Docker licensing is the set of contracts, plans and usage allowances under which Docker, Inc. makes Docker Desktop and its related cloud services available. For a software asset manager the central document is the Docker Subscription Service Agreement (DSSA), last updated on 26 August 2026. It governs a customer’s first purchase on an Order Form and “any future purchases made by Customer which reference this Agreement”.[1] Docker’s commercial model is a subscription priced per user per month, sold in four plans: Docker Personal, Docker Pro, Docker Team and Docker Business.[2] The plans carry allowances for consumption products such as Docker Build Cloud minutes, Testcontainers Cloud runtime minutes and Docker Hub image pulls.[4]
The best-known rule in Docker licensing is the free-use threshold for Docker Desktop. Without a paid subscription, Docker Desktop may be used only for a non-commercial open source project or “in a commercial undertaking with fewer than 250 employees and less than US $10,000,000 (or equivalent local currency) in annual revenue”. Government Entities always need a paid subscription.[1] The open source Docker Engine is licensed separately under the Apache License 2.0.[5] Most compliance questions about Docker are therefore about Docker Desktop installations and the users who sign in to them, not about container hosts.
Editions
Docker’s portfolio falls into the families below. All of them except the open source components are “Services” under the DSSA. The DSSA defines Services as the generally available cloud subscription software products and services, “including Agentic Platform Services and Docker AI Features”, and their downloadable components.[1]
| Family | What it is | How it is licensed |
|---|---|---|
| Docker Desktop | Local developer application that bundles Docker Engine, Kubernetes and tooling | Per user through a Docker plan; free only under the DSSA threshold[1] |
| Docker Hub | Registry for container images | Included in every plan; pull limits and private repositories vary by plan[2][7] |
| Docker Build Cloud | Hosted builders | Build minutes included from Pro upwards; extra minutes pre-purchased[3][4] |
| Testcontainers Cloud | Hosted test containers | Monthly runtime-minute allocation per plan; extra minutes pre-purchased or on demand[4] |
| Docker Scout | Image analysis and vulnerability reporting | Scout-enabled repositories included in every plan, more on higher plans[2] |
| Docker Hardened Images (DHI) | Minimal, continuously patched base images | Community catalog under Apache 2.0; Select and Enterprise subscriptions[9] |
| Docker AI Features | Gordon, AI Agents, Sandboxes and related platform services | Under the DSSA’s AI Features terms; a User can be a human or an AI Agent[1] |
| Docker Engine | Open source container runtime | Apache License 2.0[5] |
Plan list prices, as published on 2026-09-30, are $0 for Docker Personal, $9 (annual) or $11 (monthly) per user per month for Docker Pro, $15 (annual) or $16 (monthly) for Docker Team, and $24 for Docker Business.[2] The detailed plan table, including what each plan adds, is in Docker Desktop subscription licensing.
Metrics
The catalog records seven Docker metrics under Docker’s own names.
- User. The licensing metric. The DSSA defines a User as “an individual human authorized by Customer to log into and/or use the Services”. On paid tiers, Users may include the employees, consultants, contractors and agents of the customer or its affiliates.[1]
- Seat. The organization-level unit that owners add or remove in Docker Team and Docker Business.[4]
- Docker Repo Unit and ELS Repo Unit. The Docker Product Schedule defines a Docker Repo Unit as “an individual repository of the Docker Hardened Images catalog”.[12] The ELS Repo Unit is a repository subject to Extended Lifecycle Support.[12] DHI Select is “an annual plan billed per repository”; see Docker Hardened Images licensing.[13]
- Build minute, Testcontainers Cloud runtime minute and Image pull. Consumption allowances. The DSSA counts them among the “Entitlements”, which it defines as “the User license quantities, usage minutes, use credits, image pull count and storage limits” included in what the customer bought.[1]
Docker’s FAQ states the counting rule in plain terms: “All users authorized to access any products or features listed in the corresponding paid subscription plan are required to have a paid subscription.” The customer pays for the total number of authorized users and may change which people hold them, as long as the total matches the paid user count.[3] For AI Features, the DSSA extends the User definition: “For purposes of AI Features use “User” shall mean a human or AI Agent” (rule For AI Features a User may be a human or an AI Agent).[1]
Counting / floors
| Rule | Effective | What it says |
|---|---|---|
| Docker Desktop free use limited to fewer than 250 employees and less than US $10M revenue | 2026-08-26 | Free Docker Desktop use only for non-commercial open source or below 250 employees and US $10M revenue[1] |
| Government Entities require a paid Docker subscription | 2026-08-26 | Government Entities need a paid subscription[1] |
| Personal Service Subscriptions limited to Developer Use and Educational Use | 2026-08-26 | Personal subscriptions limited to Developer Use and Educational Use[1] |
| No-fee personal accounts may not be used to provide services to an employer | 2026-08-26 | No-fee accounts may not be used to provide services to an employer[1] |
