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Paid plans start at $87.08/mo. There's also a free plan.
Portainer Business starts with Home & Student, a free option for non-commercial use covering three nodes. A 45-day free trial is also available. Paid plans charge per license per month and are billed annually: Starter is $87.08 and Scale is $174.58. The plans set node ranges and per-node vCPU ceilings, while Enterprise uses custom pricing. Monthly billing prices are not published, so confirm the annual commitment and license fit before rollout.
01Every plan, line by line
| Plan | Billed annually | Billed monthly | Built for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home & Student | — | Quote | Homelabs, personal use, and learning |
| Starter | $87.08 | — | Small teams starting with container management |
| Scale | $174.58 | — | Growing teams needing more nodes and support |
| Enterprise | — | Quote | Business-critical deployments |
Add-ons and overages
- Enterprise 24/7 support option
- Managed Platform Services option
- Engineer-as-a-Service and professional services; prices not published
02What the plan grid doesn't tell you
Node and vCPU ceilings
Starter covers 5, 10 or 15 nodes at up to 16 vCPUs per node; Scale covers 5 to 25 nodes at up to 24 vCPUs. Confirm your fleet fits before choosing.
Annual billing
Starter and Scale are billed annually. Monthly billing prices are not published, so ask Portainer about payment terms before budgeting.
Enterprise support
Enterprise pricing is custom. A 24/7 support option, Managed Platform Services and Engineer-as-a-Service or professional services may add cost.
Server operations
Portainer's GitOps engine runs on its server. If your team operates that server, include its hosting and maintenance in your deployment budget.
03Which plan should you buy?
| If you are… | Get | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Homelab or learning | Home & Student | Free for non-commercial use and limited to three nodes. |
| Small container team | Starter | Annual per-license pricing covers 5, 10 or 15 nodes and up to 16 vCPUs per node. |
| Growing production team | Scale | Covers 5 to 25 nodes, up to 24 vCPUs per node, with 9x5 next-business-day support. |
04Is Portainer Business worth the money?
Portainer Business is worth paying for when a team needs centralized governance across clusters or container runtimes, plus controls such as RBAC, identity integration, audit logging and support. Home & Student is enough for non-commercial use within three nodes, and teams that do not need the Business Edition controls may find Community Edition sufficient. Starter and Scale require annual billing; teams with larger fleets or support requirements should ask Portainer for an Enterprise quote and confirm any add-on costs.
Portainer Business pricing FAQ
Is Portainer Business still free?
Home & Student is a free option for non-commercial use and covers three nodes. Portainer also offers a 45-day free trial. Paid Starter and Scale plans are billed annually, while Enterprise pricing is custom.
How much does Portainer Business Starter cost?
Starter costs $87.08 per license per month when billed annually. It covers 5, 10 or 15 nodes, with up to 16 vCPUs per node. The vendor does not publish a monthly billing price.
What does Portainer Business Scale cost?
Scale costs $174.58 per license per month when billed annually. It covers 5 to 25 nodes, with up to 24 vCPUs per node, and includes 9x5 next-business-day support and vendor onboarding.
Are Portainer Business add-ons included in the plan price?
The listed options include Enterprise 24/7 support, Managed Platform Services, Engineer-as-a-Service and professional services. Prices for those options are not published. Ask Portainer for a quote that includes the support or services your deployment needs.