You may have faced this situation: your employer don’t let you use your personal IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate license because it’s not allowed at work. If he get caught, he could have problems. You know the story about the guy from Microsoft/Oracle/etc. who comes to the office and asks to check your licenses. You assume he’s right, and you tell the accounting department if they could acquire a corporate license for you. Three months later, you’re still waiting. In the meantime, you are invited to use VSCode. True story.
This is typically what happens when somebody doesn’t read the EULA (End User License Agreement, also called JetBrains User Agreement here), he ignores the documentation, and he imagines that JetBrains’ software is distributed like other big tech companies.
The fact is that you can use a personal license in at work. JetBrains is pretty cool, right? But then, what are corporate licenses for, and how can you prove that you can use your personal license at work, even for commercial projects?
Corporate License vs Personal License
A corporate license is required only if an employer wishes to offer a license to an employee. This license can only be used for the benefit of the company. An employer is not allowed to offer a personal (cheaper) license to an employee.
In all the other cases, a personal license can be used. This means, and I insist on this point, that an employee can use a personal license at work, given that he has acquired it by his own means. Once acquired this way, this license can be used by his holder in absolutely all situations, including to develop commercial products, for himself or for an employer, anywhere.
To summarize: if you already have a personal license, you can use in any situation and anywhere. If your employer insists on paying for a license for you, it will be a corporate license, and he will retain its ownership.
Why you can use a personal license at work
1. The JetBrains User Agreement
From https://www.jetbrains.com/legal/?section=licensing, navigate to https://www.jetbrains.com/legal/docs/toolbox/user/.
Now, let’s have a headache 😉:
- Section 3.1: for ongoing paid/subscription use, the JetBrains User Agreement grants a license to “You” and does not limit use to non-commercial activities – therefore the named license-holder can use the product while doing commercial work, unless the separate subscription terms (referred to in 3.3) say otherwise. And you know what? It does not say you cannot use your personal license for commercial activities, anywhere, on any computer (owned by your employer, or if you bring your own device).
- Section 3.5(d): the license is non-transferable and non-sublicensable. That means you, and only you can use your personal license. You cannot share your personal license with anybody.
In other words, the JetBrains User Agreement does not prohibit the use of personal licenses at work.
These links were provided to me by JetBrains’ sales department (their email is listed below).
2. The Official Documentation
Navigate to https://www.jetbrains.com/store/comparison.html#LicenseComparison:
Nota: “Business subscription” is the corporate license, and “Individual subscription” is the personal license. So, it reminds that:
- You can use your own personal license in a commercial context (“General commercial”).
- You can acquire your own personal license by yourself. If your boss wants to acquire and let you use a license, he has to acquire a corporate license, and he will it remain its property.
3. The JetBrains Sales Department
Contact JetBrains directly at sales@jetbrains.com and ask them questions about personal licenses.
I tried, and they confirmed it:
“You are totally welcome to use your personal license on the computer owned by your employer. You are working within the rules, the only thing that is not allowed is the purchase of an individual license that is reimbursed by the company.”
I hope this helps 😙
Update: you employer may still prevent you from using your personal license, but for other reasons. For example, JetBrains offers a solution that allows your employer to fully manage your IDE and select which plugins are installed and enabled in your IDE (thanks Les Cast Codeurs for reminding me that). This has become more critical with the introduction of AI plugins. In this case, you may need to use a corporate license, because a managed IDE requires such a license (for technical reasons). It is important to understand your situation. That said, in many companies, you will have no problem using a personal license.