Sisense licensing is the set of terms under which Sisense Ltd. and its affiliates sell the Sisense analytics platform, which the contract calls “the Product”. The Master Subscription Agreement (MSA) refers to a Customer Hosted Product, which is installed on the customer’s own servers and includes access to cloud-based features, and a Sisense Cloud Hosted Product, which is designated as “Cloud” on the Sales Order.[1] Sisense also sells Fusion Embed, a subscription that lets customers embed the Product in their own software and sell the bundled result, and offers Compose SDK, a developer toolkit.[1][7]
The contract is an agreement for a time-limited right to use, not a sale. The licence is worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive, time-limited and non-transferable (except on an assignment permitted by the MSA), for the Customer’s internal business purposes unless the Sales Order or the Fusion Embed Addendum says otherwise.[1] Quantities are not in the MSA. They are in the Sales Order, which specifies the number of Users, the Authorized Servers or Cores, and the GB Elasticube capacity for each Instance.[1]
Product lines
| Line | What the contract says | Licensing unit | Detail article |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sisense Fusion, Customer Hosted | Installed on Customer-controlled servers, with access to cloud-based features[1] | Users by role; Authorized Cores; GB Elasticube capacity per Instance[1] | Sisense Fusion users and capacity licensing |
| Sisense Cloud Hosted | Designated “Cloud” on the Sales Order; availability SLA applies[1][3] | Users and GB Elasticube capacity as set in the Sales Order | Sisense Master Subscription Agreement terms |
| Sisense Fusion Embed | Embed the Product in a Customer product and sell the Bundled Product[1][2] | End Customers and the scope in the Sales Order | Sisense Fusion Embed and Compose SDK licensing |
| Compose SDK | Developer toolkit stated to be available to all Sisense customers[7] | Uses the customer’s existing Users | Sisense Fusion Embed and Compose SDK licensing |
On its plans page Sisense describes two plans. The Enterprise plan is built to the customer’s specification, can run on SaaS, a dedicated cloud (AWS, Azure or GCP) or on-premises, and includes a premium SLA and the option to bring a customer’s own large language model. The Self-serve plan targets startups and growing teams and can be embedded through an iframe or Compose SDK.[6] The plans page gives no prices.
Metrics
| Metric | Catalog row | Definition in the MSA |
|---|---|---|
| User | User | A user granted access on an individual basis, each assigned a unique login ID, in the number stated on the Sales Order.[1] |
| Admin, Designer, Viewer | Admin, Designer, Viewer | Users authorized respectively to manage users and data, to create, edit and share data models and dashboards, or to view and filter dashboards.[1] |
| Viewer Plus | Viewer Plus | A documented role that consumes the same Viewer licence.[5] |
| GB Elasticube capacity | Production and Non-Production | Aggregate quantity of data in all Elasticubes in all Instances at the time of measurement.[1] |
| Instance | Instance | A single authorized installation on a single operating system.[1] |
| Authorized Core | Authorized Core | Cores or servers on which the Customer Hosted Product may be installed, as specified in the Sales Order.[1] |
Counting and floors
The MSA states that each User receives a unique login and personal authentication, which may be used by that individual only and cannot be shared or used by more than one User at a time.[1] Sisense’s documentation states that it licenses three categories of roles: Administrator, Designer and Viewer.[5] A person who needs to build dashboards must therefore be counted in the Designer category, and a person who only consumes dashboards in the Viewer category. The MSA states no minimum purchase quantity. Any floor would be in the Sales Order.
Capacity is counted in GB of Elasticube data. Each Instance is limited to its allocation of GB Elasticube capacity in increments of 20 GB, and separate installations in different locations, including different cloud data centres, and separate installations for non-production uses such as development, staging and testing, are separate Instances.[1]
Virtualization and cores
Where a subscription is Core-based, the Authorized Cores may be deployed on any number of servers, provided the total number of Cores operating concurrently does not exceed the Sales Order. Concurrent use of the same Authorized Server subscription on two or more servers needs Sisense’s written authorization and payment of fees, and a substitute server may be used if the authorized server becomes non-operable, with Sisense’s written authorization. A Core is defined by processor threads and shared execution resources, and hyperthreading and other technologies that materially expand a Core’s processing capacity may not be used with a Core-based subscription.[1] The consequence is that, for example, a virtual machine on a host with simultaneous multithreading enabled needs to be checked against the definition, and the customer should confirm with Sisense how its Sales Order counts such threads.
Cloud and on-premises
For cloud subscriptions the Sisense Cloud SLA Addendum applies. Each Instance receives the Standard Availability SLA automatically, and the Premium Availability SLA may be added to the Sales Order.[3] For on-premises Sisense on Linux, the product is activated with a licence key, and behind a firewall the customer obtains an offline key from its my.sisense.com account.[8] At the end of the agreement the customer must erase any Customer Hosted Product within 15 days and certify destruction on request.[1]
Programs
- Evaluation and Free Trial. Evaluations, including the Free Trial section of Sisense’s website, are non-production, revocable and limited to 14 days unless Sisense extends the period, and are provided as-is without warranty or indemnity.[1]
- Non-Production subscriptions. A Non-Production subscription may not be used in any way for Production, whereas a Production subscription may also be used for Non-Production purposes.[1]
- White Labeling. The Customer may White Label the Product only if the Sales Order states Co-Branded White Labeling or Full White Labeling.[1]
- Support. The Support Services Addendum provides a Customer Success Manager at no additional cost, service requests from up to three designated Technical Support Users, and an End of Support Date 12 months after a Version release.[4]
Audits and compliance
The MSA contains an explicit audit right. At Sisense’s discretion, on reasonable advance notice and no more than once per calendar year, Sisense may conduct periodic reviews and audits to verify compliance. If an audit indicates usage above the limits in the Sales Order, Sisense may work with the customer to reduce usage, and failing that the customer must sign a Sales Order for the excess and/or pay an invoice for it.[1] Fees are payable within 30 days, are non-refundable and non-cancellable, and late amounts bear interest of 1% per month.[1] Subscriptions renew for one-year terms unless either party gives notice at least 60 days before expiry, and the fees increase by 7% per annum on renewal unless the Sales Order says otherwise.[1] See Sisense Master Subscription Agreement terms for the full clause set.
Out of scope
This article does not cover Sisense’s data processing addendum, security and trust documents, professional services addendum, Australia-specific legal terms, or the earlier agreement forms for purchases before 11 February 2024, which Sisense publishes separately.[1] It also does not cover the Licensing Terminology page of older Sisense documentation, which could not be retrieved in text form.