MariaDB MaxScale 24.02 BSL vs 25.01 Commercial License — what do I need to change?
Teams depending on MaxScale need a licensing-aware decision on whether to stay on older BSL releases, buy enterprise rights, or replace the proxy after MariaDB moved 25.01+ to a proprietary commercial license.
Blockers
- package/maxscale-24-02 — EOL 2028-03-01
- package/maxscale-25-01 — EOL 2033-01-16
- 25.01+ moved from BSL 1.1 to a fully proprietary commercial license for production use
- Lock-in via vendor/mariadb
Who this is for
- cost-sensitive
- enterprise
- compliance
Candidates
Stay on MariaDB MaxScale 24.02 under BSL while it remains supported
As of 2026-03-29, MariaDB's official MaxScale FAQ says versions before 25.01, including 24.02, remain under BSL 1.1. The official FAQ also says BSL allows free usage with up to two MariaDB backend database servers, and the terms archive says MariaDB provided an Additional Use Grant for limited production use with less than three server instances. MariaDB's engineering policy lists MaxScale 24.02 as GA in March 2024 with end of standard support on 2028-03-01 and end of life on 2028-03-01. Older BSL versions eventually convert to GPL on their stated change terms, but that does not change the current production-use limits before that change date.
When to choose
Use this when you are cost-sensitive, your production topology stays within the BSL grant, and your planning horizon fits inside the 2028-03-01 support stop. It is the lowest-change path if relicensing is the blocker and you do not need the commercial-only 25.01 branch.
Tradeoffs
Least disruptive near-term option and keeps access to source under BSL, but production rights are limited and the branch has a fixed support horizon. You also accept running an older line while MariaDB's longer-lived supported line is now commercial-only.
Cautions
Do not assume 24.02 is unrestricted for production use. Official MariaDB guidance says free BSL use is limited to up to two backend servers, and certain commercial uses still require a MariaDB subscription.
Adopt MaxScale 25.01+ with a MariaDB Enterprise subscription
As of 2026-03-29, MariaDB's official MaxScale FAQ says that from 2025-01-16 onward, MaxScale 25.01 and later moved from BSL to a fully proprietary commercial license and require an active MariaDB Enterprise subscription for production use. The 2025-01-16 MaxScale License Terms say usage is subject to payment of applicable subscription fees, limit use to software covered by MariaDB subscription services, and treat MaxScale as MariaDB confidential information and a trade secret. MariaDB's engineering policy lists MaxScale 25.01 as GA in January 2025 with end of standard support on 2030-01-16 and end of life on 2033-01-16. MariaDB's public pricing page did not expose a self-serve MaxScale price in this search pass; official purchasing appears to route through sales.
When to choose
Use this when you are enterprise-oriented, need the current supported branch beyond 2028, and can accept proprietary licensing plus a vendor subscription process. The decisive factor is whether longer support life and current-version access outweigh the licensing and procurement change.
Tradeoffs
You get the longest official support window from the verified sources, but lose the BSL source-available model and take on contract-based licensing. Cost visibility is weaker because a public self-serve MaxScale subscription price was not verified from official pages.
Cautions
Review the license restrictions carefully before rollout. The official terms restrict redistribution, third-party service use without authorization, modification, reverse engineering, and continued use after term expiration.
Replace MaxScale before the 24.02 support window closes
As of 2026-03-29, the official blocker-level facts are that 24.02 remains on BSL with limited free production use, while 25.01+ is commercial-only for production, and 24.02 support ends on 2028-03-01. That makes replacement the practical path if your team cannot accept the post-2025 licensing model or a sales-led enterprise purchase. This is an inference from the verified MariaDB licensing and support data, not a claim about any single replacement product. No official blocker-level pricing or feature-parity data for alternative proxies was verified in this one-search pass.
When to choose
Use this when you are cost-sensitive, compliance-driven, or OSS-policy constrained and cannot accept either the BSL production limits on 24.02 or the proprietary terms on 25.01+. The decisive factor is whether avoiding MariaDB-specific licensing changes is worth a migration project before 2028-03-01.
Tradeoffs
Avoids being pinned between a limited BSL branch and a proprietary future branch, but introduces migration cost, retesting, and operational change. The benefit is licensing control; the cost is replacement work.
Cautions
Do not treat this as a drop-in decision. Validate routing behavior, failover behavior, observability, and operational runbooks in staging because the MariaDB sources verified here do not guarantee parity outside MaxScale.
Try with your AI agent
$ npm install -g pocketlantern $ pocketlantern init # Restart Claude Code, Cursor, or your MCP client, then ask: # "MariaDB MaxScale 24.02 BSL vs 25.01 Commercial License — what do I need to change?"