# Basic vs Open Source

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/basic-vs-open-source/148376>\
**Category:** APM\
**Created:** [September 12, 2018, 8:06pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/basic-vs-open-source/148376 "2018-09-12T20:06:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Steve\_Westergaard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@Steve\_Westergaard](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Steve_Westergaard)\
**Post date:** [September 12, 2018, 8:06pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/basic-vs-open-source/148376/1 "2018-09-12T20:06:38Z")

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Can someone tell me what the difference between Basic vs Open Source licenses are, or is there a link describing the difference?

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**Author:** ![warkolm](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/warkolm/32/39224_2.png) [@warkolm](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/warkolm)\
**Post date:** [September 12, 2018, 8:24pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/basic-vs-open-source/148376/2 "2018-09-12T20:24:18Z")

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You can see the breakdown here - [https://www.elastic.co/subscriptions](https://www.elastic.co/subscriptions)

The main difference is that the UI in the Basic license, which is free mind you, is likely going to be more valuable. Note, there's quite a lot of things in a Basic license beyond APM, we'd highly recommend using it 🙂

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**Author:** ![Steve\_Westergaard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@Steve\_Westergaard](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Steve_Westergaard)\
**Post date:** [September 12, 2018, 8:27pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/basic-vs-open-source/148376/3 "2018-09-12T20:27:49Z")

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@warkolm I see the differences in features, but they both point to the same download. I guess my question is how do I determine if I'm running basic vs open source, what flips the subscription from one to the other? Is there a cost when I use basic? Are there certain license stipulations regarding basic?

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**Author:** ![warkolm](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/warkolm/32/39224_2.png) [@warkolm](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/warkolm)\
**Post date:** [September 12, 2018, 8:29pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/basic-vs-open-source/148376/4 "2018-09-12T20:29:38Z")

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The default distribution includes the Basic features, that can be upgraded.

If you want only the open source, then you will need to grab an `-oss` labelled package.

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**Author:** ![felixbarny](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/felixbarny/32/27341_2.png) [@felixbarny](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/felixbarny)\
**Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 7:05am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/basic-vs-open-source/148376/5 "2018-09-13T07:05:40Z")

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> [@Steve\_Westergaard](#):
>
> Is there a cost when I use basic?

Basic is completely free to use!

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**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\
**Post date:** [October 4, 2018, 3:05am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/basic-vs-open-source/148376/6 "2018-10-04T03:05:40Z")

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