Wolfram Research is the publisher of the Wolfram Language and of the products built on it: Mathematica, Wolfram|One, Wolfram Desktop, the Wolfram Engine, System Modeler, Wolfram Player and a set of server and cloud services. The contracting party named in the licence agreements is Wolfram Research, Inc. (“WRI”), 100 Trade Center Drive, Champaign, Illinois.[1] This article summarises how those products are licensed. Four deeper articles cover individual Mathematica and Wolfram|One plans, MathLM network and site licensing, the Wolfram Engine, and System Modeler with the server and cloud products.
Contract structure
Licensing starts with a stack of documents. The Wolfram Mathematica License Agreement governs use of Mathematica and is incorporated by reference into the Wolfram Terms of Use; together they are called the “Terms”.[1] The agreement defines the Software as the Wolfram Language, Wolfram Desktop, Wolfram|One and the Mathematica family of programs.[1] Other products have their own agreements, listed on Wolfram’s legal page, including System Modeler, Wolfram Player, Wolfram Finance Platform and Wolfram|Alpha Notebook Edition, plus separate terms for the Wolfram Engine, Application Server and Enterprise Private Cloud.[1]
The Terms of Use, headed “Effective July 29, 2024”, cover Wolfram services, websites, applications, software, support and any product owned or operated by Wolfram.[2] They state that if a Service requires additional licensing terms, those Additional Terms form part of the Terms, and in a conflict the Additional Terms govern.[2] The agreement is accepted by clicking “I agree”, opening the media container, downloading or installing the Product, and the Mathematica agreement says its terms may change without notice, with amendments posted on Wolfram’s site.[1] Both documents are governed by Illinois law.[2][1]
The agreement ties the right to use to a License Certificate, a user-specific document that specifies the License Class, the Use Class and the number of Processes, and may add further restrictions.[1] Those three attributes drive most compliance questions.
License Class, Use Class and processes
The License Class indicates whether the software is licensed for Single-Machine or Network use.[1] A Single-Machine License Class product can be reinstalled on another computer only by a System Transfer, whereas a Network License Class process may move among computers within the licensed network without one.[1] A Network licence is controlled by a Network License Controller (MathLM), which sets usage policy including the maximum number of concurrent processes.[1]
The Use Class indicates additional restrictions on how the Product may be used and is also shown on the certificate.[1] The retail plans make the Use Class concrete: professional (commercial), government, academic, personal and student licences differ in who may use them and for what, as covered in the individual licences article.[3][4][5][6][7]
Counting is by process. A Controlling Process is a kernel or front end that handles input, output and scheduling; a Computation Process does computation and accepts input only from a Controlling Process.[1] The agreement prohibits running more Controlling or Computation Processes concurrently than the certificate allows, and prohibits allowing a single Controlling Process to be reached from multiple computers or terminals.[1] Individual professional plans list 4 controlling and 16 computing processes per desktop installation; personal and student plans list 2 and 8.[3][5]
Individual subscriptions
Wolfram sells Mathematica for individuals as subscriptions with desktop and cloud access, renewed automatically when bought online.[3] Each licence allows installation on up to two machines or a single dual-boot system, but the licence restricts cloud access to one machine at a time.[3] “Plus” plans include a perpetual desktop licence: if the subscription lapses the customer keeps desktop access but loses cloud access, upgrades and advanced technical support.[3]
The Use Class is chosen by eligibility. Personal Edition is for hobbyists and cannot be used for professional work or on behalf of any commercial, nonprofit, academic or governmental organisation.[4] Student plans require proof of enrolment and installation on the student’s own computer.[5] Academic licences are limited to instruction and academic research, and may not be used for profit-seeking ventures or production-level deployment.[6] Government pricing is for employees of government agencies and may not be used commercially.[7]
Network, group and site licensing
Organisations are directed to contact Wolfram about network, enterprise or site licences.[8] Group and organisation licensing combines volume purchase and site-licence programmes in which cloud, network and node-locked licences can be offered for work and home use, with single sign-on and an optional Enterprise Private Cloud.[8] Under an Unlimited Site licence, site administrators grant Single User, Single Machine, Network or Off-network access through the Wolfram Account.[9]
Network licences are served by MathLM. Activation uses an activation key and a machine-specific MathID, which together yield a password stored in a text file called mathpass; a network entry begins with an exclamation mark followed by the licence server hostname.[10] The server must be at the physical site where the product is registered.[11] Unified Wolfram application activation offers four methods: sign-in, activation key, manual activation and connection to a MathLM server.[12]
Usage zones
Licences carry a Usage Zone, defined in the agreement as the geographic location where the licence can be used.[1] Wolfram publishes a table of 25 usage zones, effective January 1, 2024, and states that a licence may continue to be used for up to 60 days during travel outside the zone.[13] Moving to another zone or adding countries is handled by contacting Wolfram, which may adjust the renewal price.[13]
Wolfram Engine, servers and cloud
The Free Wolfram Engine for Developers is licensed for development but not for production use.[14] Production use requires a separate licence of one of several types, including per machine, per cluster, per distributed copy and per cloud virtual machine.[15] System Modeler follows the Mathematica Single-Machine and Network structure and allows redistribution of simulation executables within limits.[16] Wolfram Application Server is licensed subject to usage limits and a maximum number of kernels, and Enterprise Private Cloud provides a virtual machine image the customer controls.[17][18] AI Access and Compute Services are consumed as subscriptions and Service Credits respectively.[19][20]
Transfers, audits and enforcement
Transfers between configurations, platforms or products are handled through a System Transfer, requested from WRI Customer Service, and may carry a cost difference or a fee.[1] Transfer to a different licensee is allowed only within the same Mathematica service level and with certification that all copies have been destroyed or handed over.[1] The agreement does not contain a general audit clause for Mathematica, but the Free Engine terms require records of use and a response to an audit notice within ten business days, and the Terms of Use let Wolfram review Applications and End User information.[14][2] Wolfram’s measurement of use of the Services is final and fees are non-refundable.[2]
Support
Professional Support is governed by terms effective December 21, 2022, with Technical Support business hours defined in them.[21] Advanced Technical Support is a feature of the professional plans.[3]
Out of scope
This article does not cover Wolfram|Alpha website and API terms, consulting engagements, educational programmes other than their licence implications, or negotiated enterprise agreements. Prices are not recorded because the individual plan prices are shown at checkout and group prices are quoted.[8]