Posit sells software that customers install and run, and it also operates online services. The two are governed by different documents. The EULA expressly excludes Posit Cloud and shinyapps.io from the definition of Software and points to the Posit Service Terms of Use for them,[4] and the Support Agreement says its Support Services do not apply to posit.cloud or shinyapps.io.[5] For an inventory this means a hosted account is a subscription to a service, not an installed licence, and it appears in procurement and billing records rather than in server discovery.
Which services the terms cover
The Posit Service Terms of Use govern access to Posit ShinyApps.io, Posit Cloud, Posit Connect Cloud, the Posit Connect publishing service hosted on bookdown.org, the Posit Package Manager service at packagemanager.posit.co, Quarto Pub, and the Posit Team Evaluation service, collectively the “Posit Service”.[1] Registering as a user or using the service forms a binding agreement with Posit Software, PBC, and a person accepting for a company represents that they can bind it. The user also agrees to Posit’s website terms, Acceptable Use Policy and Privacy Policy.[1]
Editions and prices
Posit Cloud’s product page lists five plans: Free, Basic at $25 per month, Standard at $75 per month, Instructor at $15 per month and Student at $5 per month, all paid plans month to month with no annual commitment. The page says projects scale from 1 GB RAM to 32 GB and from 1 CPU to 8.[2] The academic pricing page says the free Posit Cloud plan has 25 project hours per month, and that a free shinyapps.io account allows up to 5 Shiny applications and 25 active hours per month.[3] Posit Connect Cloud has a free tier for individuals and organization plans that can be bought by credit card or purchase order, with unlimited applications and documents, role-based access control, SSO and private sharing, as described on its product page, which lists no prices.[7] Catalog SKUs: Posit Cloud Basic, Posit Cloud Standard, Posit Cloud Instructor and Posit Cloud Student. Catalog rule: Posit Cloud paid plans are month to month.
Metrics
The services are not counted in Named Users or servers. The catalog records two measures: the Posit Cloud plan held by an account and the usage allowance of Posit Cloud project hours. Each plan has entitlements published on the plan pages, which the service terms incorporate as the usage limitations applicable to the plan subscribed.[1]
Counting and account rules
- Internal business use. The right to use the service is limited, revocable, nonexclusive and nonassignable, for the customer’s internal business purposes only and not to provide services to any third party.[1]
- Eligibility. Users must be 13 or older, be human (accounts registered by bots are not permitted unless Posit authorizes them), not be a competitor of Posit, and have authority to enter the agreement.[1]
- One person per login. A login may only be used by one person, and a single login shared by multiple people is not permitted. Separate logins may be created for as many people as the plan allows. One person may not hold more than one free account for each Posit Service.[1]
- Free Plan branding. Under the Free Plan, Posit’s branding appears with the user’s applications or analyses; paid plans remove it.[1]
- Regulated data. Users should never submit personally identifiable information, credit card information or protected health information to the Posit Service.[1]
Catalog rules: Posit Service use is for internal business purposes only, A Posit Service login may be used by one person and free accounts are limited to one and Personal, card and health data must not be submitted to the Posit Service.
Billing, renewal and cancellation
Paid plans are bought at the plan pages for Posit Cloud, Connect Cloud or shinyapps.io. Fees exclude taxes, and the user pays them unless it provides an exemption certificate. All paid plan purchases are final, with no refund for unused portions of the initial or a renewal period. Monthly plans are billed in advance monthly and annual plans in advance annually, both non-refundable. Unless the order says otherwise, paid plans renew for successive monthly or annual periods unless the account is cancelled before the renewal date.[1] Upgrades and downgrades during a period are prorated, with additional charges invoiced immediately and credits applied to future invoices. Prices may change on 30 days notice, but an existing subscriber’s price is honored for the greater of the remainder of the subscription period or 90 days from the notice.[1] Cancelling a Paid Plan downgrades the account to the Free Plan immediately, without refunds for partial months, and cancelling a Free Plan deletes the account’s data irrecoverably.[1] Posit may suspend or terminate any account at its discretion.[1] Catalog: Paid Posit Service plans renew automatically and are not refunded.
Customers can also buy invoiced plans. Posit’s licensing page says a Posit Cloud invoice plan is active when the licensing email arrives, and that converting a shinyapps.io free plan to the Professional invoiced plan needs the shinyapps.io account ID and is confirmed by a “Posit License Information” email showing the licence term, account ID and quantity.[6]
Content, applications and data
Posit does not claim ownership of “Your Application”, defined as a program developed or deployed by the user on the service, but the user grants Posit a worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free licence to use, copy and display it and related data in connection with providing the service, and the user warrants it has the rights to submit it. The user must make the licence terms of any application it shares available to its users.[1] Use of applications and R or Python packages made available through the service, including packages from Package Manager, is subject to their licensors’ terms and Posit disclaims responsibility for them.[1]
Education and programs
Posit’s academic page describes a free Posit Cloud plan and a free shinyapps.io account for students, discounted individual paid plans for instructors and students who need more hours or compute, and customized organization plans for qualified academic institutions.[3] Catalog: Posit academic pricing and Academic pricing gives a free Posit Cloud plan with 25 project hours a month.
Related hosted offers
Posit AI is a separate subscription governed by its own service terms, with a login that only one person may use.[8] See RStudio, Positron and Posit AI licensing. Customers who want Posit software run for them in their own cloud environment buy the Posit Team Dedicated Service Offering and separately license the software; see Posit Workbench, Connect and Package Manager licensing.
Out of scope
This article does not cover self-managed Posit Connect or Package Manager licences, which are under the EULA, or Posit Academy. It does not cover the privacy policy or the data processing terms of the hosted services.