)
With the release of Pimcore 2025.1, the platform is moving away from the GNU General Public License version 3 (GPLv3) and introducing the Pimcore Open Core License (POCL). For Pimcore customers, this is more than just a legal detail; it determines whether Pimcore can continue to be used free of charge and when costs will be incurred. It also determines whether security updates will continue to be delivered. Companies with annual revenues exceeding €5 million must obtain a commercial licence; otherwise, they risk licence violations and security breaches. The previously free 'Classic Admin UI' will incur a one-time fee of €1,480 in future, while the modern, React-based 'Pimcore Studio UI' will only be included in paid editions.
What do Pimcore customers need to do now?
It is clearly defined who needs to take action before Pimcore 2025.1 goes live. From this point onwards, no patches will be provided for any versions up to and including 2024.4, the new revenue limit of €5 million will come into effect, additional ExtJS licence terms will apply to Classic UI users, and the previously permitted combination of GPL bundles and the new POCL licence will be prohibited. These changes will particularly affect so-called hidden champions who are still working on the Community Edition, SaaS providers who offer Pimcore as a service to their customers, and teams who have developed their own bundles under GPLv3. If you fall into one of these categories, you should clarify your licence situation by the third quarter of 2025 at the latest, in order to avoid any unexpected risks to your budget or roadmap.
Our approach to Pimcore licence changes:
TOWA ensures a smooth transition to modern platform solutions with its proven 5-phase model. This approach is based on dozens of successfully implemented production projects.
Phase 1 involves conducting a status and licence audit. This includes a code scan, a revenue review and a legal assessment. Phase 2 involves aligning the business goals with the features of the Professional or Enterprise Edition, and creating a roadmap. This is followed by Phase 3, which involves a technical fit-gap analysis. This includes an analysis of Classic UI versus Studio, the replacement of ExtJS and an evaluation of DevOps maturity.
Phase 4 focuses on migration and refactoring. Here, automated data transfers, bundle rewrites and quality assurance are implemented. Finally, phase 5 involves going live and continuous operations: This includes 24/7 monitoring, support backed by SLAs, and enablement training.
💭 FAQs about Pimcore license changes
Frequently asked questions about switching from Community Edition to POCL from Pimcore.
Why is Pimcore switching from GPLv3 to POCL?
GPLv3 formed the basis of the open Pimcore core for 15 years, but it increasingly became an obstacle for larger companies. This is because even a small line of code from the core could 'infect' proprietary modules in terms of licensing, requiring time-consuming legal approvals. Additionally, current compliance standards such as NIS2, ISO 27001:2022 and the EU Cyber Resilience Act require an exact software bill of materials (BOM), the creation of which is significantly more complex with a GPL mix.
Pimcore is also changing its strategy: The new Vue-based admin UI is a significant investment, and it is essential to protect it from unwanted forks. Many enterprise partners also report that GPLv3 regularly causes problems during security scans.
With the new Pimcore Open Core License (POCL), however, the source code remains openly accessible, pull requests are welcome, and the clear proprietary licence ensures that copyleft is eliminated, closed-source integrations become easier, and the new admin UI can be used specifically as a freemium lever.
Will the licence change affect me as a Professional, Enterprise or PaaS customer?
If you already use the Professional, Enterprise or PaaS editions of Pimcore, the licence change to POCL will not affect you. Your existing subscription or perpetual contracts remain valid, including the previous product names and the existing proprietary Pimcore Commercial Licence in your contract.
When you upgrade to version 2025.1, you will automatically receive POCL-compatible core code and the new Vue-based admin UI, and you will not need to relicense your application.
The switch is also straightforward from a technical standpoint. The CI/CD templates will be updated so that old GPLv3 tags no longer appear during container scans. A simple Composer v2 check to pin dependencies is sufficient to ensure compatibility.
If you are using community bundles, please check whether they are still compatible. Maintainers may need to dual licence them, or alternatives may be required – see answer 4 for more information.
Do I have to rewrite my code?
