Cohesity’s general terms are the contract layer shared by all its products. The General Terms and Conditions (version 2.2, dated 03.10.2026, read as 2026-03-10) apply to all Offerings and incorporate the additional terms at cohesity.com/agreements. In a conflict the General Terms control “unless expressly agreed otherwise in writing”. Changes to the Agreement must be in writing and signed by both parties.[1] A customer becomes bound by clicking “Accept”, signing a copy, or by installing, using or continuing to use Cohesity Offerings.[1] The terms of a purchase order “SHALL HAVE NO EFFECT”. Only terms stated on a Cohesity quote, or in a writing signed by both parties, can modify the Agreement.[1]
Orders and entitlements
Unless agreed otherwise in writing, Cohesity sells through Cohesity Partners. The customer receives quotes from and places Orders with the partner, so payment, tax and delivery terms are between those two parties. A marketplace offer accepted in AWS, Azure or Google Cloud is a binding Order.[1] An Entitlement is “a Customer’s right pursuant to a valid Order to use Offering(s) specified in such Order subject to applicable use, capacity, and other agreed limitations (e.g. Subscription Period)”.[1] Catalog: Sales go through Cohesity Partners.
The General Terms restrict how Offerings may be used.[1] The customer may not:
- use portions of Offerings without Entitlement
- “create or use more copies, instances, capacity, or users than Entitled”
- use Offerings with configurations Cohesity has not certified
- use Offerings to develop or support a competing product
- let parties other than the customer use them, except as the Agreement provides
- host or deploy Offerings as a service for unaffiliated third parties without written authorization.
The customer’s Representatives, meaning employees of the customer and its Affiliates and non-competitor contractors and consultants, may use Offerings “for Customer’s sole benefit”.[1] Catalog: Use may not exceed Entitlements; No hosting or service-provider use without authorization.
Counting / floors
The General Terms contain no grace period for excess use. The customer “shall promptly remediate any non-compliance with its Entitlements”. Examples given are excess usage and capacity overruns, cured “by, as applicable, paying for any applicable overages or similar fees and submitting an Order” for the additional Entitlements.[1] Per-product counting is covered in Cohesity NetBackup licensing and Cohesity DataProtect, SmartFiles and SaaS licensing. Catalog: Excess use is remediated by ordering.
Records and audit
Section 16 of the General Terms, on records and audit rights, requires the customer, “without additional consideration”, to provide information reasonably requested. This includes giving Cohesity or its auditors reasonable access during business hours to “Customer personnel, records, use and deployment of Offerings, and other information” as needed to validate compliance or meet Cohesity’s own accounting, legal or contractual requirements.[1] The main terms of the clause are:[1]
| Element | Term |
|---|---|
| Notice | At least 15 days’ advance written notice |
| Scope | Personnel, records, use and deployment of Offerings |
| Remedy | Promptly place an Order, pay additional fees and take other steps to restore compliance |
| Cost shifting | If non-compliance “in aggregate, exceeds five percent (5%) in Cohesity’s favor”, the customer reimburses the actual cost of the audit |
| Frequency limit | None stated |
Catalog: Audit on 15 days’ notice; audit cost above 5% shortfall.
Other documents add to the clause. For NetBackup used in a public cloud, the customer must obtain the cloud provider’s cooperation with Cohesity’s “right to audit and verify Your compliance”, or supply the provider’s usage reports.[9] Gaia Self-Managed customers must report usage and GPU counts on request, no more than monthly.[10] Cohesity may collect “Service Analytics Data” about the operation and use of Offerings where so configured or where the Offering needs it.[1] The NetBackup terms list the Front End Terabyte count among the usage information Cohesity may collect.[9]
The Technical Support Policy gives Cohesity a further compliance lever. If it finds a customer out of compliance with any agreement, “including any license agreement”, it may verify compliance using its standard processes, invoice Support fees, or stop providing Support for that licence until the customer is compliant.[6] Catalog: Cohesity may stop Support for non-compliant licences.
Transfer and assignment
“Entitlements may not be sold or otherwise transferred without Cohesity’s written consent.”[1] The customer also may not assign or transfer the Agreement without prior written consent, and any attempt to do so is void. Cohesity may assign the Agreement freely.[1] The Software Terms add that Software “is not sold but is licensed”, that Cohesity keeps ownership of all copies, and that the Territory is limited to the customer’s country unless law requires otherwise.[2] Perpetual licences are also tied to the hardware on which they were first installed.[10] Catalog: Entitlements are not transferable without consent.
