SpreadJS Licensing & FAQ

Licensed Per Developer and Deployed Hostname

A Developer license is needed for each developer using SpreadJS. In addition, a Deployment license is needed for each separate production hostname SpreadJS is deployed on. See examples of Hostnames here.

You can purchase Developer licenses and Deployment licenses separately. We also offer a "SpreadJS Developer License + One (1) Annual Hostname Deployment License Bundle" for internal and non-commercial deployment, which includes one Developer license and one Annual Deployment license. For commercial use, separate licensing options are available. Perpetual Deployment licenses are also available by contacting us at us.sales@mescius.com.

Definition of License Types

At least one Developer License and one Deployment License are required to develop with and then deploy SpreadJS in your application(s).

Developer License

A Developer license is required for each separate developer developing with SpreadJS. The perpetual developer license includes:
Deployment Hostname License

Each production server hostname(s) and/or named mobile/desktop application(s) where SpreadJS will be deployed to, is licensed separately. Annual subscription fees for Deployment licenses are required to be paid each year to continue to deploy SpreadJS in your application(s). 

The pricing is determined on whether your application(s) is for Internal/Non-commercial or Commercial use and the number of deployed Hostnames – examples of hostnames.

  • Internal and Non-commercial use is defined as an application(s) that will be used for internal or external use where the end-user will not be charged to access the service(s).

  • Commercial and/or SaaS use is defined as an application(s) that will be used where the end-user or company(s) will be charged to access the service(s). 
Optional Add-On Deployment Licenses

SpreadJS also offers optional add-on deployment packages that are not included in the base SpreadJS purchase. These add-ons grant you additional specialized functionality that you can offer to your users. Like SpreadJS, the add-on pricing is based off the number of Hostnames these will be deployed to. The Annual pricing varies based on Internal/Non-commercial or Commercial use.

  • Designer Ribbon Component - The SpreadJS Designer Ribbon Component (formerly Designer Component add-on) gives developers the ability to embed this same ribbon bar and UI functionality into their own spreadsheet web applications.

  • PivotTable - The Pivot Table gives developers the ability to embed full pivot table functionality into their own spreadsheet web applications.

  • GanttSheet - The GanttSheet gives developers the ability to embed Gantt chart functionality into their own spreadsheet web applications.

  • ReportSheet - The ReportSheet gives developers the ability to allow their end users to design and create reports in their own spreadsheet web applications. The ReportSheet license allows DataCharts to be used to create charts within ReportSheet for seamless, dynamic charting integration.

  • DataCharts - The DataCharts allows developers to bind charts directly to the Data Manager data, eliminating the need for the data to be stored directly within the SpreadJS workbook.

About Production and Non-Production Deployment Licenses

Production and Non-Production deployment licenses are named licenses for the designated server(s) unless Unlimited domain option was purchased. Non-Production licenses include a 395-day expiration date with watermark unless otherwise noted.  Non-Production license keys are only to be used for testing, staging, or similar internal QA environments and not live customer facing production sites.
Contact sales for more information about our non-production license policy.

Examples of Hostnames

A Five (5) Hostname Deployment License would properly cover five different hostname scenarios, which do not have to be on the same domain. Examples: www.domain.com, app1.otherdomain.org, domain.net, api.anotherdomain.io, support.website.com.

A Single Domain License (*.domain) would license unlimited hostnames within a single top-level domain, commonly used in SaaS applications. Examples: www.domain.com, sub1.domain.com, sub2.domain.com, sub3.domain.com.

A Named Mobile/Desktop Application License covers a single application where the run-time hostname might be 'localhost' or there is no defined hostname (e.g., for distributed applications like Electron or Ionic). 

An Unlimited Domain License (*.* wildcard) would license unlimited Domains, Applications, and Hostnames, including multiple SaaS scenarios.

Perpetual Deployment pricing options are available. Please contact us.sales@mescius.com for pricing. 

How To Use SpreadJS in Production

  1. Download the latest release of SpreadJS
  2. Purchase the necessary SpreadJS licenses
  3. Register your serial key on our website. Unregistered serial keys will not display in your license list.
  4. Create a distribution key using our website.
  5. Apply the distribution key to your application using the GC.Spread.Sheets.LicenseKey method before creating a new Workbook() instance. 

