Teradata licensing covers the commercial terms under which Teradata sells its analytics database and data platform: the managed cloud service Teradata Cloud (formerly VantageCloud Enterprise), the cloud-native VantageCloud Lake, the on-premises Teradata Factory and VantageCore software, related tools, and free evaluation editions such as Vantage Express. Teradata now prices the platform with Fixed + Flex Pricing, which combines a committed baseline of capacity with elastic on-demand capacity, all measured in one currency, the Teradata Unit.[1] Teradata describes the Unit as “a single, unified currency” that covers compute, storage, software and AI.[1] Older and still-documented models price cloud compute in TCore-Hours, price VantageCloud Lake in Units per node-hour, and license on-premises systems by tier and core count.[8][5][9] For the general model, see subscription and consumption licensing.
Editions
Teradata renamed several products for the launch of what it calls the Teradata Autonomous Knowledge Platform. Its documentation warns that knowledge documents may use either the old or the new names during the transition.[2]
| Former name | Current name |
|---|---|
| VantageCloud Enterprise | Teradata Cloud[2] |
| VantageCore | Teradata Factory[2] |
| QueryGrid | Teradata Fabric[2] |
| Vantage Console | Admin Console[2] |
| Enterprise Cluster; Compute Engine | Active Compute; Elastic Compute[2] |
| Advanced SQL Engine, Analytics Database, Database Engine 20 | Teradata Database[2] |
| IntelliFlex | AI Factory[4] |
The pricing page names three deployment options: Teradata Cloud, a customer cloud for data sovereignty, and on-premises.[1] Teradata Cloud runs on AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud, and in May 2026 Teradata added elastic compute next to always-on active compute.[3] On premises, Teradata Factory runs on Dell infrastructure with NVIDIA GPUs, and Teradata also offers Bring Your Own Hardware and IntelliFlex options.[4]
| Offering | Commercial unit | Article |
|---|---|---|
| VantageCloud Lake (Standard, Lake, Lake+ packages) | Units per node-hour or cluster-hour, plus storage per TB[5] | Teradata VantageCloud Lake licensing |
| Teradata Cloud packages (unit consumption) | Units derived from logical I/O[6] | Teradata Cloud and VantageCloud Enterprise licensing |
| Teradata Cloud tiers Base, Advanced, Enterprise (blended pricing) | TCore-Hours[7][8] | Same |
| VantageCore / Teradata Factory tiers | Licensed cores and tier[9] | Teradata on-premises, VantageCore and support |
| Vantage Express, Teradata Express, tools and drivers | Click-through download agreements[11] | Teradata Express and download agreements |
Metrics
| Teradata term | Catalog row | Short definition |
|---|---|---|
| Teradata Unit | Teradata Unit | The single currency of Fixed + Flex Pricing for compute, storage, software and AI.[1] |
| Unit (VantageCloud Lake) | Lake Unit | Compute charged per Unit, consumed per minute with a one-minute minimum.[5] |
| Unit (Teradata Cloud) | Teradata Cloud Unit | Consumed while compute is active; hourly use is calculated from logical I/O.[6] |
| TCore-Hour | TCore-Hour | Availability of compute and I/O resources by the hour; TCore is a metric used to price Teradata software.[8] |
| Storage per TB | Terabyte of storage | Block and object storage measured and paid for in terabytes.[5] |
| License cores | License cores | On-premises VantageCore deployments need licensed cores that match or exceed the deployed system.[9] |
| User data capacity | User data capacity | Data-size cap in Express and evaluation download agreements.[11] |
Counting / floors
One currency, several meters. The pricing page gives the Teradata Unit as the planning currency.[1] The product documents still describe two different ways of counting Units. In VantageCloud Lake, Units are drawn at a published rate per node or per cluster for every minute a cluster runs. A Lake+ package draws Units 50% faster than Standard for the same hardware.[5] In Teradata Cloud on unit consumption pricing, hourly Units depend on how much logical I/O the system used, between a minimum and a maximum rate for each instance size.[6] A licence manager therefore needs to know which pricing model each order uses before comparing Unit counts. Catalog: Teradata Unit is one currency for compute, storage, software and AI; VantageCloud Lake Units are metered per minute with a one-minute minimum; Teradata Cloud Units are calculated from logical I/O.
Commitments. Under Fixed + Flex, the fixed part is a capacity commitment for the whole term and the flex part is billed only for what is consumed.[1] In VantageCloud Lake, Committed Capacity carries a minimum annual commitment that varies by package. Usage above the commitment is billed at the on-demand rate.[5] Packages can be upgraded at any time, but a downgrade takes effect only at the next contract renewal.[1] Catalog: Flex capacity is billed only for what is consumed; Usage above Lake Committed Capacity is billed at the on-demand rate; Package upgrades take effect at any time; downgrades at renewal.