| Users may not exceed Entitlements | 2026-08-26 | Users on a non-individual subscription may not exceed the Entitlements[1] |
| Docker Team minimum 1 user, maximum 100 users; Business no user cap | 2024-12-10 | Docker Team minimum 1 user, maximum 100; Business has no cap[3] |
| Contracted annual plans: 25-seat minimum for new customers, 10 for additions | as published 2026-09-30 | Contracted annual plans: 25 seats for new customers, 10 per amendment[3] |
The threshold needs both conditions: fewer than 250 employees and less than US $10 million in annual revenue.[1] Docker’s documentation describes the same rule from the other side, requiring a paid subscription for commercial use in larger enterprises.[6] The retrieved documents do not say how employees are counted or which revenue period applies.
Self-serve Docker Team starts at one user, but Docker’s Minimum Order Quantity policy for contracted customers requires “a minimum purchase of 25 seats” for new Docker Business or Team annual customers and at least 10 additional seats per amendment. The same minimums apply to purchases through Marketplaces, Partner Resellers and Distributors.[3] Team and Business customers with 25 or more users may buy annual plans on invoice through sales.[3]
Consumption allowances have their own limits. Docker Hub pull limits depend on the plan: Pro, Team and Business users have unlimited pulls, while Personal users and unauthenticated clients are limited per six-hour window.[7] If a customer’s bandwidth use “is significantly higher compared to other users of similar features, it may result in potential throttling or On-Demand Usage charges” (rule Excessive bandwidth may lead to throttling or On-Demand Usage charges).[1]
Programs
Docker publishes no volume licensing program in the Microsoft or Oracle sense. Its programs are the plans themselves, bought self-serve, through Docker sales on an Order Form, or through a Marketplace or Reseller.[1]
- Docker Personal is the free plan, for individual developers.[2] It is a Personal Service Subscription under the DSSA. Developer Use is limited to one developer “acting in a personal, non-commercial capacity”, and Educational Use excludes institution-scale use through many personal accounts.[1]
- Docker Pro is the paid plan for one individual. It adds unlimited private repositories, Docker Build Cloud and commercial Docker Desktop use.[4]
- Docker Team and Docker Business are organization plans. Business adds single sign-on, SCIM, Hardened Docker Desktop and Image and Registry Access Management.[2]
- The Docker-Sponsored Open Source Program gives qualifying non-commercial open source projects one-year benefits, renewable, for project leads and core committers.[10]
Purchases through a Marketplace or Reseller are priced by that channel, but the customer is still bound by the DSSA, which governs “except with respect to fees and the Subscription Term”. The customer is “responsible for full payment of the Fees for the Subscription Term”, whatever credits or discount tranches the marketplace offers (rule Marketplace and Reseller buyers owe full Fees for the Subscription Term).[1] U.S. government entities are covered by a separate Public Sector Subscription Service Agreement. “Such users are not entitled to use no-Fee Services.”[1]
Support and maintenance
Support is part of the subscription, not a separate maintenance fee. The DSSA says Docker provides support during the Subscription Term “in accordance with the Service Level Agreement & Terms” published on its support page.[1] As published on 2026-09-30, the support page lists response within 5 business days for Docker Pro, 2 business days for Docker Team and 1 business day for Docker Business.[8] Premium Support is “an add-on for Docker Business and DHI Enterprise customers”, and a technical account manager (TAM) service is an add-on for Premium Support customers.[8] The support page also states that “Docker only offers support for the latest version of Docker Desktop” for Pro and Team, while Business covers Desktop versions up to six months older than the latest, with fixes only on the latest version.[8]
Audits and compliance
The DSSA has a records and audit clause. The customer must “establish and maintain complete and accurate records” of its and its Users’ use of the Services. “Upon at least ten (10) days’ prior notice to Customer, Docker or its representative may inspect such records”. If use exceeded what was permitted, Docker may invoice past or ongoing underpaid amounts, and the customer must pay promptly (rule Records and audit on 10 days’ notice; excess use invoiced).[1] For Personal Service Subscriptions, Docker “reserves the right to audit usage patterns” and to require a move to a paid plan.[1]
The licence is “limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable” and for the customer’s internal business purposes. Docker Images may be redistributed to third parties only “when bundled with or incorporated into its own software products, and not on a standalone basis” (rule Docker Images may be redistributed only bundled into Customer products).[1] Fees are non-refundable and payment obligations non-cancelable (Fees non-refundable and payment obligations non-cancelable).[1] Subscriptions renew automatically for 12-month periods unless either party gives at least 30 days’ notice (Subscriptions auto-renew for 12-month periods unless 30 days notice).[1] The clause-by-clause reading is in Docker Subscription Service Agreement. General audit method is covered in Software license audit and License compliance.
