Named user licensing is the family of software license metrics in which each entitlement is tied to an identified individual. The defining feature is authorization rather than activity: a named user is counted because the person has been given the right to use the software, not because the person is using it now. Oracle’s definition of Named User Plus, for example, counts an individual authorized to use the Programs “regardless of whether the individual is actively using the Programs at any given time.”[1] Atlassian states the same principle for its cloud and Data Center products: each named user with permission to log in “counts toward your user limit, whether they are logged in or not.”[2]
Named user metrics dominate subscription software and business applications, and they also appear alongside processor metrics in database and middleware licensing. Publishers differ on four points that decide the count: whether non-human devices count as users, how access through intermediate systems is measured, when a license may move from one person to another, and whether a minimum number of users is tied to the hardware. This article describes those points and compares the definitions in the LICENSEWARE Wiki catalog.
History
The catalog’s dated documents record several shifts toward named-user counting. Autodesk retired its one-year multi-user (network) subscription on 6 February 2023, and its current Terms of Use define Single User offerings assigned to a unique Autodesk ID.[3] SAP’s Software Use Rights (SUR) still preserve older user types: customers with contracts from June 2014 and earlier that licensed mySAP.com, Business Suite or similar user types may buy more of those types but may not license SAP Named Users within the existing contract.[4] Adobe’s Business Product Specific Terms of 7 October 2024 added a 30-day reassignment limit that its June 2018 enterprise terms did not contain.[5]
In cloud subscriptions, SAP introduced an aggregating unit. Its RISE with SAP S/4HANA Cloud private edition service description (version 3-2025) uses the Full Use Equivalent (FUE) as “the aggregation method by which Customer may allocate individuals access to the Cloud Service.”[6]
Scope and definitions
A named user metric has three parts: who can be a user, what counts as use, and how many individuals one license covers.
- Who can be a user. Most vendors include employees, contractors and business partners. Salesforce’s User is an individual authorized by the customer, for whom a subscription has been purchased and to whom a user identification has been supplied; users may include employees, consultants, contractors and third parties.[7] SAP’s Named User includes employees of affiliates and business partners.[4]
- What counts as use. SAP defines Use broadly, including display of information, and states that Use may occur through a customer or third-party interface “or another intermediary system.”[4]
- One license, one person. Adobe’s Named User is a license assigned to one individual Business User.[8] SAP Named User licenses “cannot be assigned to more than 1 individual.”[4] Cisco’s Webex offer description gives each Named User “a unique account that may not be shared.”[9]
Some vendors extend the user concept to machines. Oracle counts a non-human operated device as a Named User Plus “in addition to all individuals authorized to use the Programs, if such devices can access the Programs.”[1] IBM notes that some programs license devices as users, so that any computing device requesting execution of the program counts.[10]
How it works
Authorization, not activity
Because authorization is the trigger, the count is usually the population with access rights, taken from directories, role assignments or provisioning records. Atlassian’s cloud products count users “once product access is granted,” even if an invitee has not accepted, and monthly cloud billing is based on the maximum number of users during the billing period.[11] ServiceNow measures per-user subscriptions by roles: users in groups with measured roles are allocated subscriptions, and only active users count, which excludes users who have not logged in within 365 days, users with web service access only, and users with an empty User ID.[12]
Multiplexing and indirect access
Multiplexing is access to licensed software through an intermediate layer such as a transaction monitor, web server or integration. Vendors that address it generally count the people at the front end. Oracle requires that where “multiplexing hardware or software (e.g., a TP monitor or a web server product)” is used, the number “must be measured at the multiplexing front end”; automated batching from computer to computer is permitted.[1] IBM requires “separate, dedicated entitlements for each Authorized User given access to the Program in any manner directly or indirectly (for example: via a multiplexing program, device, or application server).”[10] Microsoft’s Online Services terms state that multiplexing does not reduce the number of licenses of any type required.[13] SAP handles indirect use by non-SAP applications and devices through a separate document-based package, SAP Digital Access, discussed in Concurrent and device licensing.[4]
Minimums tied to processors
Oracle couples named users to hardware. For Oracle Database Enterprise Edition and other programs in its user-minimum table, a customer buying Named User Plus “must maintain 25 Named Users Plus per Processor,” and “all actual users must be licensed.”[1] For Standard Edition 2 the minimum is 10 NUP per server.[1] The required count is therefore the greater of the actual users and the minimum; Oracle’s core factor table restates that rule for Oracle Cloud, requiring “the greater of: a) the actual number of users, or b) the minimum number of NUP licenses per Processor.”[14] The processor count used for the minimum is computed as described in Processor and core licensing.
