MooseFS ships in two editions that share the same core code — so the file system semantics, the on-disk format, and the operational model are identical. The Community edition is open source under GPLv2 and free forever: ideal for development, evaluation, and smaller deployments. The Pro edition adds the features production teams ask for — automatic master failover, multi-location clusters, stronger erasure coding, and 24/7 support from the engineers who write the code.
You can migrate between editions at any time; no re-platforming and no data conversion. Pick the right fit below.
An open-source distribution under GPLv2 and a natural continuation of earlier MooseFS releases. Full POSIX file system, parallel I/O, replication and single-parity erasure coding, with a single active Master Server backed by Metaloggers — everything you need to stand up a fault-tolerant cluster on commodity hardware. Free forever, with community-driven discussion and documentation.
The full Pro feature set — automatic failover, multi-location clusters, advanced erasure coding, and the Windows client — for individual developers, researchers, and home-lab use. Free up to 20 TiB of used raw space under a non-commercial license; 9 € per TiB beyond that.
A commercial edition for environments that cannot pause: redundant Master Servers with automatic failover, multi-location deployment, advanced redundancy with up to 9 parity sums, and a native Windows client. Pro ships with 24/7 support direct from the developers — dedicated advisors, remote and on-site assistance, proactive monitoring, and dedicated software releases.
Hover the markers for a short explanation of each capability. The table scrolls with the page on desktop; on phones it switches to a stacked view.
| Community |
|
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|---|---|---|---|---|
Open source |
Personal |
Enterprise |
||
| POSIX File System | ?Mount the cluster as a native POSIX-compliant filesystem from any Linux, macOS or FreeBSD host. | ● | ● | |
| Block Device | ?Use a file stored in MooseFS as a block device on Linux, for software that expects a raw disk, such as virtual machines or databases. | ● | ● | |
| Snapshots | ?Snapshot a file or a whole directory tree in one atomic operation. Only metadata is copied, so a snapshot takes no extra space until either side is written to. | ● | ● | |
| Trash Bin | ?Deleted files wait in the trash for a retention time you set per file or directory, then are removed for good. Until then an administrator can restore them under their original path. | ● | ● | |
| Quotas | ?Soft and hard limits on space and on the number of objects, set per directory and covering everything under it. A user or a project gets a quota by getting a directory. | ● | ● | |
| Storage Classes | ?Define how a file is stored: how many copies or which Erasure Coding scheme, and on which servers (for example two copies on SSD and one on HDD). Apply a class per file or directory. In PRO a class can also say what each location keeps. | ● | ● | |
| Rolling Upgrade | ?Upgrade the cluster without taking it down: data stays available and clients keep working while servers are upgraded one at a time, in both editions. The Master Server is the exception. Community runs one, so its restart pauses the cluster for as long as the restart takes. PRO moves the Leader role to an already upgraded Master Server, so the cluster keeps serving; clients feel a short stall. | Except Master | ● | |
| Erasure Coding | ?Data is split into 4 or 8 parts plus parity parts, each on a different server. Every parity part lets the data survive one more failed disk or server. Community keeps one parity part (4+1, 8+1). PRO allows 1 to 9 (4+n, 8+n). | 4+1 or 8+1 | 4+n or 8+n | |
| High-Availability | ?Community runs one Master Server: if it fails, an administrator starts a replacement from a backup copy of the metadata. PRO runs several Master Servers: if the Leader fails, a Follower takes over on its own. Clients feel a short stall and reconnect by themselves. | Manual | Automatic | |
| Multilocations | ?Divide one cluster into up to 8 locations that follow its physical layout: sites, buildings, rooms. Each location keeps its own redundancy, Storage Classes say what each location holds, and clients read from their own location first. Since MooseFS 5.0. | - | ● | |
| I/O Authentication | ?Optional, off by default. When switched on, every server and client authenticates, and every read and write carries its own credential, so a client cannot bypass export permissions by talking to a storage server directly. Needs clients 5.0 or newer. Since 5.0. | Coming in CE 5 | ● | |
| Client I/O Limits | ?Cap the number of I/O operations per second for a whole client, or for each user on it, so one busy host or user cannot starve the rest of the cluster. Since 5.1. | Coming in CE 5 | ● | |
| Windows® Client | ?A native Windows driver that talks to the cluster directly, with no Samba or Linux gateway in between. Sold with MooseFS PRO. | - | ● | |
| GUI / CLI | ?A web GUI and a command-line tool that show the cluster live: health, servers, chunk redundancy, mounts, quotas and charts. Metrics can be exported to Prometheus. PRO also shows locations and license details. | ● | ● | |
| Support | ?Community users help each other on GitHub and the forums. A support contract is bought separately from any license, for PRO and for Community alike, at Basic or Premium level; the contract sets the response times and channels. | Community | 24/7 | |
| License | ?Community Edition is free software under the GPLv2, with no cap on data, time or servers. MooseFS PRO runs under a commercial license: bought once and kept, not rented, and capped at an agreed amount of used raw space. | GPLv2 | EULA | |
