License Paid Features
Self-hosting Bitwarden is free, however some features must be unlocked in your self-hosted instance with a registered license file. A license file can be obtained from the Bitwarden-hosted web vault by either an account with a premium individual subscription or by the owner of an organization.
note
The procedures in this article assume that you have already started a paid subscription to Bitwarden. If you haven't, refer to About Bitwarden plans and What plan is right for me?
To retrieve your license from your cloud account and apply it to your self-hosted server:
Retrieve your license
Log in to your web vault, select the profile icon, and choose Account Settings from the dropdown:
![Account Settings |]()
Account Settings Select Subscription from the Account Settings Menu.
Select the Download License button.
Apply your license
Log in to your self-hosted web vault with an email address that matches the cloud-hosted account from which you downloaded the license.
tip
If you haven't already, verify your email address before proceeding. You will need to have configured SMTP-related environment variables to do so.
Select the profile icon and choose Account Settings from the dropdown.
Select Subscription from the Account Settings menu.
In the License File section, select the Browse... button and add the downloaded license file.
Select the Submit button to apply your premium license.
To retrieve your organization license from your cloud organization and apply it to your self-hosted server:
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You must be an organization owner to both retrieve and apply a license.
Retrieve your license
In the cloud web vault, open your organization.
Select the organization Billing tab and select Subscription from the left menu.
Select the Download License button.
When prompted, enter the installation ID that was used to install your self-hosted server and select Submit.
If you don't know the installation ID off-hand, you can retrieve it from
./bwdata/env/global.override.env.
Apply your license
Log in to your self-hosted web vault.
Start a new organization by selecting the Add Organization button.
When prompted, upload the organization license file and select Submit.
note
If you receive a version not supported error message, update your server and try uploading your organization license file again. To update your server, make a backup of the bwdata directory and follow these instructions.
When your license expires and your organization renews, you have two months to apply the updated license file to your self-hosted organization. To apply the update to your license, download the new license file (Steps 1-3 above) from the cloud-hosted Bitwarden organization vault.
Once downloaded, open your self-hosted web vault and update the license from the organization Billing → Subscription page:
If you receive a version not supported error message, you will need to update your server before proceeding. Make a backup or copy of the bwdata directory, then follow these instructions.