ScreenConnect is ConnectWise’s remote support and remote access software, formerly sold as ConnectWise Control. ConnectWise sells it in three forms: as a hosted cloud service with licences bought in a cloud portal, as self-hosted software (ScreenConnect On-Premise), and as a component bundled with ConnectWise RMM and Automate.[3][11][5] ConnectWise describes the licensing simply: “ScreenConnect offers both concurrent and agent-based licensing.”[1]
Three documents set the terms. Cloud use is governed by the ScreenConnect SaaS End User License Agreement, revised 2021-04-26.[7] Self-hosted use is governed by the on-premise End User License Agreement, which ConnectWise last updated on 2024-03-05.[5] Licences sold with other ConnectWise offerings under a Schedule fall under the ConnectWise Master Agreement.[10]
Editions
Cloud: Remote Support plans
The Remote Support plans include remote support, remote access and remote meeting functions. The Remote Access (Access) licence covers remote access only and is often bought as an add-on.[3]
| Plan | Licence unit | Sessions per technician | Unattended agents | USD per month, billed annually | USD per month, billed monthly |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| One | Single licence | 1 | 10 | 30 | Annual only |
| Standard | Per concurrent tech | Up to 3 | Unlimited | 47 | 62 |
| Premium | Per concurrent tech | Up to 10 | Unlimited | 57 | 72 |
| Enterprise | Custom enterprise licensing | As Premium | As Premium | By quote | By quote |
Standard adds Backstage, the remote command line, Wake-on-LAN, session recording and mobile guest support. Premium adds video auditing, a remote diagnostics toolkit and remote camera sharing. Enterprise adds multi-year contract options, Premium Support, Privileged Access Management and enterprise deployment options.[1]
Cloud: Remote Access (agent-based)
ScreenConnect Remote Access, also called Unattended Access, is priced “based on the total number of agents”. It has a minimum of 25 agents, tiers up to 1,000, and quotes from sales above that. The page showed USD 35 per month, billed annually, for its default 25-agent selection on the retrieval date.[2] Catalog proof: ScreenConnect Remote Access has a 25-agent minimum.
On-premises
ScreenConnect On-Premise is sold through sales; no public price is published.[11] The current licence is the On-Premise Perpetual licence, available for version 5.4 and newer. The older On-Premise Legacy concurrent-session licence “is supported, but is no longer sold”.[4]
Metrics
- Concurrent Technician License (cloud). Under the SaaS EULA, the customer must buy “one license for each user that may access and use the Software Host Client at any one time”.[7]
- Access agent (cloud, agent-based). “The number of licenses dictates how many access agents you can have installed.”[3]
- On-Premise Perpetual technician license. Licence use is based on “technician licenses”.[4]
- Concurrent Session License, Flexible Concurrent Session License and Unlimited Session License. These are the licence types in the on-premise EULA, together with an “Automate License” for copies bundled with RMM.[5]
- Privileged Access endpoint. The add-on that handles elevation requests and one-time administrator logons is billed per endpoint.[8]
Counting / floors
Cloud
“A license is used each time a technician connects to a session.” Host accounts are unlimited. With three concurrent tech licences, only three host accounts can be connected at once.[3] Each plan also caps sessions per technician at 1, 3 or 10. When a technician joins one session too many, the product shows a “Waiting for free license” message; closing sessions frees the licence.[1] Catalog proof: ScreenConnect Cloud: a licence is used each time a technician connects; ScreenConnect plans cap simultaneous sessions per technician.
Agent-based licences count installed access agents: “Twenty agent-based licenses allow for twenty access agents.” Any number of host accounts may connect to them, and simultaneous connections are unlimited.[3][2] Catalog proof: ScreenConnect Access: one licence per installed access agent.
Each licence type appears as a separate instance, with its own instance ID, on the Instances page of the cloud portal. Licences are added, changed and cancelled there.[3] The SaaS EULA states: “Client may not decrease usage during the term.” Decreases take effect only from the next term, and services renew at ConnectWise’s then-current list price unless terminated.[7] Catalog proof: ScreenConnect SaaS usage cannot be decreased mid-term.
On premises
Under the On-Premise Perpetual licence, “Each machine or device that is hosting a session will consume a single technician license”. Each technician licence can host up to ten simultaneous sessions. Technician accounts are unlimited and licences are used “first-come, first-served”. A licence is released when all sessions open on that host machine are closed.[4] The legacy concurrent licence counts concurrent sessions, not hosts. Any number of hosts can join one session for one licence, and a meeting uses one licence however many people attend.[4] Catalog proof: ScreenConnect On-Premise: one technician licence per hosting machine, ten sessions each.
