About Subscription Licensing

Subscription Licensing is commonly referred to as a “cloud-based” solution, but is more accurately described as a subscription-based license. Subscription-based licenses are paid for on a monthly basis, recurring indefinitely. The hardware and operating systems that are needed to adequately run the software based on your needs are included in the subscription licensing model, along with the annual maintenance.

Subscription licensing has a lower entry cost and a higher recurring cost (due to monthly subscriptions).

About Perpetual Licensing

Perpetual Licensing requires a one-time initial payment, as well as annual maintenance. The software can be installed on either a local server (on-premise) or as a hosted solution. Hardware and operating systems are not considered under the perpetual licensing model, and must be purchased and/or licensed separately.

Perpetual licensing has a higher entry cost and a lower recurring cost (the yearly maintenance fee).

About Named Licensing

Under both the subscription and perpetual licensing models, users are “named,” meaning that every license is associated to a specific user. For example, if an organization has 50 ERP users that will be accessing Dynamics 365 Business Central at any given time, it would necessary to obtain licenses for all 50 users.