Licensing Options - Products and Services

National Instruments provides different licensing options to meet your needs from application development to system deployment. National Instruments offers named-user licenses for development purposes, and computer-based licenses for debug and deployment purposes. Understanding these options will help you efficiently manage your software assets and get the most out of your investment.

Development License

Development Licenses are used for creating new applications and programs. National Instruments development licenses follow a named-user or computer-based licensing policy. A named-user license is tied to an individual user who can install the software on up to 3 business computers at any given time, in addition to a single home computer. The software may only be executing on one computer at a time. A computer-based license is tied to a single computer, with single or multiple users, and a single home computer. Software may be transferred between computers by first uninstalling it from the original computer.

Development License Options
	Usage Policy¹	Tracking Mechanism
Named-User License	License tied to a single user Permitted to install the software on 3 business computers at any given time May additionally install the software on one home computer May only have the software executing on one computer at a time	Product Activation via NI License Manager and the Activation Wizard
Computer-Based License	License tied to a single computer Number of users on computer is not limited May additionally install the software on one home computer	Product Activation via NI License Manager and the Activation Wizard
Named-User and Computer-Based Volume License	License purchased through the Volume License Program (VLP) Requires a minimum of 5 licenses and yearly software maintenance Each license follows the same usage rules as single named-user and computer based licenses	Central License Management through NI Volume License Manager (NI VLM) or FLEXlm Server
Concurrent Volume License	License purchased through the Volume License Program (VLP) Requires a minimum of 5 licenses and yearly software maintenance Used as managed (licenses are restricted) or unmanaged (no restrictions) and named-user or computer based Contact NI for more information	Central License Management through NI Volume License Manager (NI VLM) or FLEXlm Server

¹For additional information on software usage policies, see the NI Software License Agreement.

Debug License

A debug license for a particular software product provides the permission to install that software on one computer. You may use the software only for debugging an existing application created with a purchased development license. You typically use debug licenses when an application is deployed, and you may need to make minor changes to the code periodically.

Debug licenses are available for LabVIEW, LabVIEW modules, LabWindows/CVI, and NI TestStand. The LabVIEW and LabWindows/CVI debug licenses also include permission to install any relevant add-on toolkits needed for debugging. The NI TestStand Debug License includes debugging permission for LabVIEW, LabWindows/CVI, and relevant toolkits.

Deployment License

A deployment license is required for distributing applications that use specific software products. You must purchase one deployment license for each target computer on which the application is distributed.

The following products require a deployment license: NI TestStand, IMAQ Vision, NI Switch Executive, LabVIEW Real-Time Module, LabVIEW Datalogging and Supervisory Control Module, Lookout, LabVIEW Sound and Vibration Toolkit, LabVIEW Order Analysis Toolkit, DIAdem, ECU Measurement and Calibration Toolkit, LabVIEW PDA Module, and NI SoftMotion Development Module for LabVIEW.

Note: The supported products list may not be exhaustive. Consult the product documentation for complete information on available licenses.