UiPath robot licensing counts the capacity to run automations rather than the number of robots or machines. For unattended work the unit is the runtime, which the Licensing Policy defines as “an execution slot an unattended robot can use to execute an automation”. A machine, “physical or virtual”, has a runtime capacity equal to the maximum number of unattended robots that can run on it at the same time.[1] Runtimes are managed in Orchestrator, which runs as a service in Automation Cloud, inside Automation Suite, or as a standalone Windows installation.[5] This article covers both plans; plan-specific SKUs are in UiPath Unified Pricing and Platform Units and UiPath Flex plan licensing.
Editions
Robot types
The Licensing Policy defines four kinds of robot use.[1]
| Type | Definition (Licensing Policy) | Licensed by |
|---|---|---|
| Attended Robot | “Allows the execution of workflows as a direct result of a human action and under human supervision.” | The user’s Named User licence |
| Unattended Robot | Execution of workflows “without human supervision through the management capabilities offered by UiPath Orchestrator” | Unattended runtime |
| NonProduction | Non-production use “such as internal development, internal training, and evaluation, excluding any production use” | NonProduction runtime |
| Test Robot | Execution of “test cases and automated processes for development and testing purposes” | Testing runtime |
Under Flex, UiPath-hosted VM and serverless cloud robots are licensed through Robot Units and “do not require unattended runtimes”; under Unified Pricing they consume Platform Units.[2][1]
Use restrictions
- “Attended Robots require human intervention and cannot be used as Unattended Robots.”[1]
- NonProduction products “may not be used in production, nor Test Automation”.[1]
- Test Robots may run test cases in production and non-production settings when the purpose is testing, but “using it to handle RPA workflows for business process automation in a production setting is not permitted”.[1]
- The MSSA forbids mixing production-purpose with non-production-purpose Software unless UiPath allows it in writing.[8]
Catalog proof: Attended Robots cannot be used as Unattended Robots; NonProduction robots may not run production or test automation; Test Robots may not automate business processes in production; Do not exceed allocated licences or mix production and non-production software.
Metrics
Runtimes are “meant to be assigned to machine objects - either a standard machine or a machine template”. UiPath counts “the maximum number of Unattended or NonProduction robots that are able to execute processes simultaneously”, given by “the total number of runtimes allocated to all the online machines”. Testing runtimes are counted the same way.[2] The number of robots defined on a machine is independent of its runtimes.[2]
The Licensing Policy also defines a Concurrent Runtime: “When online and connected to Orchestrator, a machine consumes a number of licenses equal to the runtime capacity of the machine used to connect it to Orchestrator.”[1]
Counting / floors
Pool and connection. Runtimes are allocated to tenants and form the tenant pool. “When a host machine connects to UiPath® Orchestrator, the number of runtimes assigned to its associated machine object is consumed from the tenant pool. When the host machine disconnects, the runtimes return to the tenant pool.”[2] In standalone Orchestrator “a machine consumes the licenses as soon as the Robot Service starts”; disabling the machine on the License page releases them, but Studio and the Robot cannot be used on a disabled machine.[3] Catalog proof: A connected machine consumes the runtime capacity of its machine object.
Machine templates. The runtimes on a template are reserved for every machine that connects with its key. UiPath’s example: a template with 10 Production (Unattended) runtimes, used by 4 machines, reserves 40 runtimes at tenant level, even if only 25 jobs are running.[3] Sizing a template therefore drives consumption more than actual job counts do.
Concurrency on one machine. A machine needs more than one runtime to run processes concurrently. Only one foreground process can run at a time whatever the runtime count. A Windows workstation runs one background process at a time, so UiPath recommends one runtime for it; a Windows Server machine can run several robots and can be given more runtimes.[2]
Machines versus runtimes. “The number of machines should match the number of runtimes. Running automations on more machines than runtimes is not recommended and cannot be fully supported.”[2] Catalog proof: The number of machines should match the number of runtimes.
Studio on robot machines. Studio may be activated with a robot licence “only for limited purpose (and not for the purpose of developing workflows)”: through an Attended or Testing Robot only for debugging without editing, through an Unattended or NonProduction Robot only for troubleshooting with editing.[1] Catalog proof: Studio activated with a robot licence is limited to debugging or troubleshooting.
