License inquiry

Support Billing and Subscriptions
1

I am working in a small software development company (around 15people), and currently working on a project for a big client (>250 employees).

We will develop the system and send them as docker image.
In this case do we or our client needs to purchase a license?

Thank you.

2

Docker CE and the Docker images are free. Using Docker Desktop could require subscription based on the size of the company, but otherwise the only thing that can require any license is the application itself. For example if you build an image based on an Oracle database server image or anything that isn’t free for what you want to use it, even though Docker CE is free, the software is not and you need to pay for it, but not to Docker Inc.

It matters only if they run containers on Docker Desktop which they shouldn’t, unless they are using Docker Desktop for development and not running production services…

3

@segunik If your client is planning to use Docker Desktop, then you can suggest them to go through these Docker FAQs | Docker

Who’s required to pay for Docker Desktop?

Docker Desktop requires a paid, per-user subscription for organizations with more than 250 employees or more than $10 million in annual revenue per our terms of service.

Organizations can purchase Team, or Business subscriptions to stay compliant with our terms. Examples that require licensure include:

  • Companies with more than $10 million in annual revenue but less than 250 employees
  • Companies with less than $10 million in annual revenue but more than 250 employees (including contractors)
  • Government entities (See our Subscription Service Agreement for our definition of “Government Entities”)
  • Individuals that contribute to open source projects on behalf of a company with more than $10 million in annual revenue OR more than 250 employees
  • Companies with more than 250 employees, even if only 5 of them are software developers
  • Companies making more than $10 million in the last financial year, even if they don’t expect to do the same this year
  • Companies with less than 250 employees that are subsidiaries of companies with more than 250 employees total
  • Companies with more than $10 million in annual revenue OR more than 250 employees where developers only use Docker Desktop for internal tooling