What is the difference between a node-locked license and a floating license?

Unity Enterprise licensing comes in two primary forms; Floating and node-locked.

Floating licenses give you the flexibility of a true check-in and check-out style of licensing. When a user opens Unity, they are automatically assigned a license. When that same user closes Unity, the license is released automatically. The floating licenses live on an on-premise server controlled by a server admin instead of the Unity cloud. This server needs to be maintained and regulated by the server admin.

Node-locked licenses are managed on the Unity website. You can manually send and revoke licenses from named users from the website. Every user is required to have a free Unity account to get a license. While node-locked licenses can be moved around by the customer, it requires manual intervention compared to floating licenses.

Floating licenses are only recommended if your company has a centralized IT team to manage and maintain the license server. If your company has a dedicated set of Unity users using the software regularly, node-locked licenses are typically the better licensing option. It’s also possible to simultaneously have a mix of node-locked and floating licenses.

More Information:

Floating licenses are only available for purchase by Unity Enterprise and Unity Industrial Collection subscription owners.

For more information, and to purchase this solution, please feel free to contact our Unity Sales team.