Overview

Directus is licensed under the Monospace Sustainable Core License (MSCL). Self-hosted instances without a license run on the core tier. To unlock additional capabilities or higher limits, add a license to your instance.

Free commercial use is available through the Open Innovation Grant for entities with less than $5M in annual revenue and fewer than 50 employees. Eligibility is assessed based on the legal entities whose representatives log into the Directus Studio. Full terms are set out in the grant usage agreement.

License Keys and License Tokens

There are two ways to authenticate a license:

• License key — a string in the format DXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXC. On first use, it binds your license to a specific project and PUBLIC_URL. License keys can be set via environment variable or added through the Studio.
• License token — a pre-issued token containing your entitlements, validated locally without contacting the licensing service. Tokens are only set via environment variable and are intended for offline use, in environments without outbound network access.

You configure one or the other — not both. Setting both in your environment is a configuration error and Directus will refuse to start.

License Modes

Online Mode

In online mode, your instance periodically revalidates with the Directus licensing service. Feature access, plan upgrades, and revocations propagate without restarting. Adding a license key through the Studio validates instantly.

This is the default mode and is appropriate for any instance with outbound network access.

Offline Mode

In offline mode, the instance never contacts the licensing service. Validation happens locally against the token's signature and expiry. This is intended for air-gapped or restricted-network environments on paid plans.

Because offline instances cannot be reached, suspension or cancellation only takes effect when the token expires. New tokens must be issued and deployed manually.

Offline mode is only available on Enterprise plans. If you are running the core tier, you do not need a token — Directus has no license to validate.

Configuration

Licenses are configured through one of three sources, applied in the following order of precedence:

When a key or token is set in the environment, the Studio license editor is read-only — to change it, update the environment variable and restart.

If no license is configured, the instance runs on the core tier.

License Statuses

Managing Your License

Admins can manage their license from Settings > License in the Studio. From this screen you can:

• Add or replace a license key.
• View your current plan, status, and usage against each entitlement.
• Purchase, adjust, or remove addons for plans that support them.
• Open the Stripe customer portal to manage billing, payment methods, and your subscription.

If your license key is set via the environment, the Studio shows the current entitlements but the editor is locked. To change or remove the key, update the environment variable and restart Directus. See Activations and project bindings below for the full deactivation flow.

Activations and Project Bindings

On first use, a license key creates an activation on the Directus licensing service, binding the license to your Directus instance at its current PUBLIC_URL. This binding is used to authenticate all subsequent revalidation requests for that instance.

A single license key may be activated against multiple instances at different PUBLIC_URLs, depending on your license.

Deactivating a License

Deactivating a license frees its activation on the licensing service so the binding can be reused.

• Studio-managed license — open Settings > License in the Studio and click Deactivate License. The instance drops to the core tier immediately.
• Env-managed license — remove the LICENSE_KEY (or LICENSE_TOKEN) value from your environment and restart Directus. The Studio license editor becomes available, but the previous plan and entitlements remain displayed until you click Deactivate License.

Moving an Instance to a New URL

If you change the PUBLIC_URL of an existing instance — for example, when migrating to a new domain — the license key will register a new activation against the new URL. The previous activation against the old URL remains in place until you deactivate it.

To reuse the same license on the new URL without exceeding your license's activation limit, deactivate the license on the old instance before bringing the new one online.

Resolution Flow

If your instance exceeds its entitlements — for example, after downgrading a plan — the Studio surfaces a Resource Resolution screen for admins. This screen lists each entitlement that requires action:

• Limit-based entitlements show your current usage, the new limit, and a list of candidate records to deactivate.
• Feature-gated entitlements (such as SSO) show any blockers that must be resolved before the feature can be disabled — for example, admin accounts that need an email and password before SSO can be turned off.

Selecting candidates and submitting the resolution brings the instance back within its entitlements. Resources are deactivated rather than deleted, and the acting admin is always excluded from seat resolution.

Locked-Down Instances

If an instance is over its entitlement limits and the grace period has elapsed, it enters a locked-down state. While locked down:

• The REST /items, /files, and /flows endpoints are disabled.
• The GraphQL, WebSockets, and MCP APIs are disabled.
• /login is blocked for non-admin users.
• SSO continues to work for admins so the license can be resolved.

Resolving the license — either by adding a valid key, reducing usage through the resolution flow, or purchasing addons — restores normal operation.

Upgrading to Directus 12

When an existing instance upgrades to Directus 12 without a license, behavior depends on current usage:

• Within core tier limits — the instance continues to operate on the core tier.
• Above core tier limits — the instance enters a 30-day grace period during which it continues to function normally. Admins see a reminder on every login. Add a license key to clear the reminder, or reduce usage to within core limits before the grace period ends.

If the grace period ends with usage still above core limits, the resolution flow is triggered on next admin login.