About our licensing models

Licensing Models

Subscription licenses: Software with the right-to-use for the length of the subscription term. Subscription models generally provide faster access to our latest features and innovations and more predictable cost structures.

Perpetual licenses: Software with the right-to-use for an indefinite period of time. Perpetual licenses license are typically locked to the device, and additional annual fees are required to maintain support and maintenance.

Purchasing Options

Software Buying Programs: Purchasing through one of the Cisco’s Software Buying Programs provides you economies of scale and license management simplicity. Cisco’s Software Buying Programs provide financial predictability, access to incentives, and subscription co-termination.

Learn more about Buying Programs for Enterprise Agreement (EA), Managed Service License Agreement (MSLA), and Service Provider Networking Agreement (SPNA).

Transactional: Both perpetual and subscription licenses can also be purchased as à la carte in accordance with Cisco’s price list.

License Deployment and Management

Smart Software Licensing: Smart Software Licensing is a flexible licensing model that provides you with an easy, fast, and consistent way to purchase and manage software across the Cisco portfolio and your organization. It gives you visibility to what you have purchased and what you are using. It supports a complete view of your smart licensed software entitlements in a user-friendly portal.

PAK Licensing: Requires you to configure devices individually using a PAK (Product Activation Key) license key. This method does not easily provide you with visibility of licenses you own in aggregate because PAK license keys are either delivered as paper-based, with the device, or via email.

Licensing terms and conditions

All Cisco software is subject to the Cisco End User License Agreement (EULA). The EULA contains the general legal terms applicable to all Cisco software and Cloud Services. Some products have additional terms that apply. These specific terms are described in offer descriptions (for Cloud Services) or supplemental licensing terms (for on-premise software). Learn more about software and Cloud Services under our End User License Agreement (EULA) and product-specific terms. Cisco may restrict the availability or features of Smart Accounts or Smart Licensing in any particular location or modify or discontinue features to comply with applicable laws and regulations. You may use Cisco Smart Licensing only in the country for which it is purchased and will be responsible for any taxes (if any) that may be applied to using features of Smart Accounts or Smart Licenses.

Cisco Smart Licensing

How Cisco Smart Licensing Works

Smart Licensing is a flexible software licensing deployment and management model that simplifies the way you activate and manage licenses across your organization.

Smart Licensing Benefits:

Smart Licensing simplifies the way you purchase, deploy, organize, and optimize Cisco software licenses.

• Easy activation: Smart Licensing establishes a pool of software licenses that can be used across your company—no more entering Product Activation Keys.
• Unified management: Cisco provides a complete view into all of your Cisco products and services licensing under this program in an easy-to-use portal, so you always know what you have and what you are using.
• License flexibility: Your software is not node-locked to your hardware, so you can easily use and move licenses as needed.

Cisco Smart Licensing Using Policy (SLP)

Smart Licensing Using Policy (SLP) is an evolved version of Smart Licensing. Smart Licensing Using Policy simplifies day-zero operations and ongoing maintenance for you. Once you receive the product, it will directly boot up instead of going into evaluation mode. Per-product software registration is not required, nor is ongoing communication every 30 days through the cloud-hosted Smart Account on Cisco Smart Software Manager (CSSM).

Starting with Cisco IOS® XE17.3.2/17.4.1 and NX-OS 10.2(1), all Cisco products running these versions of the operating system software will support only the Smart Licensing Using Policy.