Do universities and research institutions need a commercial license?
No: schools, universities, public research organizations, charities and government institutions use PineForge codegen and PineForge HPO (pineforge-hpo, from version 0.11.0) free for teaching, research and their other operations, but using it to manage an endowment, a pension fund or reserves is Investment Management and needs Fund, from $3,000 per year.
The LICENSE makes use by a charitable organization, educational institution, public research organization, public safety or health organization, environmental protection organization or government institution, for its teaching, research and other operations, a permitted purpose, whatever its funding. Investment Management is never a permitted purpose except as Personal Trading, even for those organizations: Fund covers their investment capital, counted where it is traded with the software.
Plans and prices that apply
| Plan | Band | Price per year | How to buy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fund | AUM up to $5M | $3,000 | Buy |
| Fund | AUM over $5M up to $25M | $6,000 | Buy |
| Fund | AUM over $25M up to $100M | $13,500 | Contact us to buy |
| Fund | AUM over $100M up to $500M | $33,000 | Contact us to 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: AUM above $500M.
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
Noncommercial organizations. Use by any charitable organization, educational institution, public research organization, public safety or health organization, environmental protection organization, or government institution for its teaching, research and other operations, regardless of the source of funding or obligations resulting from the funding.
Investment Management, defined in the Commercial Use section, is never a permitted purpose, except as Personal Trading. That is so even when it is done by a noncommercial organization or for a noncommercial purpose.
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?Yes
- Will the organization use the software for Investment Management: to manage, advise on or trade investment capital, such as an endowment, a pension or retirement fund, a sovereign or other public fund, or its treasury or reserves; to research, develop or backtest strategies for such capital; or to run the software for others who do?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
Result: No commercial license needed: a noncommercial organization
- 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?Yes
- Will the organization use the software for Investment Management: to manage, advise on or trade investment capital, such as an endowment, a pension or retirement fund, a sovereign or other public fund, or its treasury or reserves; to research, develop or backtest strategies for such capital; or to run the software for others who do?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: Fund
Next steps
For software agents: /api/plans lists every plan, band and price as JSON, and /openapi.json describes the API.