Customer data glossary
Perpetual licence (flat licence)
By Art Kukharenko · Published · Updated
Browse learn glossary resourcesA perpetual licence grants the right to use software indefinitely for a one-time fee, usually with optional annual fees for updates and support.
Part of the Learn hub and the customer data glossary.
What it means in practice
A perpetual licence gives the right to run a specific version of the software after a one-time payment. It is usually paired with an optional annual fee for updates, new versions and support. A flat licence is related but separate: a fixed fee that does not vary with profiles, events or tracked users, and which can be annual or perpetual.
These models are most common for software you run yourself. A subscription stops delivering when payments stop; a perpetual licence keeps working at the version you bought, though without updates unless you keep paying for the update entitlement. The licence fee is only part of the cost. Infrastructure or cloud, backups, security patching and the staff to run the platform are separate lines and belong in a three-year total cost of ownership comparison.
Risk sits with the licensee: you carry upgrade work and patching, and the risk that the vendor changes or disappears, which source-code escrow can partly address. The benefit is predictable cost as volumes grow, with no usage meter such as monthly tracked users or consumption credits.
PrivyCDP, the publisher of this glossary, sells a flat licence by deployment tier, annual or perpetual with an annual version extension and update entitlement. Infrastructure and DevOps are scoped separately and nothing is metered by profile or event (licensing). Other vendors structure licences differently, so compare written terms.
Example (hospital group): a health system expects patient-outreach volumes to rise with new programmes. A fixed licence keeps the software cost steady while volumes grow; the variable cost moves to the infrastructure it runs on.
Related terms
- Monthly tracked user (MTU): user-based metering.
- Consumption credits: operation-based metering.
- Self-hosted customer data platform (CDP): where licences like this are typical.
- Packaged customer data platform (CDP): the usual subscription form.
- Bring your own cloud (BYOC): runs in your account.
Where it matters
- Perpetual licence vs SaaS subscription for customer data: a CFO's comparison.
- Customer data platform pricing explained: every pricing model side by side.
Frequently asked questions
Is a perpetual licence cheaper than SaaS?
It depends on time horizon, usage growth and the cost of running the software yourself. Model three to five years, including infrastructure and staff, before comparing.
Does a perpetual licence include updates?
Usually not automatically. Updates and support typically sit in a separate annual entitlement, so check what happens to new versions and security patches if you stop paying.
Is a flat licence the same as a perpetual licence?
No. Flat describes the pricing basis (not metered by usage); perpetual describes how long the right lasts. A licence can be flat and annual, or flat and perpetual.
Back to the customer data glossary or the Learn hub.
Further reading
- Customer Data Glossary: 50 Terms
- CDP Pricing Explained
- CDP Total Cost of Ownership: 3-Year
- Perpetual Licence vs Subscription: CDP
- Learn about CDP
Published: · Updated:
Publication date recorded for the approved release. Editorial updates do not establish legal approval or a customer result.