The EULA’s Flexible Concurrent Session License lets third parties use the Host Client. If concurrent users exceed the licences, the software notifies ConnectWise, and the licensee must remediate within ten business days or face revocation.[5] Catalog proof: ScreenConnect Flexible licence over-use must be fixed within ten business days.
Virtualization & partitioning
ScreenConnect on-premises licences are tied to the installation, not to hardware. “The license is linked to the installation, not the computer or server where it’s installed.” Standard concurrent licences may not be installed on more than one server, and a licence may be used with only one production installation at a time. ConnectWise asks customers who want to test beta builds to contact sales.[4] A server can therefore be virtualised or moved freely, but a second production or test installation needs its own licence. Catalog proof: ScreenConnect on-premises licences are tied to one installation.
When ScreenConnect is bundled with an RMM product, the Agent rule of the Master Agreement still applies to the RMM side. Each virtual operating system instance needs an Agent.[10]
Cloud / BYOL
On-premises and cloud licences are not interchangeable. A cloud instance is licensed through the portal, and an on-premises installation uses a licence key pasted into its License page.[3][6] Privileged Access is available to cloud users and to Automate and RMM partners who have paid for the extension. The FAQ states that it is “currently available to Cloud users only”, not to standalone on-premises installations.[9]
Programs
On-premises maintenance and upgrades
“Each ScreenConnect on-premises license includes 365 days of software updates and support.” After twelve months the licence and software keep working, but “future software updates will not run with that license”.[6] An upgrade is priced like a new purchase, with trade-in credit that depends on the age of the existing licence. It revokes the old key and resets the licence to a fresh 365 days. After removing an expired licence, the customer has 72 hours to add the new one before the old licence is invalidated.[6] Catalog proof: ScreenConnect on-premises licences include 365 days of updates.
The EULA treats maintenance as a separate right. If maintenance is not renewed, the licensee keeps using the software for the licence term but gets no further maintenance and no refund. Reinstating maintenance costs 150% of the then-prevailing maintenance fee for each year missed.[5] Support covers the latest generally available version and, at ConnectWise’s discretion, one earlier version. Issues must be reported within seven days to qualify.[5] Catalog proof: Reinstating lapsed ScreenConnect maintenance costs 150% per missed year.
ScreenConnect bundled with Automate or RMM
A ScreenConnect licence included with ConnectWise Automate or ConnectWise RMM is limited in three ways. It may only be used to “support devices that have an active and valid RMM agent present”. The customer must keep its RMM maintenance current. It may not deploy ScreenConnect above its number of RMM agents without buying a standalone licence. ConnectWise may revoke a bundled licence “at any time, with or without notice”.[5] The SaaS EULA applies the same limits to licences bundled with Automate and Command.[7] Catalog proof: ScreenConnect included with Automate or RMM covers only devices with an RMM agent.
Privileged Access
ScreenConnect Privileged Access, formerly ConnectWise Access Management, is billed “per endpoint with an Privileged Access policy applied to them”. Billing is self-service: toggling Privileged Access on in a ConnectWise RMM Remote Access policy, for servers or desktops, starts billing. Volume discounts apply.[8] Catalog proof: Privileged Access is billed per endpoint with a policy applied.
Use restrictions
Both EULAs prohibit “License Pooling”: using licences “to provide hosting or establish connections for users or organizations not working directly on behalf of you”. There is only ever one licensee, and licences may not be shared with other organisations.[5][7] The on-premise EULA grants use “solely for Your internal business purposes”, and “No license to resell the Software is granted”. A licensee’s customers may be Authorized Users only under a Concurrent Session License. The Unlimited Session License excludes outsourcers, service bureaus, facilities management providers, managed service providers and application service providers.[5] Catalog proof: ScreenConnect licences may not be pooled for other organisations; ScreenConnect Unlimited Session License excludes MSPs and outsourcers.
Audits and compliance
The on-premise EULA gives ConnectWise or its agents the right to audit use of the software “which audit may be performed electronically”. Audits take place during normal business hours, and the licensee must provide all records reasonably related to its use.[5] The SaaS EULA allows an audit by ConnectWise or a designated third party on reasonable advance notice describing its purpose and scope.[7] The on-premise EULA states that pricing and licensing metrics are “subject to change without notice”, and past licensing models may be discontinued.[5] Catalog proof: ScreenConnect on-premises use may be audited electronically.
Out of scope
- ScreenConnect Enterprise contract terms and on-premises prices, which are given only by sales.[1][11]
- Extensions and third-party integrations sold through the ScreenConnect marketplace.[1]
- RMM and Automate agent licensing, covered in ConnectWise RMM, Automate and PSA licensing.