Cloudera licensing is the set of terms under which Cloudera, Inc. sells its data management, analytics and AI platform. The platform is sold in two deployment models: Cloudera on premises, licensed as fixed-term software subscriptions that include Support Services, and Cloudera on cloud, a hosted service charged by consumption.[2] Cloudera publishes the definitions of every ordering metric on a single Licensed Metrics page, last updated 2026-08-20.[1] The central unit is the Cloudera Compute Unit (CCU), a combination of cores and memory that is used both to size on premises subscriptions and to meter cloud usage.[4]
Cloudera’s platform was called Cloudera Data Platform (CDP). On 2025-02-11 Cloudera renamed it simply “Cloudera” and stopped using acronyms: CDP Private Cloud Base became Cloudera Base on premises, CDP Private Cloud Data Services became Cloudera Data Services on premises, CDP Public Cloud became Cloudera on cloud, and CDP Machine Learning became Cloudera AI.[6] Before CDP, Cloudera sold the CDH distribution as Cloudera Enterprise, and its lifecycle policy also covers the Hortonworks Data Platform (HDP) and Hortonworks DataFlow (HDF). All of these releases are past their End of Support dates: the last HDP release (3.1) in December 2021 and the last CDH release (Cloudera Enterprise 6.3) in March 2022.[11]
Most of the platform is assembled from Apache open source projects, but Cloudera does not distribute its builds freely. Since 2021-01-31 every Cloudera software version, including legacy CDH and HDP, has required a valid subscription to download.[10] Catalog proof: All Cloudera software, including legacy CDH and HDP, requires a subscription.
Editions
Cloudera publishes per-offering terms that list, for each subscription, which software components are licensed. A download package often contains more components than the subscription covers, and only the listed components are licensed and supported.[7]
| Product line (current name) | Former name | How it is charged | Deeper article |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cloudera Base on premises (Data Engineering, Data Warehouse, Essentials, Operational Database editions) | CDP Private Cloud Base | Compute (CCU) and Data Under Management since February 2025, previously per node[4] | Cloudera on premises licensing |
| Cloudera Data Services on premises (Data Services Classic, AI Inference, AI Workbench) | CDP Private Cloud Data Services | Compute only, in CCUs[4][7] | same |
| Cloudera Streaming, Flow Management, Edge Management, Kubernetes Operators | CDP Stream Processing, CFM, CEM | CCU, Data Under Management, MiNiFi Agents[7][1] | same |
| Cloudera AI, Data Visualization, Data Lineage | CDP Machine Learning, CDV, Octopai | Unique Identifier Blocks, Business Users, Connectors, plus CCUs[1] | same |
| Cloudera on cloud (Data Engineering, Data Warehouse, Data Hub, Operational Database, AI, Data Flow and others) | CDP Public Cloud | Per CCU-hour or CCU-minute against credits or pay-as-you-go[8] | Cloudera on cloud consumption and credits |
| CDH, HDP, HDF, Cloudera Data Science Workbench | Cloudera Enterprise, Hortonworks | Legacy subscriptions; all versions past End of Support[11] | Cloudera subscription terms, audit and software access |
Catalog offerings: Cloudera Base on premises, Data Services (Classic), Cloudera Streaming on premises, Cloudera Data Warehouse on cloud.
Metrics
The Order Form Supplemental Terms define Metrics as the usage, subscription and support entitlement measures needed to meter use, “for purposes of ensuring compliance with its contractual obligations”, billing and account management. They name Nodes, Cores, Unique Identifiers and Capacity Under Management as examples and point to the Licensed Metrics page for definitions.[3]
| Metric | Catalog row | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| Cloudera Compute Unit | Cloudera Compute Unit (CCU) | Data Services on premises, Base on premises compute, Operators, all cloud services |
| Terabytes of data the products are set up to access | Data Under Management | Base on premises and Streaming since February 2025 |
| Usable storage capacity | Capacity Under Management | Storage-priced offerings |
| Physical server or virtual machine | Node, Core | Legacy CDH, HDP and CDP node subscriptions |
| GPU model weighting | Cloudera GPU Unit (CGU) | GPU Acceleration |
| Named user IDs | Unique Identifier, Business User, Administrative User | Cloudera AI, Data Science Workbench, Data Visualization, Data Lineage |
| Running edge agent | Agent (MiNiFi) | Edge Management |
| Other | Taikun Compute Unit (TCU), Connector, Billable Invocation, Credits | Taikun, Data Lineage, Data Flow Functions, cloud billing |
The CCU is defined as “a combination of Cores and RAM”. The count for a Node is the number of cores divided by six plus the memory in GB divided by 12.[1] Cloudera states that the calculation is the same on premises and on cloud.[4] A server with 32 cores and 384 GB of RAM therefore counts as 32/6 + 384/12, or about 37.3 CCUs. Catalog proof: CCU equals cores divided by six plus RAM in GB divided by 12; CCU calculation is the same on premises and on cloud.
