chmonitorCommercial license
Optional host-based yearly or lifetime licenses for teams that self-host chmonitor. Honor system — set CHM_LICENSE_KEY to your Polar checkout id.
chmonitor is GPL-3.0. You can self-host every feature, unlimited hosts, with no payment and no key.
A commercial license is optional. Buy it if you need an invoice, a named vendor, email support, or a public listing. The app does not unlock features from a key and does not fail closed if the key is missing or invalid.
After you buy, set CHM_LICENSE_KEY on the dashboard process to the Polar checkout id from the receipt (the same id lookup already accepts). When product telemetry is on, the daily instance ping includes that id so licensed installs can be counted. Opt out of telemetry and nothing is sent.
Who this is for
Teams that already run [REDACTED] (and already have people to operate infra) should not buy hosted cloud seats. Run chmonitor next to the cluster and, if procurement requires it, buy a license sized by host count.
SKUs
Prices are USD. Personal is free self-host. Team and Unlimited are paid, yearly or lifetime.
| License | Hosts | Yearly | Lifetime |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal Self Hosted | unlimited | $0 | $0 |
| Team | 3 | $499 | $1,349 |
| Unlimited | unlimited | $999 | $2,999 |
A host is one monitored connection (one [REDACTED] endpoint, or one Postgres source). Replicas in the same shard are not counted.
Source of truth: @chm/pricing (packages/pricing/src/licenses.ts) and chmonitor.dev/license.
CHM_LICENSE_KEY
There is no dedicated key format and cloud-hooks does not mint one. The purchase identifier is the Polar checkout id (UUID) on the Polar receipt — the same value you enter on Look up an order.
CHM_LICENSE_KEY=a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890Set it on the dashboard process (Docker -e, Compose environment, Helm extraEnv, or a self-built Worker var). Restart the process after changing it.
| What it does | What it does not do |
|---|---|
| Included on the daily telemetry instance ping when telemetry is on | Unlock pages or edition features |
| Lets us count licensed self-host installs | Fail startup if missing or invalid |
| Same id lookup already uses | Appear as a Settings field |
Telemetry off (CHM_TELEMETRY=off / DO_NOT_TRACK=1 / empty endpoint) still sends nothing, including the key.
How purchase actually works
Buy on pricing
Open pricing and click Buy Team or Buy Unlimited. That opens the company form first (name, website, billing email). We save that, then send you to Polar with the same customer email so Polar has your details on the payment.
Polar takes payment
Polar collects payment (card). Polar — not chmonitor — sends the
receipt email. We do not send a separate license-key email; the
checkout id on that Polar receipt is CHM_LICENSE_KEY.
Register the company
Polar returns you to
register with a
checkout_id. Enter company name, website, and billing email.
Optionally opt in to the customers
page (off by default).
Set the env var
Set CHM_LICENSE_KEY on the dashboard to that checkout id.
PO / Net-30 instead of card?
Email hello@chmonitor.dev — we invoice; Polar is skipped.
You may also start on /license/register before paying: fill the
company form and click Pay — we pass email (and company as metadata) into
Polar so the receipt is addressed to you.
How to “validate” a purchase
| What you have | What to do |
|---|---|
| Polar receipt email | Keep it. Polar is the payment record. The checkout id on it is CHM_LICENSE_KEY. |
| Checkout / order id | Set CHM_LICENSE_KEY, and/or look up |
| Billing email used at Polar | Same lookup page (lookup only — do not put an email in CHM_LICENSE_KEY) |
| Settings → license field | Does not exist. Do not add one. |
If lookup misses, email hello@chmonitor.dev with the Polar receipt. We do not automatically email a “you are licensed” message after register.
Who sends email?
Polar
Payment receipt / invoice PDF (their branding).
hello@chmonitor.dev
Only if you wrote us (PO, lookup miss, support). Register does not trigger a mail from us.
How to buy (short)
Honor system
Do not gate OSS features on a license. Missing CHM_LICENSE_KEY is a
normal community install.
Register
Land on register → company + website.
Set the key
Set CHM_LICENSE_KEY to the Polar checkout id from the receipt.
What you get
Invoice / agreement
Commercial agreement and invoice (PO and Net-30 on request).
Priority email
Support for the paid term (lifetime includes year-1 support).
Optional listing
Customers page, off by default.
Funds OSS
Development of the OSS dashboard. No extra dashboard features versus community today.
You do not get extra dashboard features versus the community build today. Planned Team/Enterprise edition features (SSO, RBAC, fleet) stay on the editions roadmap and will be included for licensed customers when they ship.
Hosted cloud
dash.chmonitor.dev remains a convenience product if you do not want to run the app. See Cloud sign-up. For operators who already self-host [REDACTED], prefer this license instead.