| Software Versions | ?Community releases are 4.59.x, PRO releases 5.x. Each line has a release schedule of its own. Run the latest release of your line. | 4.x | 5.x | |
| Limits | ?Used raw space a cluster may hold: your data plus its redundancy on disk. Community sets no cap in the software; 16 EiB is the most its counters can represent. PRO Personal is capped at 200 TiB. PRO Enterprise is licensed for the capacity you agree on. | No cap | 200 TiB | Per license |
| Pricing | ?Every PRO installation starts with a built-in Personal license for 10 TiB. Up to 20 TiB is free once you register. Above that, Personal is priced per TiB up to its 200 TiB cap. Enterprise is priced by the capacity the license covers; the rate per TiB falls as capacity grows. | Free | 9€ per TiB 20 TiB free | Capacity based |
| Download | Download | Get quote | ||
| Community Open source |
PersonalEnterprise
|
|
|---|---|---|
| POSIX File System ?Mount the cluster as a native POSIX-compliant filesystem from any Linux, macOS or FreeBSD host. | ||
| ● | ● | |
| Block Device ?Use a file stored in MooseFS as a block device on Linux, for software that expects a raw disk, such as virtual machines or databases. | ||
| ● | ● | |
| Snapshots ?Snapshot a file or a whole directory tree in one atomic operation. Only metadata is copied, so a snapshot takes no extra space until either side is written to. | ||
| ● | ● | |
| Trash Bin ?Deleted files wait in the trash for a retention time you set per file or directory, then are removed for good. Until then an administrator can restore them under their original path. | ||
| ● | ● | |
| Quotas ?Soft and hard limits on space and on the number of objects, set per directory and covering everything under it. A user or a project gets a quota by getting a directory. | ||
| ● | ● | |
| Storage Classes ?Define how a file is stored: how many copies or which Erasure Coding scheme, and on which servers (for example two copies on SSD and one on HDD). Apply a class per file or directory. In PRO a class can also say what each location keeps. | ||
| ● | ● | |
| Rolling Upgrade ?Upgrade the cluster without taking it down: data stays available and clients keep working while servers are upgraded one at a time, in both editions. The Master Server is the exception. Community runs one, so its restart pauses the cluster for as long as the restart takes. PRO moves the Leader role to an already upgraded Master Server, so the cluster keeps serving; clients feel a short stall. | ||
| Except Master | ● | |
| Erasure Coding ?Data is split into 4 or 8 parts plus parity parts, each on a different server. Every parity part lets the data survive one more failed disk or server. Community keeps one parity part (4+1, 8+1). PRO allows 1 to 9 (4+n, 8+n). | ||
| 4+1 or 8+1 | 4+n or 8+n | |
| High-Availability ?Community runs one Master Server: if it fails, an administrator starts a replacement from a backup copy of the metadata. PRO runs several Master Servers: if the Leader fails, a Follower takes over on its own. Clients feel a short stall and reconnect by themselves. | ||
| Manual | Automatic | |
| Multilocations ?Divide one cluster into up to 8 locations that follow its physical layout: sites, buildings, rooms. Each location keeps its own redundancy, Storage Classes say what each location holds, and clients read from their own location first. Since MooseFS 5.0. | ||
| - | ● | |
| I/O Authentication ?Optional, off by default. When switched on, every server and client authenticates, and every read and write carries its own credential, so a client cannot bypass export permissions by talking to a storage server directly. Needs clients 5.0 or newer. Since 5.0. | ||
| Coming in CE 5 | ● | |
| Client I/O Limits ?Cap the number of I/O operations per second for a whole client, or for each user on it, so one busy host or user cannot starve the rest of the cluster. Since 5.1. | ||
| Coming in CE 5 | ● | |
| Windows® Client ?A native Windows driver that talks to the cluster directly, with no Samba or Linux gateway in between. Sold with MooseFS PRO. | ||
| - | ● | |
| GUI / CLI ?A web GUI and a command-line tool that show the cluster live: health, servers, chunk redundancy, mounts, quotas and charts. Metrics can be exported to Prometheus. PRO also shows locations and license details. | ||
| ● | ● | |
| Support ?Community users help each other on GitHub and the forums. A support contract is bought separately from any license, for PRO and for Community alike, at Basic or Premium level; the contract sets the response times and channels. | ||
| Community | 24/7 | |
| License ?Community Edition is free software under the GPLv2, with no cap on data, time or servers. MooseFS PRO runs under a commercial license: bought once and kept, not rented, and capped at an agreed amount of used raw space. | ||
| GPLv2 | EULA | |
| Software Versions ?Community releases are 4.59.x, PRO releases 5.x. Each line has a release schedule of its own. Run the latest release of your line. | ||
| 4.x | 5.x | |
| Limits ?Used raw space a cluster may hold: your data plus its redundancy on disk. Community sets no cap in the software; 16 EiB is the most its counters can represent. PRO Personal is capped at 200 TiB. PRO Enterprise is licensed for the capacity you agree on. | ||
| No cap | 200 TiB | Per license |
| Pricing ?Every PRO installation starts with a built-in Personal license for 10 TiB. Up to 20 TiB is free once you register. Above that, Personal is priced per TiB up to its 200 TiB cap. Enterprise is priced by the capacity the license covers; the rate per TiB falls as capacity grows. | ||
| Free | 9€ per TiB 20 TiB free | Capacity based |
| Download | Download | Get quote |
Start hands-on with the Community edition, or talk to us about a Pro deployment. You can move between editions later — no re-platforming, no data conversion.
