specification: API Commons Plans
specificationVersion: '0.1'
schema: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/interface-research/main/schema/api-commons.yml#/$defs/Plans
provider: Calico
providerId: calico
created: '2026-05-04'
modified: '2026-09-05'
generated: '2026-09-05'
method: searched
source: >-
  https://www.tigera.io/tigera-products/calico-cloud-pricing/ ,
  https://www.tigera.io/tigera-products/compare-products/ ,
  https://github.com/projectcalico/calico/blob/master/LICENSE
provenance_note: >-
  REPLACED 2026-09-05. Every previous version of this file was a bulk-sweep SCAFFOLD (roadmap#35):
  invented Free / Professional / Enterprise tiers with invented 1,000 and 100,000 request-per-month
  quotas and invented 10 / 100 / 1,000 rpm rate limits. Calico sells none of those things — it does
  not meter API requests at all. The scaffold is gone and what follows was read off the provider's
  own pricing page.
description: >-
  Calico's real commercial shape. The API in this record — projectcalico.org/v3 — is part of Calico
  Open Source, which is Apache-2.0 and free, and it runs on the operator's own Kubernetes API
  server. There is NO per-request pricing, no request quota and no metered API tier anywhere in the
  product. What Tigera sells is the commercial editions, priced per vCPU-hour or by contract.
tags:
  - CNI
  - Containers
  - eBPF
  - Kubernetes
  - Network Policy
  - Network Security
  - Networking
  - Open Source
  - Service Mesh
pricing_url: https://www.tigera.io/tigera-products/calico-cloud-pricing/
comparison_url: https://www.tigera.io/tigera-products/compare-products/
billing_unit: vCPU-hour
metered_by_api_request: false
plan_count: 3
plans:
  - id: calico-open-source
    name: Calico Open Source
    type: free
    price: '0.00'
    currency: USD
    billing_period: none
    license: Apache-2.0
    description: >-
      The open source project. Networking, network policy and observability across any Kubernetes
      distribution, self-hosted by the operator. This is the edition that serves the
      projectcalico.org/v3 API described in openapi/ and the CRDs in json-schema/.
    quota: none — nothing is metered
    overage: none
    limits: >-
      No provider-imposed limits. The only ceiling is the operator's own Kubernetes API server (see
      rate-limits/calico-rate-limits.yml).
    support: community — Slack, GitHub issues and discussions
    signup_required: false
    elements:
      - Calico CNI and IPAM
      - NetworkPolicy and GlobalNetworkPolicy
      - eBPF, standard Linux and nftables data planes
      - BGP routing
      - calicoctl CLI
      - projectcalico.org/v3 API and CRDs
  - id: calico-cloud
    name: Calico Cloud
    subtitle: SaaS Platform
    type: paid
    price: '0.025'
    price_verbatim: $0.025 / vCPU Hour
    currency: USD
    billing_period: hourly
    billing_unit: vCPU-hour
    description: >-
      The hosted commercial edition, operated by Tigera. Usage-based pricing and annual subscription
      are also available through the Microsoft Azure, AWS and Google Cloud marketplaces.
    quota: not published
    overage: not published — the price IS the meter
    contact_required: true
    contact_cta: Contact Sales
    marketplaces:
      - name: Microsoft Azure Marketplace
        url: https://azuremarketplace.microsoft.com/en-ca/marketplace/apps/tigerainc1620235671643.calicocloudsaas
      - name: AWS Marketplace
        url: https://aws.amazon.com/marketplace/pp/prodview-pq3tgvtlj3wce
      - name: Google Cloud Marketplace
        url: https://console.cloud.google.com/marketplace/product/tigera-public/calico-cloud
    status_page: https://status.calicocloud.io/
    elements:
      - Ingress gateway
      - Observability
      - Policy management
      - Egress gateways
      - Threat detection
      - Enterprise support
      - 7-day log retention
      - Unlimited users
      - Multi-cluster support
  - id: calico-enterprise
    name: Calico Enterprise
    subtitle: Self-managed Platform
    type: enterprise
    price: custom
    price_verbatim: Custom Pricing
    currency: USD
    billing_period: contract
    description: >-
      The self-managed commercial edition. No price is published; the page says Custom Pricing and
      routes to sales.
    quota: negotiated
    overage: negotiated
    contact_required: true
    contact_cta: Contact Sales
    elements:
      - Ingress gateway
      - Observability
      - Policy management
      - Egress gateways
      - Threat detection
      - Enterprise support
      - Custom log retention
      - Unlimited users
      - Multi-cluster support
free_tier:
  exists: true
  form: >-
    The entire Open Source edition, permanently, under Apache-2.0. Not a trial and not a metered
    free tier — a different product.
trial:
  published: false
  note: >-
    No trial length is published for Calico Cloud or Calico Enterprise. Both CTAs on the pricing page
    are "Contact Sales". A "Start Free" CTA elsewhere on tigera.io routes to
    https://www.calicocloud.io/, which is the Calico Cloud application shell, not a stated trial
    offer. Recorded as unpublished rather than guessed.
sign_in: https://www.calicocloud.io/login
maintainers:
  - FN: Kin Lane
    email: kin@apievangelist.com