License Types

Fixed User and Floating licenses

We use two license types: Fixed User and Floating. They differ in the way users consume the license seats (license seats define the number of allowed concurrent license users) and in their use in certain environments:

Fixed User	Floating
Typically used by individual professionals or by teams with a few QA engineers.	Typically used by organizations with a large number of QA professionals.
A Fixed User license key can have one or multiple seats.	A Floating license can also have one or multiple seats, but typically it has multiple seats.
The license administrator assigns the license seats to your team members — one seat per person. The number of users *cannot* exceed the number of seats.	The license administrator assigns the license seats to your teammates. The number of persons in the assignment list *can* exceed the number of license seats.
The license seats can be used only by assignees. If some user is not working with the licensed product, others cannot consume the license seat of that user.	Seats are not strictly assigned to users. Any user in the assignment list can run the licensed product. However, the number of users working concurrently cannot exceed the number of license seats.
A person cannot consume multiple seats.	One person can consume multiple seats. This happens if that person is running the product on multiple computers concurrently.
Important Fixed User licenses have a limit on the number of revokes/reassignments, which is determined by the number of seats on that license.	The license administrator can freely add to and manage the list of users and assign/reassign available seats without limits.
Fixed User licenses *cannot* be used on virtual machines or with docker containers.	Floating User licenses *can* be used on virtual machines or with docker containers.

Online and offline licenses

Online licenses are controlled by the SmartBear license servers available on the Web.

Offline licenses work in private networks without connection to the Web and SmartBear license servers.

By default, the licenses you purchase are online ones. You can convert them to offline licenses and vice versa on the SmartBear License Management. For complete information on this and on using offline licenses, see Licensing in Private Networks.

Bundle licenses

SmartBear’s bundle licenses enable features across product families, including ReadyAPI (Test Pro, Performance Pro, and Virtualization Pro), TestComplete, and TestExecute.

If you already have licenses installed for certain products, installing a bundle license that includes them will replace these licenses. However, the previous licenses will not be deactivated. If you want to move the previous licenses to another machine, deactivate them before installing a bundle license.

Tip

A bundle license for multiple applications within a product (e.g. ReadyAPI Test Pro, Ready API Virtualization Pro, etc.) enables one user per license seat. However, a bundle license that includes two different products (e.g. TestComplete and TestExecute) allows one user per product. So, with one license seat, two users can work on the two products in the bundle.

Trial licenses

Technically, a trial license is a time-limited license with one seat automatically assigned to the user who requested the trial on the SmartBear website.

Default license assignment

Right after purchase, a license is not assigned to any user. The responsible employee (license administrator) assigns the license to users in the License Management portal (that is, assigns the license seats). To run the licensed product, these persons should specify the email the license administrator used for the assignment.

For complete information on license assignment, see Activate and Use Licenses.