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JetBrains TeamCity licensing

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This article is about licensing TeamCity On-Premises, the self-hosted CI/CD server. It does not cover TeamCity Cloud or the JetBrains IDE subscriptions. It is not legal advice.

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TeamCity On-Premises is the self-hosted continuous integration and delivery server from JetBrains. Unlike the JetBrains IDEs, it is not licensed per user. The licence counts running servers and the build agents authorized to run builds on them. JetBrains describes the model as a perpetual licence with an upgrade subscription: the first purchase gives a perpetual licence and one year of upgrade coverage, and the product can then be updated to any version released while that coverage lasts.[3] The TeamCity License Agreement grants a limited, worldwide, non-exclusive, perpetual and non-transferable licence.[1] TeamCity is a JetBrains Team Tool, so the Toolbox Subscription Agreements that govern the IDEs do not apply to it.[4] For the rest of the JetBrains portfolio, see JetBrains licensing.

Editions

Professional and Enterprise are installed from the same distribution. Entering an Enterprise licence key switches the edition, and all data is kept.[2]

Edition Licence Build configurations Build agents Support 
Professional Free, no licence key needed 100 per server, plus 10 for each paid agent; 10 pipelines 3 free per server, more can be bought Community forum and public issue tracker 
Enterprise Paid Enterprise Server License, one server per License Key Unlimited 3 free per server, more can be bought Priority support during the maintenance period 
Enterprise Plus Enterprise licence with true-up Unlimited Can exceed licensed agents, billed quarterly Adds a customer success engineer 
Open Source Free for qualifying projects, one year Unlimited Unlimited All generally available updates and support 

Sources for the table: the TeamCity Licensing Policy[2] and the TeamCity License Agreement.[1] Professional also excludes Enterprise features delivered through paid integrations, such as AI Assistant running OpenAI models. JetBrains recommends activating a licence even on Professional, so that administrators receive security update notices.[2] Enterprise Plus also includes an extra staging server licence for testing upgrades and configuration changes. The staging server has a fixed number of agents and no limits on build configurations or pipelines.[2]

Metrics

Two catalog rows, both using the agreement’s own terms.

JetBrains name Catalog row Unit What JetBrains says 
Enterprise Server License Enterprise Server License Server With each License Key the customer may run one instance of a Server, with unlimited build configurations and three Free Build Agents.[1] 
Build Agent Build Agent Agent An auxiliary part of TeamCity that performs functions requested by a Server. The number of Build Agents in the Confirmation sets both the maximum number of concurrent builds and the maximum number of agents authorized at the same time on all Servers.[1] 

Users are not a licence metric. Each server may have any number of user accounts, including guest access if the customer enables it.[1]

Counting / floors

One running server per key (effective 2025-11-27). The customer may not run more servers under an Enterprise Server License than its Confirmation specifies.[1] A licence can be used on only one running TeamCity server at any given time. It is not bound to a particular server instance or machine. If the customer runs a copy of the server at the same time, each copy needs its own key. A trial licence may be used for a test or non-production server.[2] Catalog rules: TeamCity Enterprise: one running server per License Key; HA secondary nodes share it and TeamCity license key usable on one running server at a time; copies need their own key.

Professional limits (effective 2025-11-27). A Professional Server License allows unlimited servers free of charge. Each server is limited to 100 build configurations and three Free Build Agents. Each Paid Build Agent adds 10 build configurations on a single server.[1] The licensing policy adds a limit of 10 pipelines, counting archived ones. Above the limit, new builds do not run until older configurations or pipelines are removed.[2] Catalog rule: TeamCity Professional: free, 100 build configurations and 3 agents per server.

Authorized agents, not installations (as of 2026-05-27). Agent licences are not tied to specific agents. They cap the number of authorized agents, whether local or remote, bare-metal or cloud. When the cap is exceeded, TeamCity shows a warning and does not start new builds.[2] The agreement forbids use that avoids fees or exceeds licence limits. It names exceeding the number of Build Agents or build configurations, using one License Key for several servers, and tampering with user records.[1] Catalog rule: TeamCity Build Agent Licenses cap authorized agents, not specific machines.

Version validity (as of 2026-05-27). TeamCity licences are perpetual for the versions they cover. Each Enterprise Server and Agent licence has a maintenance period, generally one year. It is valid for any version released before the purchase or during the maintenance period, including bug-fix updates within a covered major release.[2] A Paid Build Agent cannot be used with a server version released after its own maintenance period ends.[1] Installed licence information is not sent over the internet. TeamCity warns in its web UI when a new version is not covered by some of the installed licences.[2] Catalog rule: TeamCity licenses perpetual for versions released within the maintenance period.

