Same tarball. No file is Community. A trial or paid file sets the cap.
Community is the install with no license file: 1,000 managed IPs, one node, perpetual free. No SLA. A 30-day Starter trial in the portal tests extra dhcpd and three-node VIP before you buy. When you pay, upload a paid file on that cluster — no reinstall (Pricing, homepage).
Lattice DDI is generally available. Paid Starter and above buy in the portal (card or ACH per published terms).
Meter is live addresses
Managed IPs = leased + reserved + quarantined + assigned.
Prefix size is not the meter.
A /16 with 200 live addresses is 200.
Hit the cap: existing leases keep renewing; new Offers, reservations, and assignments refuse. No phone-home (Pricing).
That is why a lab with a huge prefix and few live clients stays under Community. That is why a dense floor with thousands of leases needs Starter or above even on a “small” subnet plan.
What Community is for
One Ubuntu node. Prove a subnet. Trusted relays. One helper. Helpdesk search. Occupancy after the first Ack. Option 6 on the resolvers you already run.
If that is enough, stay on Community. Many labs and small sites should.
Community is not a crippled demo binary. It is the same software shape with a 1,000 managed-IP ceiling and a single-node limit. Use it to learn the catalog before you buy HA.
What the Starter trial is for
Same binaries as paid Starter. Three-node HA behind a VIP. Discover on one node, Ack on another, same pool — not Microsoft failover (HA).
Use the trial to prove:
- VIP reachability from relays
- Fail a node without inventing a partner relationship
- Helpdesk search still lands on the lease
- Occupancy still answers after a node returns
Paid Starter list is 5,000 managed IPs. Professional 10k. Team 25k. Above Team is a quote. Multi-year prepaid shows in the portal (Pricing).
Beta lifetime Starter (5k + 3-node HA) still applies for those who already hold it — new buyers go through the portal path above.
What “no SLA” means on Community
Community is perpetual free software with no ticket SLA. You still get the same tarball shape as paid. You do not get a promise of business-hours response.
Paid tiers: same inbox, business hours America/Chicago. No phone. No 24×7 (Pricing).
If you need a contractual response clock, that is paid — not the trial banner.
Trial discipline
Use the 30-day Starter trial to break a node on purpose. Watch relays still hit the VIP. Confirm Helpdesk Search and Occupancy still work. Do not spend the trial rebuilding IPAM philosophy. Prove HA.
When the trial ends, either upload a paid Starter (or higher) file or drop back to Community limits on that cluster per portal behavior — plan the meter before the day counts out.
Do not schedule production cutover on day 29 of the trial without a paid file ready. The point of the trial is confidence, not a cliff.
What you are not buying
Not an appliance SKU. Not a per-feature module wall. Not Microsoft failover partners renamed.
You are buying a license file that raises the managed-IP cap and unlocks multi-node dhcpd on the cluster you already run. Community proved the catalog. The trial proved the VIP. Paid keeps both without a reinstall (Pricing, HA).
If you only need one node forever under 1,000 live addresses, Community is the product — not a funnel trick.
One weekend plan that fits the product
Friday: Community on one node. One VLAN. Trusted relays. Option 6 unchanged. Prove Ack and resolution. Saturday: Portal Starter trial. Add nodes. Put helpers on the VIP. Fail a node on purpose. Sunday: Leave production on Community or upload paid Starter if the VIP test passed.
Do not combine move DHCP off DCs, replace phpIPAM, and “three-node HA” in the same weekend. The trial is for HA. Community is for the catalog. Cutover sequencing stays separate (HA, Migrate).
Soft path
- Create an account. Pull the tarball. Run Community.
- When you need a second dhcpd or a VIP, start the 30-day Starter trial in the portal.
- Keep the cluster. Upload a paid file if you stay.
No appliance. No Grid story. Software-only DDI. Fleet is a separate product (clusters, not IPs) if you outgrow one site later — each site still needs its own Lattice entitlement (Pricing).
latticeddi.com