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AWS License Manager
What it is
AWS License Manager is a web and API service for managing software licenses across AWS accounts and Regions. It provides visibility and reporting for license compliance, and administrators can set hard or soft limits on license consumption. It tracks licenses measured by virtual cores, physical cores, sockets, or machine count. AWS Systems Manager can discover applications on servers outside AWS and track them alongside AWS resources. Listed integrations include Amazon EC2, Amazon RDS, AWS Marketplace, AWS Systems Manager, AWS Organizations, AWS Data Exchange, IAM, Service Quotas, CloudFormation, resource tagging, and AWS X-Ray. Software vendors can use managed entitlements to create, distribute, and track end-user licenses under perpetual, floating, subscription, or usage-based models. AWS describes security as a shared responsibility, with customer responsibilities depending on services and data. The service has no additional charge; AWS resources used with it are billed separately. AWS documentation gives an example quota of 25 self-managed licenses total in a Region and up to 10 per resource.
For and against
For
- Tracks licenses by cores, sockets, or machine count
- Supports hard or soft consumption limits
- Can discover applications outside AWS with Systems Manager
- No additional charge for License Manager
Against
- AWS resources used with it are billed separately
- Example quota is 25 self-managed licenses per Region
- Customer security responsibilities depend on services and data
The verdict
AWS License Manager brings license tracking, limits, and reporting to AWS and mixed environments. The service itself has no additional charge, but AWS resources used with it are billed separately.
Who it suits
AWS License Manager suits enterprises managing licenses across AWS and on-premises infrastructure. Software vendors can also use its managed entitlements to distribute and track licenses.
Plans and prices
AWS License Manager
No minimum fees · No upfront commitments · Free-tier instances may be free
Read 15 Oct 2026 · aws.amazon.com
On the record
- API and SDKs
- AWS publishes an API reference, CLI reference and SDK links for License Manager, including Linux-subscription and user-subscription APIs.docs.aws.amazon.com · read 15 Oct 2026
- Automated discovery
- AWS Systems Manager can discover software on EC2 instances, while AWS Organizations supports multi-account discovery and control.aws.amazon.com · read 15 Oct 2026
- Company facts
- LinkedIn lists AWS headquarters in Seattle, company size above 10,001 employees and founding year 2006.am.linkedin.com · read 15 Oct 2026
- Company legal name
- Crunchbase lists the maker as Amazon Web Services, Inc., a subsidiary of Amazon.crunchbase.com · read 15 Oct 2026
- Company ownership and funding
- Crunchbase lists Amazon Web Services as a sub-organization of Amazon and shows one funding round classified as a grant, with the amount obfuscated.crunchbase.com · read 15 Oct 2026
- Data encryption
- License Manager stores data in an S3 bucket in the management account configured with Amazon S3 managed encryption keys (SSE-S3).docs.aws.amazon.com · read 7 Oct 2026
- Dedicated Hosts
- Host resource groups automate Dedicated Host allocation, release and capacity management for licensing scenarios requiring dedicated hardware.aws.amazon.com · read 15 Oct 2026
- Documentation depth
- Documentation includes a user guide, API references, CLI references, security guidance, quotas, endpoints and release history.docs.aws.amazon.com · read 15 Oct 2026
- EC2 lifecycle tracking
- Rules attach to EC2 launches through the console, CLI or API, and usage is tracked through the instance lifecycle with licenses released when instances stop.aws.amazon.com · read 15 Oct 2026
- Encryption at rest
- License Manager stores data in an S3 bucket in the management account using S3-managed SSE-S3 keys.docs.aws.amazon.com · read 15 Oct 2026
- Hard and soft limits
- Administrators can configure hard limits that block non-compliant launches or soft limits that allow launches while sending alerts.aws.amazon.com · read 15 Oct 2026
- Integrations
- Documented integrations include Amazon EC2, Amazon RDS, AWS Marketplace, AWS Systems Manager, AWS Organizations, IAM, Service Catalog, CloudFormation, Service Quotas, resource tagging, X-Ray and Data Exchange.docs.aws.amazon.com · read 15 Oct 2026
- Intended users
- AWS describes License Manager use for enterprises managing licenses across mixed AWS and on-premises infrastructure, and for software vendors distributing licenses to customers.docs.aws.amazon.com · read 7 Oct 2026
- License controls
- Administrators can set hard or soft limits on license consumption to help prevent non-compliant usage.docs.aws.amazon.com · read 7 Oct 2026
- License metrics
- License Manager can track licenses measured by virtual cores, physical cores, sockets or machine count.docs.aws.amazon.com · read 15 Oct 2026
- License models
- Managed entitlements support perpetual, floating, subscription, usage-based and node-locked licensing patterns.docs.aws.amazon.com · read 15 Oct 2026
- License switching
- Windows Server and SQL Server EC2 workloads can switch between AWS-provided licensing and BYOL without redeploying the workload.aws.amazon.com · read 15 Oct 2026
- License types
- The service supports tracking software licensed by virtual cores, physical cores, sockets, or number of machines.docs.aws.amazon.com · read 7 Oct 2026
