key and returns the current license status
  • The tenant cluster enables or disables features based on the license tier

For details on configuring the access key, see Platform API Key configuration.

Graceful degradation​

note

Tenant clusters never stop functioning due to license issues. In the worst case, they fall back to the OSS feature set, ensuring your workloads continue running.

If license validation fails:

  • Temporary connectivity issues: The tenant cluster continues operating with cached license information during brief outages.
  • Expired or invalid license: Features revert to the OSS tier. Your workloads continue running, but tier-specific features become unavailable.
  • No Platform connection: Tenant clusters deployed without Platform connectivity operate as OSS from the start.

Activate the free tier​

Activate the vCluster Free tier using these steps:

Prerequisites​

  • A Kubernetes cluster (Control Plane Cluster) where you'll deploy tenant clusters
  • kubectl installed and configured
  • The vCluster CLI installed

Step 1: Install the vCluster Platform​

Install the vCluster Platform in your Kubernetes cluster. See the Platform installation guide for detailed instructions. No credit card is required for the Free tier.

Step 2: Connect your tenant cluster​

After installing the Platform, connect existing tenant clusters or create new ones.

For existing tenant clusters:

# Log in to the Platform
vcluster platform login

# Add an existing vCluster to the Platform
vcluster platform add vcluster my-vcluster

For new tenant clusters, create them through the Platform UI or CLI - Free tier features are automatically enabled.

Step 3: Deploy with Free tier features​

When creating tenant clusters through the Platform, Free tier features like embedded etcd are automatically available:

vcluster.yaml
# Use embedded etcd (Free tier feature)
controlPlane:
  backingStore:
    etcd:
      embedded:
        enabled: true

Deploy your tenant cluster:

vcluster create my-vcluster --values vcluster.yaml

Step 4: Verify Free tier activation​

Check that your tenant cluster is connected and licensed in the Platform UI, or use the CLI:

# List virtual clusters managed by Platform
vcluster platform list vclusters

You should see your tenant cluster listed with the Free tier license status.

Frequently asked questions​

Is the Free tier really free?​

Yes, the Free tier is completely free. Creating a vCluster Platform account is required, but no credit card or payment is necessary.

Can OSS be used in production?​

Yes, vCluster OSS is production-ready and deployed by platform teams worldwide. Paid tiers add high availability, external database support, SSO, audit logging, and enterprise support — capabilities that larger-scale platform deployments typically require.

What happens if a Free tier license expires?​

Free tier licenses don't expire as long as the Platform account remains active. If connectivity issues prevent license validation, tenant clusters continue operating with a grace period.

Can you upgrade from Free to a paid tier?​

Yes, upgrades are possible at any time from the vCluster Platform account settings. Existing tenant clusters automatically receive the new license without requiring redeployment.

Does OSS require platform connectivity?​

No, vCluster OSS operates completely independently without requiring any connection to the vCluster Platform. Only Free and paid tiers require Platform connectivity for license validation.

Next steps​