Virtualization & partitioning
The retrieved Docker documents contain no rule that counts hosts, cores, virtual machines or containers. Entitlement follows the User.[1] The practical boundary is between Docker Desktop and Docker Engine. Docker Engine is licensed under the Apache License 2.0, but commercial use of Docker Engine obtained via Docker Desktop in larger enterprises needs a paid subscription (rule Docker Engine is Apache 2.0; Engine obtained via Docker Desktop follows Desktop terms).[5] Docker says the licensing and distribution terms of Docker Engine and other Moby open source projects are not changing.[6]
Cloud / BYOL
Docker Services may be bought through a “third-party online marketplace such as Amazon Web Services”, and Services bought that way may renew “via a direct invoice subject to that Reseller’s or Marketplace’s renewal terms”.[1] Docker publishes no bring-your-own-license mapping for running Docker Desktop in hyperscaler environments, because the metric is the User rather than the machine. Docker Build Cloud, Testcontainers Cloud and Docker Hub are themselves hosted services consumed through the plan allowances.[4]
Recent licensing changes
- December 2024 plan change. New prices took effect on 10 December 2024 for new customers and at the first renewal after 9 December 2024 for existing ones. The Docker Team minimum dropped from five users to one, and Service Accounts stopped being sold as an add-on on the new plans.[3]
- Docker Hardened Images for everyone. DHI is offered in Community, Select and Enterprise subscriptions. “DHI’s core features are free to use, share, and build on under Apache 2.0.” FIPS and STIG variants, SLA-backed critical CVE fixes and customizations come with Select or Enterprise. The Extended Lifecycle Support add-on, with five more years of hardened updates, requires Enterprise.[9]
- AI Features in the DSSA. The 26 August 2026 DSSA defines AI Agents, Agentic Platform Services and Sandboxes. It makes the customer responsible for configuring Sandbox governance and for “managing Users, keys, and credentials”.[1]
- Terms hierarchy. The Docker Terms of Use cover the website and Services in general. Where the Subscription Service Agreement governs a product, it prevails.[11]
Guides
| Article | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Docker Desktop subscription licensing | Plans, prices, the 250-employee / US $10M threshold, Government Entities, Personal subscriptions, seats, pull limits, consumption allowances, DSOS |
| Docker Subscription Service Agreement | Clause-by-clause reading of the DSSA: Users and AI Agents, licence grant, payment and renewal, marketplace purchases, use restrictions, audit, termination and liability |
| Docker Hardened Images licensing | DHI Community, Select and Enterprise; Docker Repo Units and ELS Repo Units; per-repository annual billing, proration and removals; mirroring; Apache 2.0 catalog and patching responsibility |
No court cases involving Docker licensing are recorded in this wiki.
Out of scope
- Prices and terms of the Docker Hardened Images Select and Enterprise subscriptions, which the DHI documentation refers to a separate comparison page.[9]
- The Public Sector Subscription Service Agreement, a separate PDF.[1]
- Third-party images on Docker Hub, which are Third-Party Products under their own terms.[1]
- Docker Offload, Docker Verified Publisher and AI Governance pricing.
- Docker part numbers. The pricing page shows plan names and prices but no SKU codes.