Expiry and fallback to Professional (as of 2026-05-27). TeamCity switches to Professional mode in three cases: the Enterprise key is removed, a trial expires, or the server is upgraded to a version released outside the Enterprise licence’s maintenance window. If build configurations or authorized agents then exceed what the valid licences allow, the server pauses the build queue and warns all users. Agent licences expire the same way when the server is upgraded past their window.[2] Catalog rule: TeamCity falls back to Professional mode when the Enterprise license is out of maintenance.

Trials. A trial licence can be obtained only once per major TeamCity version.[2] The agreement allows one free Trial License, to be used only to assess whether TeamCity suits the customer’s needs.[1]

Virtualization & partitioning

TeamCity publishes no virtualization or partitioning rules, because neither metric counts processors. High availability (as of 2026-05-27): secondary TeamCity nodes in a high-availability setup do not need additional licences. They share the main server’s licence.[2] The Enterprise Plus staging server licence covers a separate server for testing upgrades.[2]

Cloud / BYOL

Agent licences count cloud agents in the same way as local ones. Elastic cloud agents are therefore counted by how many are authorized at the same time, not by how many images or instances exist.[2] Customers that need elastic capacity can use the Enterprise Plus true-up. Each agent slot above the licensed number costs a fixed amount per month, billed quarterly on each month’s peak overuse. Administrators can cap the number of simultaneously authorized agents on the Administration Licenses page.[2] Catalog rule: TeamCity Enterprise Plus true-up: agent overuse billed quarterly on monthly peak. For the general concept, see true-up.

Programs

  • Perpetual licence with maintenance (as of 2026-05-27). Renewing a licence extends its maintenance period. Renewal is generally priced at about 50% of the new licence price if done before the licence expires. Licences bought later can be co-termed with existing ones, with the price reduced proportionally, and volume discounts are available on multiple licences.[2] Email support covers only recent versions and only customers under active maintenance for their Enterprise server licence.[2] Catalog rule: TeamCity maintenance renewal priced at about 50% of a new license if renewed before expiry.
  • Open-Source Project License (effective 2025-11-27). This is an Enterprise Server licence for non-commercial open-source projects that meet the Open Source Definition. It allows unlimited Build Agents, but it is time-limited to one year rather than perpetual. It can be renewed free of charge by written request 30 days before expiry, if the project still meets the criteria. Commercial use under this licence is expressly prohibited.[1] Catalog rule: TeamCity Open-Source Project License: one year, unlimited agents, no commercial use.
  • Payment and resellers. Fees follow the JetBrains Terms and Conditions of Purchase or the authorized reseller’s terms. The agreement applies whether the customer pays JetBrains directly or through a reseller.[1] For late payment JetBrains may limit or suspend access, and there are no refunds of prepaid services on termination or suspension.[1] Store purchases are priced in USD, EUR, CNY, GBP, JPY or CZK depending on the customer’s country.[5]

Out of scope

  • TeamCity Cloud, the JetBrains-hosted service, which has its own terms.
  • TeamCity list prices, which the pricing page renders client-side; no static price list was retrieved on 2026-09-30.
  • Licences from TeamCity 1.x to 4.x and IntelliJ IDEA 6.0 upgrade offers, which the licensing policy still documents for historical upgrades.[2]
  • Third-party software bundled with TeamCity, which is used under its own licence terms.[1]
  • JetBrains IDE subscriptions. See JetBrains subscription licensing.

Catalog rows

References

  1. TeamCity License AgreementVersion 2.0. §2 definitions; §3 a) server licence; §3 b) Paid Build Agent License; §3 c) Open-Source Project License; §3 e) restrictions; §6 fees.Effective 2025-11-27. Retrieved 2026-09-30.
  2. TeamCity Licensing PolicyTeamCity On-Premises 2026.2 documentation. Page dated 27 May 2026.Effective 2026-05-27. Retrieved 2026-09-30.
  3. Subscription-based licensingLicensing and Purchasing FAQ, section on perpetual licensing with an upgrade subscription. Updated 13 August 2026.Effective 2026-08-13. Retrieved 2026-09-30.
  4. Toolbox Subscription Agreement for Businesses and OrganizationsVersion 4.2. §2.9 excludes TeamCity from Toolbox Products.Effective 2024-07-16. Retrieved 2026-09-30.
  5. Terms and Conditions of PurchaseVersion 30.Effective 2026-05-20. Retrieved 2026-09-30.

See also

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