HF PanelLicensing
Licence keys, plans and features, building your own plan, changing it later, the free trial, IP binding and the Licence screen.
HF Panel needs a licence to run. A licence is a key tied to one server's public IPv4 address. The server checks its licence with the licence server every 6 hours. If the licence stops being valid, the control panel locks, but websites, email, databases and DNS keep running.
Where: Server Admin › Billing › Licence
Licence keys
A licence key looks like this:
HFL-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX
Each licence has a tier that sets how many hosting accounts the server may have:
| Tier | Hosting accounts |
|---|---|
| Solo | 5 |
| Pro | 50 |
| Unlimited | no limit |
When the server reaches its limit, creating another account fails with "Your … licence allows … hosting accounts. Upgrade the licence at … to add more." Current prices: hostfog.io/pricing.
Plans and features
A licence carries the features it unlocks and an account limit. You either pick one of the publisher's plans, or build your own from panels and modules. The server installs and shows only what the licence includes.
Panels (choose at least one; the Control Panel is needed for any hosting):
| Panel | What it unlocks |
|---|---|
| Server Admin | every Server Admin menu group. Without it you still get a minimal Server Admin: Overview, Server health, Services, Server & updates, HF Panel updates, Licence, Settings, Accounts and Support tickets |
| Reseller Panel | the Reseller Panel, and the Resellers and Reseller privileges screens |
| Control Panel | the Control Panel for your hosting customers |
Modules add whole areas: email (with HF Mail), DNS, billing, domain sales, HF Files, HF Studio, apps (Node.js, Python, Ruby, Perl, Git deploy), Docker, WordPress tools, HF Tunnel, backup storage, cluster (more servers), white label, the AI helper, and the token API with webhooks and plugins. The pricing page lists each one with a one-line description and its price.
Every licence always includes accounts and packages, domains, SSL and AutoSSL, MySQL databases, FTP and SFTP, the File Manager in the Control Panel, PHP settings, cron jobs, security (firewall, malware scan, web firewall, isolation), local backups, logs and statistics, notifications, settings, updates and support tickets.
Note: a licence bought before plans existed has every feature. Nothing changes for it.
A screen of a module your licence doesn't include shows Not in your plan, with Change plan for administrators.
Build your own plan
On the pricing page (hostfog.io/pricing), under Build your own plan:
- Tick the panels you need under Panels.
- Tick the modules under Modules. Each card shows what the module does and its monthly price.
- Choose the number of hosting accounts under Hosting accounts.
- The monthly price is shown as you choose. The more paid modules you take, the bigger the Bundle discount.
- Click Buy this plan, or Start a 14-day free trial (the trial has every feature).
The order page opens with your choice ticked. You can still change it there, then enter your email address and the server IP and pay by card or PayPal. The price you pay is always worked out by the licence server when you order.
| Price part | How it works |
|---|---|
| Base price | a monthly price every licence has |
| Panels and modules | each one you tick adds its price |
| Hosting accounts | the total is multiplied by the tier's factor (for example 5 accounts ×1, 50 ×2, unlimited ×4) |
| Bundle discount | a percentage off when you choose enough paid modules (for example 3 or more: 10 % off) |
Tip: without JavaScript the page still works: the price is worked out on the order page before you pay.
Change or upgrade your plan
You can add or remove panels and modules, or change the number of hosting accounts, at any time. Your licence key stays the same.
- Open the licence portal: on the Licence screen click Change plan (or Licence portal), or go to hostfog.io/licence/manage and ask for a sign-in link.
- Under Change plan, your current panels, modules and accounts are ticked. Change them. The new monthly price and the difference are shown as you choose.
- Click Review change. The licence server shows the Current price, the New price, the Difference and, for an upgrade, what is Charged now; for a downgrade, when it Starts.