Tiers. Teradata Cloud on blended pricing is sold in Base, Advanced and Enterprise license tiers. Elastic Performance on Demand is available from the Advanced tier. Unit consumption is marked only for the Enterprise tier.[7] On premises, VantageCore uses the same tier names plus a Developer tier. The Base tier is limited to 15 concurrent sessions, and the Developer tier to 2 nodes and 6 TB.[9]
Virtualization & partitioning
Teradata publishes no processor partitioning policy of the kind used by Oracle or IBM. Two rules come closest. First, VantageCore on Virtualization requires “a valid Teradata license entitlement ID” and licensed cores that “must match or exceed deployed system size”.[9] Second, in the cloud, TCore-Hour consumption follows the number, type and TCore rating of provisioned instances. Stopping a system stops consumption.[8] VMware hosts need customer-supplied VMware licences. See Teradata on-premises, VantageCore and support and virtualization and partitioning. Catalog: VantageCore license cores must match or exceed the deployed system; TCore-Hour draw depends on instance number, type and TCore rating.
Cloud / BYOL
Teradata Cloud is a managed service. Teradata provisions, monitors and manages it in a Teradata-owned account or in the customer’s own cloud service provider account, and customises the configuration to the subscription.[16] There is no general bring-your-own-licence right that moves an on-premises Teradata licence into Teradata Cloud. The commercial units differ: cores and tiers on premises, Units or TCore-Hours in the cloud. VantageCloud Lake can also be bought on the AWS, Google Cloud and Azure marketplaces.[5] An older Vantage on AWS Marketplace offer was sold as an annual quantity of TCore-Hours. See cloud BYOL for the general concept.
Programs
- Fixed + Flex Pricing: the current model, which combines a fixed base commitment with flex capacity.[1]
- Committed Capacity and On Demand Capacity: the two VantageCloud Lake pricing models. Committed Capacity is typically bought for one to three years.[5]
- Blended Pricing and the Unit Consumption Pricing Model: the two compute pricing models documented for Teradata Cloud.[7][15]
- Premier Support and Extended Database Maintenance: maintenance for on-premises products under the Product Support Policies, which do not cover VantageCloud services.[10]
- Teradata Downloads click-through agreements: licences for Express images, evaluation copies, tools and drivers.[11]
Contract terms
The Teradata Master Agreement is the main contract, but Teradata does not publish it. Public documents refer to it. Support requires “a signed Teradata Master Agreement including Maintenance & Support terms” and a signed maintenance order.[10] Teradata Cloud collects telemetry “Per the Teradata Master Agreement”.[12] Its precise rights, restrictions and audit terms therefore have to be read from each customer’s signed copy.
Teradata publishes supplementary terms for AI Features. They grant a non-exclusive, non-transferable licence to use an AI Feature in the customer’s environment. Where they conflict with the customer’s executed agreements, they control on their subject matter.[13] Catalog: AI Features licence is non-transferable and bars competing development; AI Feature fees follow the service description and are non-refundable.
Audits and compliance
In the cloud, compliance is mostly a metering question. Teradata Cloud telemetry agents report usage to Teradata to “Enable metering and billing capabilities”. Teradata states that it does not collect customer data stored on Teradata systems.[12] The Admin Console shows actual usage against committed usage, with a 72-hour delay before data appears.[6] The download agreements reserve Teradata’s right “to inspect your use of the Software” to verify compliance.[14] The audit clause in the Master Agreement is not public. Catalog: Telemetry collected under the Master Agreement drives metering and billing; Teradata Cloud consumption data appears after 72 hours; Teradata may inspect use of downloaded software. See software license audit.
For on-premises estates, the support policy is the main compliance lever. Products returning to maintenance must first pay all lapsed fees, and equipment that Teradata has not maintained for more than 90 days must be re-certified.[10] Teradata was also a party to litigation with SAP over SAP HANA and S/4HANA licensing. See Teradata Corp. v. SAP SE.
Out of scope
- Prices outside the published VantageCloud Lake examples. Teradata quotes Teradata Cloud, Teradata Factory and Fixed + Flex prices through its account teams.
- The Teradata Master Agreement, Teradata Cloud Service Description (knowledge article KB0047025) and order documents, which are not publicly available.
- Hardware maintenance terms for IntelliFlex, IntelliBase and Dell-based platforms, apart from where they affect software support.
- Legacy Aster Data and Hadoop products, except as named in the support policies.
- Teradata AI Studio, Tera agents and AI Services pricing, which are not described in public licensing documents.