Counting / floors
Cloudera publishes no minimum quantities. The Order Form sets the quantity of each Metric, and exceeding it is a breach of the licence restrictions.[12] Several structural rules shape the count:
- Whole-cluster consistency. All subscriptions for a cluster, other than user subscriptions, must be for the same software and support entitlements and bought on the same Metric. Add-on products may be entitled per Node.[2] Catalog proof: Every subscription in a cluster must use the same entitlements and Metric.
- Whole-estate coverage. While a customer holds any active subscription for Cloudera Products, every system on which it has deployed them must be covered by an active subscription.[9] Catalog proof: All systems running Cloudera Products must be covered by a subscription.
- Overage from day one. Fees for capacity above the Order Form quantity run from the installation date of the extra Nodes, or the date capacity or user counts increased, and are co-terminated with the existing Subscription Period.[2] Catalog proof: Fees for capacity above the Order Form run from installation.
- Variable compute and storage fees. Order Form lines labelled “Compute” or “Storage” are based on the hardware configuration on the order date, and the customer must report hardware upgrades that take capacity above the stated limits.[3] Catalog proof: Hardware upgrades above Capacity Limitations must be reported.
Virtualization & partitioning
Cloudera counts virtual machines as it counts physical servers. A Node is “a physical Server or a Virtual Machine that runs Cloudera Products”. When hyperthreading or virtualization is enabled, each hyperthreaded or virtual core counts as a Core, and the count is the highest of the virtual, physical or hyperthreaded cores in use.[1] A hardware partition or blade is a separate server.[1] The Licensed Metrics page contains no rule that limits counting to a subset of a host’s cores. A VM is measured by its own cores and memory. Catalog proof: Hyperthreaded and virtual cores each count as a Core; A Node is a physical Server or a Virtual Machine; Hardware partitions and blades are separate servers. See virtualization and partitioning.
GPUs are weighted separately in Cloudera GPU Units. Most NVIDIA data-centre models count as one CGU. Hopper (H100, H200) and Blackwell (B100, B200, B300) GPUs count as two.[13]
Cloud / BYOL
Cloudera on cloud services run on AWS, Azure and Google Cloud. Cloudera charges for the cloud instances the customer manages through Cloudera on cloud, priced per CCU at each service’s rate. The cloud provider’s infrastructure charges are separate.[5][8] Customers pay either from Prepaid Credits, valid for 12 months, or Pay-As-You-Go, invoiced monthly.[8] There is no bring-your-own-licence conversion between an on premises subscription and cloud credits. Cloudera’s materials describe the two as having “aligned” rates for hybrid use.[5] On premises software deployed in a customer-managed public cloud is still licensed as on premises software, with each VM counted as a Node.[1] Details are in Cloudera on cloud consumption and credits.
Programs
- Subscription Period and automatic renewal. Subscriptions renew for 12-month periods at the then-current list price unless notice is given 30 days before expiry.[2] Order Forms are non-cancellable.[3]
- Reinstatement fee. Lapsed or late renewals are back-billed from the original end date with a 20% reinstatement fee.[9]
- Cluster Registration and asset reporting. Clusters managed by Cloudera Manager 7.13.2 or later must be registered, and asset reports must reach Cloudera at least quarterly.[3]
- Prepaid Credits, Rollover Credits and pull forward. Cloud credit mechanics.[8]
- Subscription for binary access, 60-day trial, Long Term Support. Software access, evaluation and release support.[10][11]
Contract structure
Cloudera’s Commercial Terms page lists the documents an Order Form incorporates. These are the Enterprise Subscription Master Terms (ESMA), the Order Form Supplemental Terms, the Commercial License Terms, the Online Service Terms for cloud services, and terms for statements of work and training.[14] The licence is “worldwide, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable, and non-sublicensable”. It lasts only for the Subscription Period, for internal business purposes, and the software must be destroyed when the period ends.[12] Cloudera may audit once a calendar year, and the customer pays the audit costs if the underpayment exceeds 3%.[2] These terms are covered in Cloudera subscription terms, audit and software access. Catalog proof: Annual audit right with cost shift above 3% underpayment; Use must stop when the Subscription Period ends.
Out of scope
- Negotiated prices, discounts and signed Order Forms, which are not public. Cloudera publishes cloud CCU rates but quotes on premises subscriptions through sales.[5]
- Apache open source projects obtained directly from the Apache Software Foundation rather than from Cloudera, which are governed by their own licences, not Cloudera’s terms.
- Cloud provider infrastructure charges for Cloudera on cloud.[5]
- Professional services, training and Customer Success Manager terms.[7]
- Court cases: no Cloudera litigation about licence scope, audits or software copyright with a primary court record was identified for this article.