- Click Confirm change.
| Change | When it takes effect | What you pay |
|---|---|---|
| Upgrade (the new price is the same or higher) | at once | the difference for the rest of the paid month, charged now |
| Downgrade (the new price is lower) | when the paid month ends; the portal shows Change waiting until then | the new price from the next month |
The server picks the change up at its next licence check. To apply it at once, click Check now on the
Licence screen, or run hf-panel licence sync. Added modules are installed; removed ones are hidden.
Important: removing a module never deletes data. Its screens come back, with everything in them, when you add it again.
The free trial
To try HF Panel before you buy, type T at the installer's Licence key question:
- Enter your email address at Trial email.
- The installer starts a 14-day trial for this server and shows the Trial key. The key is emailed to you too.
- The installation carries on with the trial key.
| Rule | |
|---|---|
| Length | 14 days |
| Accounts | no limit during the trial |
| How many | one trial per server IP address, and one per email address |
| Card needed | no |
Before the trial ends, buy a licence and enter its key on the Licence screen. When a trial ends without one, the panel locks.
Enter the key at installation
The installer asks for the key, or takes it from the command line for an install without questions:
bash latest --licence HFL-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX
The key is checked before anything is installed. A key that is unknown, not active or licensed to another IP stops the installation with the reason, and nothing on the server changes.
IP binding
A licence belongs to the server's public IPv4 address. The licence check always goes out over IPv4, even on a server that has IPv6 too.
- A new server, or a new IP? Move the licence in the Licence portal: open Licence portal on the Licence screen and change the IP there. You can change it up to 3 times a month.
- A server that checks in from another IP than the licence's gets the status "for another server IP" and locks.
The Licence screen
Where: Server Admin › Billing › Licence
The screen shows four figures:
| Figure | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Status | the licence's state (see below) and its tier |
| Hosting accounts | how many accounts the server has, and how many the licence allows. Near the limit, Upgrade the licence links to the licence portal |
| Paid through / Trial ends | when the paid period or the trial ends, and the licence's email address |
| Last confirmed | when the licence server last answered, and the server IP it licensed |
If the last check failed, its reason is shown under the figures.
Change the licence key
- Under Licence key, enter the new key in Key.
- Click Save and check. The key is saved and checked with the licence server at once.
Renew, pay or move the licence
Under Renew or change:
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Licence portal | opens the licence portal: pay, change the card, cancel, or move the licence to a new server IP. It signs you in with a link sent to the licence's email address |
| Buy a licence | opens the licence shop |
| Check now | asks the licence server again straight away, instead of waiting for the next 6-hourly check |
Licence states
| State | What it means | The panel |
|---|---|---|
| trial | a free trial | open |
| active | paid and valid | open |
| active (payment failed — retrying) | the last payment failed; update the card before the date shown | open |
| in grace period | the paid period has ended; you have 7 days to renew | open, with a warning |
| trial ended | the free trial is over | locked |
| expired / cancelled | the licence has ended | locked |
| revoked | the licence was withdrawn | locked |
| for another server IP | the key belongs to another IP address | locked |
| unknown key | the key doesn't exist | locked |
The server checks its licence every 6 hours. If it cannot reach the licence server, the last good answer stays valid for up to 7 days. The administrator gets an email when the panel locks, when the licence needs attention, and when it is unlocked again.
When the panel is locked
The Licence screen shows "The control panel is locked." with the reason.
- Websites, email, databases and DNS keep running.
- Customers and resellers can't use their panels until the licence is valid again.
- Administrators can still sign in and open the Licence screen to enter a key or check again.
- The API answers with status 402.
As soon as a valid key is saved and checked, the panel opens again.
Install reports
A licensed server tells its licence server when an installation starts, finishes or fails, when an update finishes or fails, and when HF Panel is uninstalled. This is part of the licence terms. Each report holds the licence key, the event, the HF Panel version, the host name, the server's own domain and company name, the operating system, the number of CPUs, the memory and the disk size; a failure also names the step that stopped and the last log line, with passwords and keys masked. Nothing about websites, accounts, customers or mail is sent. Reports are sent in the background: an installation, update or uninstall never waits for them or stops because of them.