    GC.Spread.Sheets.LicenseKey = "distribution-key";

Licensing FAQ

A: Each developer of an application that references SpreadJS code will need an individual developer license. If you have five developers working with SpreadJS, you will need five developer licenses. In this example, you can have up to five unnamed developers working with SpreadJS at the same time. The SpreadJS Developer Bundle includes one developer license and one Deployment license  for internal or non-commercial deployment.

For example pricing only:

Company A has (3) developers and deploys their application on (1) hostname for internal or non-commercial deployment. License requirements would be:
SpreadJS Developer Bundle = $1499 (includes 1 developer and 1 hostname for internal or non-commercial deployment)
SpreadJS Developer License $999 * 2 = $1998"

Company B has (5) developers and application is SaaS, hosted at *.company.com. License requirements would be:
SpreadJS Developer License $999 * 5 = $4995
SpreadJS Single Domain Deployment License = $12499

A: A SpreadJS Deployment license is required when you are ready to deploy your application(s) to internal/external production. The Annual Deployment license must renewed every year to continue using SpreadJS in your application(s). Perpetual Deployment licenses are also available.

The Deployment License key is a character string that authorizes a deployed application to use SpreadJS. You can generate a Deployment Key using your account on our website. To make a Deployment Key, simply add the hostname(s) to be authorized and generate the key. Then you'll apply the key to your app as listed above. You can generate as many keys that you are licensed for.

A: SpreadJS Deployment is licensed by hostname or application and each separate hostname will need its own separate deployment license. The deployment license is created and assigned specifically for the hostname you provide.

See hostname scenario examples here.

A: Each SpreadJS Developer Bundle includes one developer license and one Deployment license key to license one production hostname. Additional hostname license packages are available for purchase separately as explained here on the pricing page.

A: You can deploy as many applications as you wish with the standard per-developer license on one hostname. Additional hostnames deployment licenses are available separately.

A: Non-commercial use is defined as an application(s) that will be used for internal or external use where the end-user will not be charged to access the service(s). Commercial and/or SaaS use is defined as an application(s) that will be used for external use where the end-user or company(s) will be charged to access the service(s).

A: If you purchased the Annual Deployment Key (most cases): The SpreadJS Deployment Key is valid for one year and is renewed annually. You must renew the Deployment License every year to continue using your SpreadJS application on a production server. Once renewed, you can continue to use the same license key for your hostname application(s). No new license key will be needed unless you upgrade your application to use a newer major version of SpreadJS. At that time, you will be issued a new license key.

If you purchased the Perpetual Deployment Key (only available by contacting sales): The SpreadJS Deployment Key will not expire and you can continue using that specific SpreadJS version you purchased in production for an unlimited time. Upgrade options are also available if you choose to use later major versions other than what you originally purchased.

A: You must remove all references to SpreadJS and its code from your applications and discontinue all use of the product. Failing to comply constitutes a breach of MESCIUS' property rights and End User License Agreement.

A: Licensing code uses the browsers window.location.hostname variable to check for a match with the license. If you're accessing your intranet application by IP address, you can use that. For example, if your URL looks like https://10.0.6.9/apps/employees/, then your hostname should be 10.0.6.9. If you're accessing your intranet application by machine name--for example, if your URL looks like https://appserver03/apps/employees/, contact sales to generate the key for you.

A: Application shells like Electron or Ionic often don't have a hostname, or their hostname is localhost. To create a distribution license for these types of applications, please contact sales to generate you a license key. These types of applications require a single domain (*.domain) license per application.

A: No, the license validation in SpreadJS does NOT call back to our server and does not require any internet connection. The mechanism just validates the key and domain to make sure they are valid and match.

A: SpreadJS is a developer component, not an application. It is up to the customer’s application to be compliant as the application controls all the security, etc.

A: Yes. The license will be linked to your company account with MESCIUS. If you don’t already have one, it will be created at the time of purchase. You can issue your purchased license key(s) to a third-party developer and retain all administrative control via the customer portal. If/when you need to transfer a license key to another developer, you can contact our sales team or support team to reassign the license.

A: Contact our sales team at us.sales@mescius.com and they will promptly respond with an answer.

Troubleshooting

Our licensing mechanism aims to be unobtrusive, but issues may arise for various reasons. For more information on how to activate a key or license an application, check out our licensing documentation.

If you need further assistance, submit a ticket to our support team. Contact the MESCIUS Developer Tools support team at 1-800-858-2739.