Reassignment
Named licenses may move between people only under stated conditions. Adobe allows reassignment between Business Users, but not “more than once every 30 days,” and prohibits any shared deployment “including, but not limited to floating, leased, generic user, or shift license deployment.”[5] Microsoft does not allow reassignment of a User SL within 90 days except for user absence or a device out of service.[13] SAP permits transfer only when the assigned individual is on vacation, absent through sickness, has left employment, has moved to a job that no longer needs the software, or under a condition otherwise agreed by SAP.[4] IBM allows reassignment of an Authorized User entitlement only by permanent transfer to another person.[10]
Typed and weighted users
Several vendors sell different user types at different prices and count each type separately. SAP’s SAP Professional User covers operational and system administration roles and includes the rights of several narrower types, such as SAP Project User and SAP Logistics User.[4] IBM’s User Value Unit (UVU) is based on “the number and type of Users for the given Program” and may not be aggregated across programs or user types.[15] SAP’s FUE converts use types into one pool: 1 FUE equals 1 advanced use, 5 core use, 30 self-service use or 0.5 Developer Access, and an FUE “cannot be divided between or among different use types.”[6]
Vendor comparison
| Vendor | Metric (vendor name) | Definition summary | Floor / minimum | Effective |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oracle | Named User Plus | Authorized individual plus non-human devices; measured at multiplexing front end[1] | 25 per Processor (Database EE); 10 per server (SE2) | 2024-06-15 |
| Oracle | Application User | Individual authorized to use licensed application Programs[1] | None stated globally | 2024-06-15 |
| Oracle | Named Workstation User | Named user on single-socket VirtualBox Enterprise devices[1] | None in booklet; price list minimum 100 | 2024-06-15 |
| IBM | Authorized User | Unique person given access, directly or indirectly; not shareable[10] | Not stated | 2026-04-24 |
| IBM | User Value Unit (UVU) | Number and type of users per program table[15] | Program License Information | 2026-08-31 |
| SAP | Named User | Individual authorized to Use a Package, including via intermediary systems[4] | One individual per license | 2026-04-20 |
| SAP | Full Use Equivalent (FUE) | Aggregation unit for RISE private edition use types[6] | Ratios as printed | 2025-03-05 |
| Microsoft | User SL | Subscription license assigned to each user of an Online Service[13] | 90-day reassignment | 2026-08-10 |
| Adobe | Named User | License assigned to one individual Business User[8] | Reassign at most once every 30 days | 2024-10-07 |
| Atlassian | User | Account with permission to log in; named, not concurrent[11] | Plan user limits | 2026-08-17 |
| Autodesk | Single User | Unique Autodesk ID; one desktop and one mobile device at a time[3] | None published | 2026-08-28 |
| Salesforce | User | Authorized individual with a purchased subscription and user ID[7] | Order Form quantity | 2026-06-01 |
| ServiceNow | Fulfiller User | Per-user subscription measured by assigned roles[12] | Order Form quantity | 2026-03-12 |
| Citrix | Named user | License checked out to a user for a preconfigured period, not tied to a device[16] | Period not quantified | 2026-08-05 |
| Red Hat | User | Individual person that accesses or uses the Software[17] | One per person | 2026-02-01 |
| Cisco | Named User | Employee or contractor with a unique, unshared account[9] | Not stated | 2019-11-05 |
Rules in the catalog that govern named-user counting:
| Vendor | Rule | Kind | Effective |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oracle | Named User Plus minimum | Floor / minimum | 2024-06-15 |
| Oracle | Standard Edition 2 Named User Plus minimum | Floor / minimum | 2024-06-15 |
| SAP | FUE use-type ratios (RISE private edition) | Counting | 2025-03-05 |
| SAP | Packages / parties that do not require a Named User | Restriction | 2026-04-20 |
| Adobe | Named User — one person; no floating/shared | Restriction | 2024-10-07 |
| Adobe | Named User reassignment — once every 30 days | Mobility | 2024-10-07 |
| Atlassian | User = named user, not concurrent | Counting | 2026-08-31 |
| Autodesk | Single User — Authorized User / named-user assignment and concurrent devices | Restriction | 2026-08-28 |
| Salesforce | User = one individual; no Service to non-Users | Restriction | 2026-06-01 |
Relationship to other license models
Named user licensing is the counterpart of Concurrent and device licensing: concurrent metrics count the peak of simultaneous use, while named metrics count the authorized population. Atlassian states the distinction directly: its licensing model “does not allow for concurrent user licensing.”[2] Autodesk’s Single User offering mixes the two ideas, because a named Authorized User may use only one desktop device and one mobile device concurrently.[3]
Named users are also the usual unit of SaaS subscriptions, covered in Subscription and consumption licensing. Salesforce’s Main Services Agreement bases fees on subscriptions purchased rather than actual usage, and quantities cannot be decreased during the term.[7] In an effective license position, named-user demand is therefore compared with purchased quantities, not with measured activity.
Criticism and challenges
The practical difficulty of named user licensing is establishing the authorized population. Where access is granted through groups or synchronized directories, users remain billable until removed: Atlassian requires users to be deactivated, deleted or removed from a synced directory to stop counting.[11] Indirect access is a second difficulty, because users who never log in to the licensed system may still need licenses when data reaches them through another application. SAP narrows the scope with explicit exceptions, for example for suppliers using listed supplier packages and for consumers who purchase goods or services from the customer.[4] Public-sector auditors have noted that organizations without regularly maintained license inventories cannot tell whether they have over- or under-purchased.[18]
Out of scope
This article does not cover pricing of user types, CAL suites or suite bundles, or employee-count metrics such as Oracle Employee and Red Hat FTE, which count a population by headcount rather than by authorization. Vendor-specific detail is on SAP Named User and Digital Access licensing, Adobe Named User licensing, Oracle Database licensing and Microsoft 365 and Online Services licensing.