License and the free edition

Spitfire works without a paid license: the free edition is enough to learn the product and test small systems. More load, longer runs, several runners and locations, more users, SSO and the audit log need a paid license key. This page covers the license states, how keys are obtained and installed, renewal, and what happens when a license ends.

#What it is for

• The License page (installation admins only; under Infrastructure in the menu) shows the limits the installation runs with, when the key ends and which features are on.
• You install a free or paid key by pasting it here. The key is verified on this server without going online; Spitfire never sends data anywhere.
• The same page also holds the Version and updates and Data retention cards.

#When to use it

• As the first job after installation (the keyless period is 14 days).
• When you see "A license key is required to start new runs" or a limit message.
• When you buy a paid plan, renew, or the next month's key of a monthly subscription arrives.
• When the license end banner shows up.

#The license page

The License page: state badge, plan, the Limits table (In force and Free edition columns) and the License key card

The page's parts:

1. The state badge and the Plan: … label. States:
   • Free edition — no paid license; the free limits apply.
   • Licensed — your key's limits apply.
   • License expired (grace period) — the term is over, but the limits are kept during the grace period.
   • License expired — the grace period is over too; the free limits apply.
2. For a paid key, its details: Activated date (and the period length), on a monthly subscription the Next renewal, Ends and the days left, any Add-ons, for a key issued by the panel Issued by: Spitfire web shop (panel), and the Key ID (with a Copy button).
3. The Limits table: for each limit the value In force and, for comparison, the Free edition value; under the user count, "N now". Features such as comparative runs, SSO and the audit log are listed as included / not included.
4. The Version and updates card (Installation → Updating).
5. The Data retention card (below).
6. The License key card: the field to paste the key into, Install key, and Remove license when a license is installed.

#Free edition limits

CI pass/fail and every protocol are available in the free edition too. PDF and shared reports of installations without a paid license carry "Made with Spitfire Free" at the bottom.

#Keyless 14 days

An installation without a key runs with the free limits for 14 days from when it is first seen. During that time the License page shows "No license key installed: from new runs need one. A free key is enough."

When the period ends:

• New runs cannot start; a red "A license key is required to start new runs. Tests and results are kept." banner with a Get a free key button appears at the top of every page, and the License menu entry shows a Key required badge.
• Tests, results and settings are not deleted; they can be read and edited.

#Getting and installing a free key

1. On the License page click Get a free key (or open spitfire.tr/ucretsiz-anahtar directly).
2. Enter your e-mail address; the key arrives by e-mail.
3. Copy the whole key starting with SPF1. from the e-mail.
4. On the License page, paste it into the field of the License key card and click Install key.
5. The state stays Free edition and the text "A registered free key is installed: the free limits apply and it never expires." appears.

A free key's limits are always the product's free limits, and it never expires. It is signed with a separate signing key and verified without going online.

#Paid plans

Limits built into the plans (0 = unlimited):

Features:

• Growth yearly, Scale yearly and Enterprise: synthetic monitoring (up to the plan limit), performance budgets, PR/MR comments, comparative runs and scheduled/CI comparative runs.
• Project pass, Quarter and the monthly subscriptions: comparative runs only (synthetic monitoring at the free allowance: 1 monitor, at most every 15 minutes).
• SSO and reading the audit log are in every paid plan (Growth and above).

You can always check which features your key turns on in the included / not included rows of the Limits table on the License page.

When a feature is not in your license, a grey note on the screen in question says why; for example saved performance budgets keep evaluating runs but no new one can be saved, and --pr-comment skips the comment and says why (the run result and exit code do not change).

#Installing a paid key

1. After the purchase, the key (SPF1.…) arrives by e-mail.
2. Open the License page with an installation admin account.
3. Paste the whole key into the License key field and click Install key.
4. The state becomes Licensed; Activated, Ends and the days left appear. The limits apply at once; the free edition's restrictions (read-only users, paused schedules…) are lifted immediately.

You can also give the key to the controller at the first installation with the SPITFIRE_LICENSE environment variable; it is stored on first start when the database has no key, and managed on the License page afterwards.

#The term starts at first entry

A paid key's term runs not from the day it was issued but from the day it is first entered in an installation. However, the key must be entered within 30 days of being issued; a later first entry is refused with "This key's activation period has ended. Contact us for a new key."

The controller records the first-entry date per key: removing the key and entering it again does not restart the term. Monthly subscription keys have no first-entry window; they are valid from the moment they are issued until they end.

#Key ID

The Key ID on the License page is asked for on the buy page when you upgrade or renew your license. Take it with Copy.

#Renewal

Yearly and one-time licenses do not renew themselves.

1. When the end approaches, use the Renew → button on the banner, or go to spitfire.tr/satin-al.
2. Renew by entering the Key ID from the License page.
3. Paste the renewal key you receive on the License page of the same installation.

A renewal key entered where the key it renews is installed continues from that key's end; no days are lost. Entered in another installation, it starts on the day it is entered.

#Monthly subscription

Growth monthly and Scale monthly are subscriptions without commitment:

1. Every month the payment is charged automatically to your stored card (Next renewal on the License page).
2. Once paid, the new month's key arrives by e-mail.
3. Paste that key on the License page and click Install key.

If a payment fails it is retried 1, 3 and 5 days later. If the last try fails too, the subscription ends and the installation returns to the free limits 5 days after the period ends; no data is deleted.