Term and termination
The Agreement runs until terminated. The customer may terminate for convenience on 60 days’ written notice, but this “will not affect payment obligations associated with any Order, including installment payment obligations, all of which are non-cancelable and non-refundable”. Either party may terminate for an uncured material breach after 30 days’ notice.[1] Cohesity may also decrease or suspend access in four cases: insolvency, a security risk it reasonably and in good faith believes exists, material breach, or where required by law.[1] Catalog: Termination for convenience does not cancel Orders.
Evaluations
The two evaluation documents set different default periods. The General Terms say that, absent a written arrangement, evaluations follow the Evaluation Terms and “shall not exceed thirty (30) days”.[1] The Evaluation Terms set the period by the Evaluation Quote and default to 60 days if none is specified. Technology Partners get 90 days.[3] Evaluation software is lent, not licensed for production. The evaluator “may not use any Software in a production or live environment without Company written approval”. When the evaluation ends, the evaluator must either stop using the Software or buy it.[3] Catalog: Evaluation length and production use.
Support and renewals
Premium Support covers only “the support specified for the term that Customer has so ordered and paid for”. It runs 24x7x365 and includes error correction, telephone and web support, and generally available updates. Software is supported only on Cohesity-certified configurations.[5] Subscriptions include Support.[10]
The Global Renewal Policy (August 2025) sets the renewal rules:[4]
- No partial coverage. “Within a Cohesity Software product family, every license in your install base must have full, up-to-date Support.” Catalog: Support must cover the whole install base of a product family.
- Shelving. A customer that no longer uses part of a perpetual estate may ask its renewal account manager for an exception. The request needs usage reports produced with Cohesity utilities, and the customer signs a “Shelving Letter” agreeing not to use the listed licences. Support for the remaining licences is re-priced at current list price and may rise. Reactivating shelved licences requires paying the lapsed Support, a reinstatement fee and a year of Support going forward. Catalog: Shelving.
- Lapse. When Support lapses, the customer loses fixes, patches, support and updates. When Subscription Software lapses, the customer loses “the right to use the software along with any related Support”.
- Reinstatement. Perpetual Support is reinstated by paying Back Maintenance for the lapsed period, a new 12-month minimum term, and a fee of 25% of the lapsed period. The fee has a 30-day minimum, is charged in 30-day increments and is based on end-user list price. A lapsed subscription may be reinstated at Cohesity’s discretion by paying for the lapsed period plus a 25% penalty fee. Hardware out of Support for more than 90 days must be qualified as service-ready first. Catalog: Lapsed support or subscription: 25% reinstatement fee.
- Pricing and terms. Cohesity “typically” applies annual price increases, with a reduced increase possible for non-cancellable two- or three-year commitments. Support terms are at least 12 months, and generally up to five years for software. Early renewal does not change the renewal start date. Co-termination aligns contracts that have different end dates.
- Usage reports. Subscription customers should “provide your usage reports ninety (90) calendar days prior to expiration”. Catalog: Subscription customers provide usage reports 90 days before expiry.
Product life cycle
Cohesity publishes two life cycle policies. The Cohesity Product Life Cycle Policy, effective 2025-08-01, covers Cohesity’s own products. Major releases are “generally supported for 18 months from the date of release”, and customers may need to move to the latest minor or patch release. After End of Support “there will be no bug or security fixes or patches”.[7] Cohesity Platform Support can be renewed up to one year before a hardware End of Life date, but not beyond it.[7] The Veritas Product Life Cycle Policy, effective 2019-11-15, is still published on cohesity.com for Veritas-heritage products. It has three phases. The Primary Phase typically lasts 3 to 4 years after general availability, the Extended Phase 1 to 2 years and the Sustaining Phase 1 to 6 years, and Extended and Sustaining support carry fees on top of normal annual fees.[8] Catalog: Major Cohesity releases supported for 18 months; Veritas-heritage products follow Primary, Extended and Sustaining phases.
Out of scope
This article does not cover the Data Processing Addendum, indemnities, liability caps, export control, or Cohesity’s Purchasing Terms, which apply to Cohesity’s own suppliers. Product metrics are in the sibling articles linked above.