The ESET Terms of Use for Business are the agreement between ESET, spol. s r. o., of Bratislava, Slovak Republic, and any legal or natural person that obtains ESET’s standardized business Subscriptions or uses an ESET PROTECT Hub, ESET Business Account, ESET MSP Administrator or ESET Services HUB account. ESET’s small-business offering is excluded.[1] The version reviewed here is effective as of 2026-09-30.[1] The Terms bind the customer at the earliest of three events: the Subscription Confirmation email, successful creation of the Account or deployment of a Service, or first access or use.[1]
Structure
The Terms are a master agreement. Special Terms in annexes cover individual Roles (Customers, MSPs, ESET partners, End-Users) and individual Services (Professional and Security Services, ESET PROTECT, ESET Threat Intelligence, Cybersecurity Awareness Training). Where they are inconsistent with the main Terms, the Special Terms prevail.[1] The Terms prevail over ESET’s documentation.[1] Further annexes hold the Data Processing Agreement, the Standard Contractual Clauses and a Data Act Addendum.[1] Purchase, payment, auto-renewal and delivery terms are outside the Terms. They are agreed separately with ESET or the ESET partner.[1] Catalog: Terms of Use for Business are the master agreement; Special Terms prevail.
Replacing the EULAs. The Terms are the entire agreement for the Services they cover. They supersede earlier agreements, “including any previous End-User License Agreements and Terms of Use”, unless otherwise agreed in writing. Customer purchase terms do not apply even if ESET has not objected to them.[1] Older installations still carry product EULAs. One example is the ESET Endpoint Security 12 EULA, effective 2021-10-19.[2] Catalog: Terms of Use replace earlier ESET EULAs.
Licence scope
Grant. The right to use the Services is non-exclusive and non-transferable. It covers “the agreed number of devices” for the Subscription period, or for the duration of the user’s Role as an ESET partner or MSP.[1] Locally installed applications are licensed for the Subscription period and the number of devices covered. Unless the Subscription says otherwise, one copy may be used on one device, and a backup copy is allowed.[1] Cloud-based applications are not licensed. They are provided “as a Service” with a right of remote access.[1] Catalog: Use limited to the agreed number of devices and the Subscription period.
Permitted use by Role. Customers may use the Services only for their own internal information-security purposes. Affiliates may benefit as End-Users. Third-party contractors may have access if they serve the Customer under a separate agreement, do not compete with ESET, and are bound by comparable confidentiality.[1] MSPs may use the Services to provide their own IT security services, and ESET partners may use them for distribution.[1] Breaches of these rules are deemed material.[1] Catalog: Customers may use Services only for internal information security. See ESET MSP and partner licensing.
Forbidden use. Customers may not sell, sub-license, lease, rent or lend any Service or use it to provide commercial services unless the Terms allow it. They may not give access to third parties other than employees, ESET or ESET partners. They may not reverse engineer the software or misuse Activation Codes.[1] The intellectual property section also bars data mining or scraping of ESET content, and using ESET intellectual property to train AI models.[1]
OEM. Applications classified as OEM are tied to the device they came with and cannot be moved to another device.[1] Catalog: OEM Applications are tied to the original device.
Metrics and counting
The Terms count by device and leave the unit for each product to the Subscription Confirmation and ESET’s documentation.[1] ESET’s FAQ fills this in: one seat per operating system, per mailbox for Exchange mail security, and per user for Endpoint Encryption.[4] The older EULA defined one “End User” as one installation on one Computer, or one mail user for mailbox-bound licences, and barred using the same licence on more than one Computer at a time.[2] For ESET Threat Intelligence, the Special Terms cap each Subscription at ten End-Users.[1] Catalog: ETI Subscription limited to ten End-Users.
The EULA also separated Home and Business editions. A Home Edition may be used only in private, non-commercial settings. Commercial environments and mail servers or gateways require a Business Edition.[2] Consumer ESET licences found on company devices are therefore out of scope for business use. Catalog: Home Edition software may not be used commercially.
Keys, transfer and assignment
Activation codes and licence keys must be kept confidential and shared only with End-Users. Several activities are forbidden: transferring used or unused codes, reproducing or generating codes, and using codes obtained outside ESET and its partners.[1] Neither party may assign the Terms without the other’s prior written consent, which may not be unreasonably withheld. Either party may assign them in a reorganization, merger or sale of substantially all assets.[1] The older EULA allowed a permanent, direct transfer to another End User with ESET’s consent.[2] Catalog: Activation keys must be kept confidential and not transferred; Assignment needs ESET consent, except in reorganizations.
Data, telemetry and verification
ESET processes subscription and account data, telemetry and technical support data as an independent controller. Telemetry is used for purposes that include “verification of Subscription entitlements, abuse prevention, fraud detection, billing purposes”.[1] For data processed in its cloud applications on the customer’s behalf, ESET acts as processor under the Data Processing Agreement.[1] The Terms contain no audit or verification clause beyond this. The EULA stated that ESET “checks using its own means” whether the customer uses the software in accordance with the agreement.[2] Where use is significantly excessive, ESET may restrict the Services or charge additional fees.[1] Catalog: Telemetry used to verify Subscription entitlements.
Term, changes and termination
Term. An Order runs for the Subscription period stated in the Subscription Confirmation.[1] Either party may terminate a Subscription for a substantial breach left unremedied for 30 days after written notice. ESET may suspend or terminate for non-payment, and a suspension period counts toward the Subscription period without refund.[1] When the Subscription expires or is terminated, locally installed applications must be uninstalled and copies destroyed.[1] Catalog: Uninstall and stop using Applications on termination or expiry.
Changes. ESET may revise the Terms and notify customers by email or in the application. For substantial changes with a negative impact, the customer may terminate the affected Subscription or Order within 30 days. Otherwise the change is deemed accepted.[1] A customer that was not told about the Terms during the sale may cancel within the first 30 days for a full refund.[1] Catalog: Material changes to the Terms allow termination within 30 days.
End of life. Updates and technical support stop once an application reaches its End-of-Life date under the EOL Policy.[1] Applications released after the end of September 2023 follow the current EOL policy. Earlier applications follow EOL policy version 1.5.[3] Catalog: Support duration follows the End of Life policy version for the release.
Law and liability. The Terms are governed by Slovak law, with exclusive jurisdiction of the Slovak courts. The UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods does not apply. The English version prevails.[1] Each party’s liability is capped at the proportional fees for the affected Service in the preceding year.[1]
Virtualization & partitioning
The Terms do not address virtualization. ESET’s sizing guidance counts the maximum number of concurrently running VMs in VDI, and one server seat per terminal server.[4] See ESET PROTECT plans and seat counting.
Cloud / BYOL
The Terms cover ESET PROTECT whether it is deployed on-premises or in the cloud.[1] ESET aims for 99.5% monthly availability of its cloud applications, excluding announced maintenance.[1]
Programs
The Terms define Trial, NFR and Pre-release Services. Trials are generally only for customers new to the Service. NFR Subscriptions are for training and demonstrations. Pre-release Services may be withdrawn, normally with 30 days’ notice.[1] Catalog: Trials only for customers new to the Service.
Out of scope
- The Terms of Use for home and small office users, and ESET HOME.
- The Professional and Security Services terms, the Privacy Policy and the Security Policy.
- Litigation. No court case on ESET software licensing with a primary court record was found.