Virtualization & partitioning
UiPath does not count cores, sockets or hosts for robots. Each physical or virtual machine connected to Orchestrator consumes the runtime capacity of its machine object.[1] For machine templates, the template’s runtimes are reserved “for each workstation that is connected using the machine key of that template”, so a pool of virtual desktops sharing one template reserves runtimes per connected desktop.[3] Automation Suite runs on “physical or virtual Linux”; the Licensing Policy sets no hardware-based metric for it.[1]
On-premises licensing
Licensing levels
Automation Suite and standalone Orchestrator include central licence management. A customer can buy one licence for the host and distribute it to organizations, tenants and users; license each organization (Automation Suite) or tenant (standalone Orchestrator) separately; or, in Automation Suite only, combine both.[5] Automation Suite follows the same Unified Pricing and Flex licence types as Automation Cloud, with SKUs listed on licensing.uipath.com.[6]
Activation
A standalone Orchestrator licence key is activated against the instance’s Installation ID. Online activation is done on the License page; offline activation generates a request file that is uploaded to the UiPath Activation Portal, which returns a licence file. In both cases the administrator designates the instance as “Production, Non-Production, or Hybrid”. Any change UiPath makes to the licences requires a licence update.[4] Catalog proof: Standalone Orchestrator licences are activated per installation with an environment designation.
Robots receive their licence when they connect to Orchestrator. Studio can take a licence from Orchestrator, which UiPath recommends, or be activated locally and connected through a Robot created with the “Stand-alone license” checkbox, which prevents Orchestrator from allocating it a licence from its pool.[3] On first start, Studio prompts for activation by signing in to a UiPath account (Automation Cloud and Community Edition), by connecting to Orchestrator (on-premises platform) or by entering a licence key (on-premises trials).[9] Standalone licensing exists only for UiPath Robot, Studio and Task Capture; its keys are “not tracked or managed centrally”, and UiPath states: “We do not recommend using standalone licensing.”[5] For a licence inventory, standalone keys therefore need to be collected separately. Catalog proof: Standalone Studio and Robot licences are not tracked centrally.
Expiry
Standalone Orchestrator sends expiry alerts 180, 90, 30, 14, 7 and 1 day before the expiry date by default. A licence may include a grace period; “If it does not, your robots stop working upon expiry.”[3] Under the MSSA, when a License Term expires the licence ends and the customer must “remove and delete all copies”.[8] Catalog proof: Without a grace period, robots stop working when an on-premises licence expires; On expiry of the License Term, rights end and copies must be deleted.
Non-production instances, HAA and Disaster Recovery
- Non-production instances. Platform tiers provide, for named capabilities, “one Production instance and a maximum of 3 Non-Production instances, for on premises deployments”.[1] Catalog proof: Platform tiers include up to three non-production on-premises instances.
- High Availability Add-On. Available only with Automation Suite or Windows-installed Orchestrator and licensed per multi-node Orchestrator instance; the production licence includes up to three non-production licences.[1] Unified Pricing platform tiers include HAA: Active/Passive with Standard, Active/Active with Enterprise.[1] Catalog proof: High Availability Add-On is licensed per multi-node Orchestrator instance.
- Disaster Recovery. A copy of a licence used “solely as needed to regain use of the associated software” after a catastrophic loss. It is available only for products UiPath allows, follows the production licence’s rules, and “The production license and the Disaster Recovery setup cannot be enabled at the same time”.[1] The MSSA separately allows copies of the Software and licences “solely as needed for disaster recovery purposes”.[8] Catalog proof: Disaster Recovery and production licences cannot be enabled at the same time.
Deployment environment
A product licence managed by Orchestrator may be used in only one deployment environment at a time, with a three-month overlap allowed once per term when migrating. Under Unified Pricing, Windows-installed Orchestrator is allowed only “if deployment cannot be done on Automation Cloud or Automation Suite”.[1]
Product lifecycle
UiPath publishes mainstream and extended support dates per version. On-premises releases such as Orchestrator standalone 2025.10 (released 2025-10-27) are long-term support (LTS) releases with mainstream support to 2027-10-27 and extended support to 2028-10-27; Orchestrator in Automation Suite 2.2510 runs from 2025-11-11 to 2027-11-11 and 2028-11-11. Customers with Gold or Platinum support on version 2024.10 may receive one more year of limited support through Extended Support Plus.[7] The MSSA provides standard Support during the License Term, with additional plans available for purchase.[8]
Out of scope
Automation Cloud Robots (VM and serverless) pricing in Platform Units or Robot Units is covered in the plan articles. Performance Testing robots licensed through Virtual Users bundles are not covered here.[1]