As a general rule, you do not need to rewrite your existing code or modules, provided certain requirements are met. It is important that you either own the copyright to the code yourself or have documented contributor agreements with your developers. You should also ensure that no third-party libraries with a GPLv3 licence are hard-linked, particularly in older admin UI extensions, as these often used GPL-licensed Vue or Ext JS snippets in the past.
Also, adjust the Composer header. Replace 'License: GPL-3.0-only with License: POCL-1.0 or Proprietary. Update the NOTICE file and store the POCL terms of use in the project.
Refactoring is only necessary when switching to the new Vue-based admin UI. Any functions that were previously located in ExtJS controllers must be moved to Vue components or REST endpoints. Pimcore provides a plugin SDK with a migration CLI for this purpose, which automatically converts around 70% of the boilerplate code.
Can I continue to use old GPLv3 bundles?
Yes, as long as you are running a Pimcore instance with version 2024.4 or older, you can continue to use old GPLv3 bundles. No changes are necessary for these legacy systems.
However, if you have a mixed system landscape, i.e. a combination of legacy and POCL instances running in parallel via Kubernetes namespaces, for example, you should configure your CI/CD jobs accordingly. Clear image tags such as 'pimcore-legacy' and 'pimcore-pocl' can help with this.
Maintainers will receive a migration guide for community bundles after version 2025.1. They can then republish their bundles as either dual-licensed (GPLv3 + POCL) or purely proprietary.
Non-migrated bundles will be listed on Packagist in the 'Community Bundles (Legacy)' channel and will be technically frozen to ≤2024.4 by a Composer constraint. These can only be used if your entire PHP stack is based on the legacy core – mixing is not allowed.
Which edition should I choose after switching?
Pimcore offers four editions, each tailored to different company sizes and requirements. The free Community Edition (POCL) is ideal for MVPs, NGOs, and start-ups with an annual revenue of less than €5 million. It includes the complete core, the new admin UI and security fixes, and support is provided via the community forum.
The Professional Edition is designed for SMEs that rely on SLAs and access to the Marketplace. Priced from $8,400 per year, it offers 36 months of long-term support (LTS) and 8/5 SLA support.
The Enterprise Edition is designed for companies with complex requirements, such as those involving multichannel, data hubs, or personalisation. Starting at $25,200 (£19,400) per year, you get access to powerful modules such as the Product Experience Portal, as well as 24/7 support.
The Enterprise PaaS Edition is ideal for organisations that want to run Pimcore entirely as a cloud solution. It offers a managed setup with Kubernetes clusters, GitOps pipelines, and full operational support, starting at $34,200 per year.
Self-hosted or Platform as a Service (PaaS)? The better choice for modern businesses.
Companies using Pimcore have two main options: a self-hosted on-premises installation or a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) solution in the cloud.
Self-hosting offers maximum control, but requires ongoing maintenance, including updates, patches, hardware procurement and scaling decisions, which are all the responsibility of the internal team. This increases the risk of downtime, ties up DevOps resources and incurs variable costs for servers, licences and energy. Contingency plans, backups, and global availability zones must be set up, tested, and financed independently.
Monitoring tools, CDN connections, and performance tuning are additional in-house tasks. Pimcore PaaS shifts these responsibilities to the provider. The entire web stack is rolled out via a Git push, and updates and security patches are applied automatically in the background. Continuous monitoring is carried out in accordance with SOC2 and GDPR standards. Thanks to elastic cloud infrastructure, the platform can scale to peak loads within minutes, eliminating the need to purchase new hardware. Predictable subscription fees cover infrastructure, 24/7 support, disaster recovery and integrated CDN and caching services, thereby reducing the total cost of ownership.
In short, self-hosting is suitable for organisations with strict on-site requirements or special integration logic, who can maintain internal expertise and budget for operations. However, for the majority, PaaS offers the clear advantage of minimising operational complexity, security risks and costs, allowing teams to focus on innovation rather than infrastructure. PaaS also shortens release cycles and significantly improves time-to-market for new features.
We support you