A monthly key's limits are always the plan's built-in limits (limits and add-ons in the key are ignored); its only feature is comparative runs. Monthly keys need Spitfire 0.13.1 or later (0.16.0 or later for Scale monthly); older controllers refuse them as an invalid signature.

#Add-ons

On Growth yearly and Scale yearly, add-on packs (users, VUs and requests/s, run duration, runners and locations) are added to the plan limits; unlimited stays unlimited. Installed add-ons show in the Add-ons row of the License page (e.g. "+5 users · +1,000 VUs").

#Keys issued by the panel

Since Spitfire 0.20.0 the web shop's admin panel can also issue keys for the self-service plans (Project pass, Quarter, Growth, Scale). Such keys:

• Show as Issued by: Spitfire web shop (panel) on the License page.
• Are valid for at most 3 years; their limits are at most the plan's built-in limits plus the add-ons they list (Growth and Scale only, at most 20 packs of each kind); one workspace.
• Are never used for the monthly plans, Enterprise or Agency.
• Have the same first-entry window and renewal as any key.
• Need Spitfire 0.20.0 or later; older controllers refuse them as an invalid signature. Update first: Installation → Updating.

#The license end banner

Installation admins see a banner about the license end at the top of every page:

The (i) icon next to the banner shows the details. Hide for today closes it for the day; it comes back the next day. The License button opens the License page.

#What happens when it ends

1. Grace period: on yearly and one-time licenses the license limits are kept for 14 days after the end. The state becomes License expired (grace period) and a red banner shows when the grace period ends.
2. When the grace period ends: the free limits apply and new runs need a key (free or paid) again. A free key installed earlier is not remembered; you must enter it again.
3. No data is deleted, and a running test is not cut.
4. What is above the free limits:
   • Extra users can sign in, read and change their own password, but change nothing else (the "Your account is read-only…" banner). The oldest admin keeps full rights.
   • Extra scheduled tests, notification channels and synthetic monitors are kept but do not run (Paused (license) badge); the oldest ones run.
   • SSO settings are kept but inactive; local admin sign-in always works.
   • The audit log is still recorded but cannot be read.

A new paid key lifts all of this at once.

#When a limit is hit

Limits are checked when a run starts: the planned VUs, request rate, duration, runners and locations. If one is exceeded, the run does not start, no run record is left behind, and a clear message appears, for example:

This run needs 250 concurrent VUs; the free edition allows up to 100. Paid plans (Growth and above) raise this limit.

During the run each runner enforces its share of the request-rate cap. Adding or enabling a user checks the user count; adding a schedule, notification channel or synthetic monitor checks their own counts.

The concurrent runs limit is how many runs the installation (all workspaces together) may have at the same time. A run counts from the moment it is queued until it ends; a comparative run and an A/A calibration count as one run, synthetic monitor checks do not count. While the limit is full, starting is refused; a scheduled run is skipped and recorded as such on the schedule. Paid keys issued before this limit existed (0.16.0) have unlimited concurrent runs.

The purchase address shown in limit messages can be changed on the controller with SPITFIRE_PURCHASE_URL (default https://spitfire.tr/satin-al).

#Data retention

The Data retention card on the License page (installation admin) sets how long old data is kept:

• Per-second data and logs — the charts' per-second points, run logs and failed request samples. 0 = the installation's setting (SPITFIRE_RETENTION_DAYS, default 90). The license may keep less (7 days on the free edition).
• Runs — at least 7 days; finished runs are deleted with their summaries, reports and share links. Baseline runs and running runs are never deleted.
• Audit log — at least 30 days; the deletion itself is audited.

Runs and audit log left at 0 are kept forever. Deletion happens once a day; before saving, you are shown how many runs and audit entries would be deleted.

#Common problems

Symptom: "The license key is invalid (copied incompletely, altered, or not issued for Spitfire)." Cause: The key was copied with missing or extra characters (an e-mail client may have broken the line), or it is entered in an older controller that does not know it. Fix: Copy the whole key starting with SPF1. in one piece. For a monthly key (0.13.1+, Scale monthly 0.16.0+) or a panel-issued key (0.20.0+), update Spitfire first.

Symptom: "This key's activation period has ended. Contact us for a new key." Cause: The key was not entered in any installation within 30 days of being issued. Fix: Contact the seller and ask for a new key.

Symptom: The red "A license key is required to start new runs" banner. Cause: The 14 keyless days are over, or a paid license's grace period ended. Fix: Get and install a free key, or renew the paid license.

Symptom: On a monthly subscription, the banner "The subscription period is over: paste the new month's key on the License page". Cause: The new month's key was not installed, or the payment did not go through. Fix: Paste the new key from your e-mail. If it did not come, check your card; the charge is retried 1, 3 and 5 days later.

Symptom: A colleague sees the "Your account is read-only" banner. Cause: The installation is on the free limits and the number of active users exceeds the limit. Fix: Install a paid license, or set unused accounts to Disabled on the Users page.

Symptom: A scheduled test does not run; the list says Paused (license). Cause: The license allows fewer schedules; the oldest ones run. Fix: Delete extra schedules or upgrade the license.

Symptom: The License page is not in the menu. Cause: The License page is open to installation admins only (not to workspace admins). Fix: Sign in with an account that has the installation admin role.

#Related pages

• Getting started
• Installation
• Users and access
• Scheduling and monitoring
• Version comparison