Does a company need a commercial license to use PineForge codegen and PineForge HPO (pineforge-hpo, from version 0.11.0) internally?
Yes: use by, for, or on behalf of a company is Commercial Use under the LICENSE unless it is a permitted purpose, so a company using PineForge codegen and PineForge HPO (pineforge-hpo, from version 0.11.0) internally needs Team: $3,000 per year for own trading capital up to $10M and $6,000 per year for own trading capital over $10M up to $50M; a company that manages others' capital needs Fund.
Team covers internal research, backtesting and trading of the organization's own capital, by any number of its people. The band is its own trading capital: the net liquidation value of the own capital it trades with the software, on the average of its last 3 month-end values; a company that does not trade (research, CI or internal tools) is in the first band. Above $50M, Team is priced as the Fund band for that amount. One person using it for a company they wholly own, alone or with their household, holding only their household's capital, where no one but them uses the software and no one outside their household works on its trading or research, takes Solo instead.
Plans and prices that apply
| Plan | Band | Price per year | How to buy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Team | own trading capital up to $10M | $3,000 | Buy |
| Team | own trading capital over $10M up to $50M | $6,000 | Buy |
Prices in US dollars, plus tax where it applies, for 12 months. Self-serve plans renew automatically each year unless you cancel; plans bought by quote, invoice or purchase order, and the pilot, do not renew automatically.
- Above this: own trading capital above $50M is priced as the Fund band for that amount.
Which number you state
- Owners of capital state only their own trading capital: the net liquidation value of the accounts traded with the software (the sleeve), on the same 3-month-end average; borrowing adds nothing. Own capital is what the licensee and its wholly owned subsidiaries own with no outside investor, client or beneficiary: a fund, pooled vehicle, managed account or other entity with outside holders holds others' capital, counted as AUM (Fund), even when the licensee controls it. An endowment, a public pension or public fund and a foundation's treasury count their own investment capital the same way: they pay on that sleeve, not on the whole fund.
- Exchange-rate moves count as market movement. You state the number at checkout, with how it was measured and as of which date.
What the LICENSE says
From the LICENSE: PineForge Source License 1.2
Unless it is a permitted purpose, each of the following is also Commercial Use:
(2) use by, for, or on behalf of any company, fund, partnership, or other organization, including use by an individual in the course of work for such an organization;
Commercial Use requires a separate commercial license from the licensor.
The guide's answers for this case
The decision guide on the home page asks these questions. These answers lead to the result shown, as the guide and POST /api/recommend give it.
- Will you manage, advise on, or trade capital that belongs to any other person or entity outside your household, whether or not for a fee?No
- Will you use it by, for, or on behalf of a company, fund, partnership, or other organization, including your own company or your work for one?Yes
- Is the organization a charitable organization, educational institution, public research organization, public safety or health organization, environmental protection organization, or government institution?No
- Is the organization one you wholly own, alone or with your household, holding only your household's capital, where no one but you uses the software and no one outside your household works on its trading or research?No
- Will you embed the software or its Output into a product or service made available to others, distribute either bundled with such a product or service, or use the software to generate Output for one?No
- Will you operate a hosted, software-as-a-service, or otherwise public-facing service through which others can run the software or receive its Output?No
- Is all of your use of the software for a noncommercial purpose, without any anticipated commercial application, such as a free hobby project, teaching, or research for the benefit of public knowledge?No
Result: You need a commercial license: Team
- Will you manage, advise on, or trade capital that belongs to any other person or entity outside your household, whether or not for a fee?No
- Will you use it by, for, or on behalf of a company, fund, partnership, or other organization, including your own company or your work for one?Yes
- Is the organization a charitable organization, educational institution, public research organization, public safety or health organization, environmental protection organization, or government institution?No
- Is the organization one you wholly own, alone or with your household, holding only your household's capital, where no one but you uses the software and no one outside your household works on its trading or research?Yes
- Will you embed the software or its Output into a product or service made available to others, distribute either bundled with such a product or service, or use the software to generate Output for one?No
- Will you operate a hosted, software-as-a-service, or otherwise public-facing service through which others can run the software or receive its Output?No
Result: You need a commercial license: Solo
Next steps
For software agents: /api/plans lists every plan, band and price as JSON, and /openapi.json describes the API.