Kentico Cost: Your Options for the Kentico DXP
Wondering how much it would cost you to have access to a fully licensed high-quality digital product like Kentico CMS?
As a Kentico Gold Partner, we are here to give you an overview of the Kentico licence cost per level and help you pick the right solution for your business.
What to know about the Kentico CMS
When you say Kentico CMS, you mean one of Kentico’s two fantastic digital products: the headless content management system Kentico Kontent or the digital experience platform (DXP) Kentico Xperience. Today, we are zeroing in on the DXP.
Kentico Xperience is a powerful licensed platform for businesses looking to keep their digital presence up to standard. It brings tons of great features, such as personalisation, automation, website health tracking options, authentication and permission options, and so on.
In other words, you can look forward to various benefits, most notably reaching more potential customers and giving them better online experiences, as well as having maximum security on your site.
What does “licensed” mean exactly?
“Licensed” may sound pretty fancy – and it is – but it’s essentially a simple concept.
When choosing a CMS for your business, you’ll usually run into two options: open source, which is free, and licensed, which is paid.
Open source
The source code of open source solutions is freely available online and there is no trusted provider to take care of the technical support, security, updates and other vital factors. This responsibility is normally on the users themselves. Plus, a lot of open source solutions also only offer a limited set of features unless you pay to acquire a full version.
Licensed CMS
Licensed solutions come from a third-party provider. The licensing structure and payment models differ, but typically you’d pay an annual or monthly subscription, or purchase a perpetual licence.
Kentico used to offer perpetual licences that were based on a one-time purchase and annual renewal fee, but recently switched to a subscription-based licensing model. All Kentico DXP users will be forced to move from the perpetual to the subscription licence by June 2024.
However, it is still possible to acquire a perpetual licence in “exceptional circumstances” and you should contact [email protected] for more information on that.
With a licensed CMS, the provider usually guarantees continuous support and maintenance, security, timely upgrades, add-ons and plug-ins, professional assistance and scalability. All of this applies to Kentico.
Ultimately, a licensed CMS is generally more reliable and even more cost-effective in the long run. You pay up front and you’re all settled, while with an open source CMS, you don’t pay right away, but might easily run into problems that will require costly additional features and/or interventions.
How much does Kentico licensing cost?
Kentico cost overview
There are three different options for the Kentico DXP licence. In the image below, you can see an overview of the Kentico licence cost.
Naturally, buyers also pay some form of tax on top of the listed prices, which varies from country to country.
Business level
The Business level mostly focuses on content management and commerce tools, but also includes web analytics and reporting, as well as specific integration options. You even get a headless API layer so you can enhance the security and content delivery even more. The full list of features the different levels have can be viewed here.
Enterprise level
The Enterprise level includes all the Business features and goes a step further as well. It significantly expands the content management, digital marketing and integration options. It also adds a number of new functionalities to the mix, such as marketing & commerce automation and customer data platform options.
Corporate level
Kentico’s ultimate licence level, Corporate, includes all the Enterprise features and offers unlimited server licences. Pricing information for this model is only available upon request.
Kentico renewal cost
All Business and Enterprise licences include a maintenance agreement which lasts for the duration of the subscription period. In this model, renewing the subscription essentially comes in the form of maintenance renewal.
If a subscription licence holder opts for renewal, they will be required to pay the annual subscription fee (presented in the previous image) on time. This means paying before the current licence expires, or during the grace period (30 days after expiration) at the latest. Failure to do so will result in the website being shut down once the grace period is over.
To renew a subscription maintenance agreement, you’d speak with a member of sales at [email protected], or you can contact your dedicated Kentico development agency.
As for perpetual licence holders, they receive a one-year maintenance agreement upon initial purchase. After this, they can choose to renew or extend it, which normally costs around 30% of the list licence fee price. This is done via the client portal or a local Territory Sales Manager. Please note that it is not obligatory to renew/extend your maintenance agreement if you have a perpetual licence, but it certainly is beneficial.
When it comes to upgrades, switching to a higher licence edition or level will get you special credit based on your initial purchase. If you’d like more detailed information about the end user licence agreement, you can visit this page.
The bottom line
Kentico’s new approach to licensing means there is a suitable licence type/level for everyone, so businesses can find what they are looking for more easily. We have outlined the Kentico licence cost and models for you to give you a rough idea of what each includes.
However, do make sure to visit the Kentico Xperience page for more details and feel free reach out to us as well. We want to make sure you are fully informed about all the features and costs before committing to a specific platform.
As a top Kentico development agency, with a Kentico Gold Partner and Kentico Xperience Quality Expert status, we are happy to answer any questions you have regarding the Kentico CMS. You can also schedule a Kentico CMS demo with us.
And even if Kentico is not your cup of tea, there’s no need to worry. We are technology-agnostic and our web development and design team is well-versed in different CMSs/DXPs. So, we can help you select the best possible platform for your business. Contact us today and we’ll go from there! Kentico Xperience Quality Expertweb development and design