Wolfram sells Mathematica to individuals as subscriptions that bundle a desktop installation with cloud access. The same License Certificate model described in the Wolfram Mathematica License Agreement applies: a License Class, a Use Class and a number of Processes.[1] What differs between the plans is the Use Class, which is chosen by who the buyer is and what the software will be used for. This article records the published rules for each use class. It describes licensing mechanics only and does not record prices, which are displayed at checkout.[2]
Plan structure
Subscriptions and renewal
All subscriptions purchased online are set to renew automatically. They can be cancelled in the Wolfram Account or through Customer Support to stop future billing.[2] The estimated renewal price is shown at checkout, is subject to change, and Wolfram states it will notify the customer of any increase or decrease before renewal.[2]
Each plan includes the latest version of the Wolfram Language, two activation keys, upgrades and cloud access, together with installation and activation support.[2] Wolfram AI Access Basic is included with active Mathematica and Wolfram|One plans starting in Version 15; AI Access Pro and Research are paid upgrades that provide three and ten times the usage of Basic.[3]
Plus plans and the perpetual desktop licence
The Personal Plus and Professional Plus plans include a perpetual desktop licence.[4][2] The benefits listed are retained desktop access if the subscription lapses and a discount on annual subscription renewals.[2] The “perpetual” element covers the desktop only: Wolfram states that after a lapse the customer keeps perpetual desktop access but loses access to Mathematica in the cloud, upgrades and advanced technical support if these were previously included.[2] Practitioners tracking entitlements should therefore record two things for a Plus plan: an indefinite desktop right for the versions already licensed, and a subscription that must stay current for cloud, new versions and support.
Wolfram also states in its activation documentation that a licence may be incompatible with a newer version. When a user signs in to activate and only Version 14.0 licences are available but the installed application is Version 14.1, activation fails until the licence is updated.[5] For site licences, the site administrator decides whether to update.[5]
Installations and processes
Each commercial, government and academic licence allows installation on up to two machines or a single dual-boot system; those machines may belong to the user or the employer, for work use.[2][6][7] Personal and student licences allow two machines that the individual owns personally.[4][8] These rules are tracked by the Installation (two machines per individual licence) metric. Wolfram’s activation documentation adds that a licence cannot be activated on another machine once it has reached the maximum number of machines; the customer must release the licence with the System Transfer Form, or ask the site administrator for a site licence.[5]
The cloud component is not a second installation. The software licensing restricts access to the cloud product from more than one machine at a time.[2]
The plan details list limits per desktop installation:
| Item | Personal and Student | Professional, Government, Academic |
|---|---|---|
| Controlling processes | 2 | 4 |
| Computing processes | 8 | 16 |
| Wolfram|Alpha API calls per month | 6,000 | 12,000 |
| Cloud storage | 2 GB | 15 GB |
| Cloud computation time limit | 5 minutes | 10 minutes |
| Cloud session memory limit | 1.5 GB | 2 GB |
| Cloud Credits | 20,000 | 50,000 |
The values above are from the plan pages.[8][4][2][6][7] The process counts correspond to the Controlling Process and Computation Process metrics, and the agreement forbids running more of either at once than the certificate specifies.[1] A related difference is that Personal Edition and Student subscriptions use up to eight cores on a multicore machine, while professional licences use up to sixteen.[4][8]
Use classes
Professional (commercial)
Commercial pricing is the professional plan, described as Mathematica licensing for professional use, with Advanced Technical Support offering email and phone access to Wolfram experts and help with Wolfram Language programming.[2] Wolfram points startups to its Wolfram for Startups programme and lists the special-price groups: government, academic, educational, personal and student users.[2]
Government
Government pricing is available to employees of federal, state and local government agencies and government-funded institutions. Mathematica may be installed on a personal computer or an institution-owned computer but may not be used for commercial purposes. Orders must be placed with an institutional credit card or official purchase order.[7]
Colleges and universities
Academic pricing is for employees of an accredited educational institution for teaching, academic research or nonprofessional use. The licence may not be used for commercial purposes, government research or consulting for a commercial, governmental or nonprofit organisation.[6] Wolfram states that pricing and discounts are determined by use, so an academic licence may only be used for academic purposes such as instruction and academic research and may not be used for profit-seeking ventures or production-level deployment; someone who also does consulting needs a commercial or government licence.[6] Proof of academic status is required and may be supplied at purchase or within two weeks of purchase.[6]
Personal
Personal Edition is for hobbyists, enthusiasts and other individuals exclusively for nonprofessional, personal use on their own computers. It may not be used for professional purposes or on behalf of any commercial, nonprofit, academic or governmental organisation, nor for any purpose of commercial advantage or private monetary gain, nor for work that benefits the user’s job.[4] The licence cannot be registered to a business or institution address and cannot be paid for with an organisation’s card, cheque or purchase order.[4] Reimbursement by an employer, organisation or school, or use of grant funds, is not permitted, although an individual may buy and gift a Personal Edition licence to another individual for nonprofessional use.[4] Personal Edition licences cannot be converted into professional licences; someone who wants to use Mathematica in teaching, research or work should buy a professional licence.[4]
Student
Student subscriptions are for part-time or full-time primary and secondary students and students working toward an associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral or equivalent degree at an accredited institution or approved homeschool location, and for part-time non-degree students if required for a class. Mathematica may only be installed on the student’s own personal computer and registered to the student, and proof of enrolment is required.[8] Plans are offered as a one-year plan, a prepaid four-year licence, a six-month Semester plan and a monthly plan.[8] The length of plan bought dictates the maximum period, and the subscription can only be used while the holder remains eligible.[8]
A student subscription may be gifted by an individual such as a friend or family member, provided the student’s name and email address and proof of student status are supplied, the subscription is registered to the student and the software is installed on the student’s computer. Gifts from an organisation require prior written approval from Wolfram Research.[8] Faculty cannot use a student subscription for teaching or academic research; Wolfram refers them to educational licences.[8] After graduation Wolfram recommends its Early Professionals Program, which provides a free six-month Mathematica Early Professionals License, or conversion to a professional licence at a discount.[8]
Notebooks created in Student and Personal editions include a banner naming the edition, and the editions are otherwise stated to have the same functionality as the professional version.[8][4]
Moving between licence types
The licence agreement allows a System Transfer, defined as converting a product to a different configuration (for example Single-Machine to Network), platform (for example Windows to Linux) or product. It is available for active and supported software on request to WRI Customer Service, using a System Transfer Form, and requires payment of any licence cost difference or transfer fee.[1] A transfer of the product to a different licensee is permitted only when the transferee’s use falls within the same Mathematica service level and Wolfram is told that all copies have been destroyed or handed over.[1] The usage-zone policy lets a licence continue in use for up to 60 days while travelling outside the zone.[9]
Out of scope
This article does not cover network, enterprise or site licences, which Wolfram directs customers to contact it about,[2] or the free Wolfram Engine and Wolfram Player. Plan prices are not recorded.