Understanding Knox licenses

A Knox license grants access to Knox services. The license you need depends on the Knox services you want to use and the number of devices you want to manage.

This section explains Knox licensing options, license type, what they provide, and how they are used.

What’s included in a Knox license

Each Knox license includes these essential elements:

• Validity period: the time period within which the license can be used

• License key: a unique alphanumeric identifier of the license

• License seats: the number of devices supported by the license. Each device consumes 1 license seat when you enroll it into Knox service. You can purchase additional license seats when needed.

  For example, a free Knox Suite - Enterprise Plan trial license is valid for 3 months and supports up to 30 devices. If you activate 5 devices in Knox E-FOTA, you have 25 license seats remaining. If you then activate a different set of 5 devices in Knox Mobile Enrollment with advanced settings, you have used 10 seats in total and have 20 seats remaining.

Knox licensing options

When you are ready to purchase a commercial Knox license, choose a Knox Suite Plan if you need multiple Knox services or a standalone license if you need an individual service:

• Knox Suite Plans combine a defined set of Knox services under one license. Choose a plan based on the capabilities your business needs.

  • Knox Suite – Base Plan provides foundational device enrollment and security capabilities needed for device management.

  • Knox Suite – Essentials Plan provides core device management, remote support, and security capabilities for small to medium businesses.

  • Knox Suite – Enterprise Plan provides advanced end-to-end device management and security capabilities for enterprises, including firmware updates, device and app usage analytics, and features for frontline workers.

• Standalone licenses provide access to just one service. You can select a standalone license for just the service that you wish to use, such as standalone licenses for Knox Manage or Knox E-FOTA.

License types

Knox licenses can be trial, commercial. Some commercial licenses have separate activation and service periods; these are called staggered licenses.

Trial licenses

Trial licenses let you evaluate Knox capabilities before purchasing a commercial license.

The Knox Suite – Enterprise Plan trial license supports up to 30 devices for 3 months. For included services and other available trial licenses, see Knox Suite Plans and other licenses.

• Knox Suite - Enterprise Plan trial license: You can generate trial licenses from the Knox Admin Portal. It includes:

  • Knox Mobile Enrollment (Advanced settings)
  • Knox Manage
  • Knox E-FOTA
  • Knox Asset Intelligence
  • Knox Remote Support
  • Knox Capture
  • Knox Authentication Manager

• Knox Guard: You can generate a trial license from the Knox Guard console.

• Knox Configure: You can generate a trial license from the Knox Admin Portal.

After the trial ends, your devices and data remain in your account. You can continue using Knox Suite by purchasing a Knox commercial license from your local reseller and replacing your trial license.

Commercial licenses

Commercial Knox licenses enable the use of Knox services across your entire device fleet and are obtained through your local Knox reseller. If you don’t have a reseller, see the Knox reseller directory to find one near you.

When you purchase a license from a reseller:

• You can specify the number of license seats you need, which corresponds to the number of devices you want to activate concurrently.
• The reseller gives a license key, which you must enter in the Knox Admin Portal to activate the license.

Once a license is assigned to a device, the service you’re enrolling in consumes a license seat. For example, if your reseller provided you with a 200-seat Knox Configure license, you can enroll a maximum of 200 devices in Knox Configure.

To add more seats to your license or renew an existing license, contact your Knox reseller.

Staggered licenses

Commercial licenses have an expiry date, after which they can no longer be used with Knox services. Some commercial licenses are staggered licenses, which allow enrolled devices to continue using the service until the service period ends.

Knox Configure, Knox Guard, and Samsung Care+ for Business offer staggered licenses. These licenses have two periods:

• Activation period: The timeframe during which devices can be enrolled.
• Service period: The duration for which enrolled devices can use the service.

The service period starts when a device is enrolled and typically remains active after the activation period ends and the license expires. Additionally, the activation period and service period can differ by service.

If you purchase additional seats on the license before the activation period ends, you can continue to enroll devices for up to a year past the new purchase date. For example, let’s say you purchased 100 seats on a license in January 2025, you can enroll 100 devices until January 2026. If you purchase an extra 100 seats in August 2025, you’re now able to enroll all 200 devices with that license until August 2026.

Registration models

Knox licenses can also be classified by how they are registered and used:

• Server-based licenses: Cloud or on-premises licenses registered on the Knox Admin Portal for cloud services, or in the relevant service console for on-premises services.

• Device-based licenses: Licenses used to enroll devices in bulk using an EMM or individually by entering the license key on a device. For example, Knox Capture allows you to enroll individual devices by entering a license key directly in the app on a device.