Calame is dual-licensed: the core is Apache 2.0, free forever. The ee/ modules (SSO + document RAG) are BUSL 1.1: Pro unlocks them on one instance, Enterprise on as many as you need.
Self-host Calame freely. Apache 2.0, no limits.
Forever · Apache 2.0
All features, single instance. Perfect for one team or one product.
Design-partner access by request
Unlimited instances, priority support, embedding rights.
Annual license · quote based on usage
Calame, hosted. We run the servers, you run the profiles.
Join the waitlist
The data plane runs on your infrastructure. Configured AI providers, cloud connectors, tunnels and update checks may make outbound calls.
License model
Calame separates its core from its enterprise modules at the directory level. The split is mechanical: you can read the license boundary in the source tree.
Connectors, profiles, MCP runtime, masking, chat, audit, the entire web UI. Use it freely, fork it, modify it, deploy it in production. Patches welcome.
OIDC SSO and document RAG ingestion. Free to evaluate and to contribute to; a Pro or Enterprise license covers production use, and each BUSL release converts to Apache 2.0 four years after publication.
Evaluation, development, contributions, and forks that aren't paid commercial offerings. Production use of the ee/ modules is what a Pro or Enterprise license covers.
Reselling Calame as a managed service, or embedding ee/sso, ee/rag-core, ee/rag-connectors in a paid SaaS that competes with Calame Cloud.
So that solo maintainers can keep building the project full-time without seeing it forked into a closed paid product they can't sustain. Every BUSL version converts to Apache 2.0 after 4 years anyway.
Compare
Enterprise adds the BUSL-licensed modules. Cloud is a planned managed offering and is not generally available.
| Feature | Community | Pro | Enterprise | Cloud |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core | ||||
| PostgreSQL / MySQL / SQLite connectors | ||||
| Profiles + per-table & per-column visibility | ||||
| PII auto-detection + masking rules | ||||
| Row-level scoping | ||||
| Built-in natural-language chat | ||||
| Audit log + write queue | ||||
| Auth | ||||
| Open / Bearer token / password | ||||
| OAuth 2.1 + Dynamic Client Registration | ||||
| OIDC SSO (Google, Okta, Azure, Keycloak) | — | |||
| External validation URL | ||||
| Advanced | ||||
| RAG core + vector connectors | — | |||
| HashiCorp Vault for secrets | ||||
| Embed in a paid product | — | — | ||
| Operations | ||||
| Instances | Unlimited | 1 | Unlimited | 1 managed |
| Support | Community | Email, best effort | Scoped by agreement | Not generally available |
| Hosting | Self-host | Self-host | Self-host | Managed |
| Pricing | Free | Beta access | Custom | Soon |
FAQ
If your question isn't here, use the contact form. Responses are best effort during beta.
It depends. If you only need the Apache-2.0 core (connectors, profiles, PII, chat, audit, OAuth), Community is enough: forever, free, unlimited instances. As soon as you want SSO or RAG (the ee/ modules), you need Pro (one instance) or Enterprise (multiple instances).
One Calame process, i.e. one running container or one Node server. Staging, preview, dev environments owned by the same team count as the same instance for license purposes; we apply common-sense, not a license-server.
Enterprise is the discussion path for multiple production instances, negotiated support, or embedding ee/ modules into a paid product sold to third parties. Exact scope is agreed before purchase.
Each BUSL-licensed version of Calame ee/ automatically converts to Apache 2.0 four years after publication. So today's Pro/Enterprise features become free OSS in four years, automatically; your license fee buys you the rights to use the most recent code right now.
Enterprise terms are scoped to the deployment, number of instances and embedding rights. Contact us to discuss the use case; no response-time commitment is advertised during beta.
Beta access for SSO and RAG is available by request for bounded design-partner use cases. Mention "beta" in the contact form.
Calame Cloud is not generally available. Portability and migration guarantees will be documented before launch.
Your data stays where it is. Calame decides what your AI is allowed to see, and keeps the receipts.
