Frequently asked
Questions, answered.
Is Melanite really free?
Yes. The Community tier is the full platform — every protocol, spatial rendering, custom HMI, logging — free for private, non-commercial use. As soon as a business uses it — in a product it sells, or to run its own production, test rigs, dashboards or buildings — it needs a Commercial licence.
What's the difference between the tiers?
Tiers differ on use rights, branding, scale, and services — never on core capability. One build runs everywhere; the licence key toggles entitlements like white-labelling.
Can I use it commercially?
Yes, with a Commercial (€249 per device) or Integrator licence. Commercial use means any use by a company, for the company — not only machines you sell, but also in-house automation, test rigs, shop-floor dashboards, building services and venue installs. The free Community tier is for private, non-commercial use.
Do we need a licence if we only use it internally?
Yes. Internal use by a business is commercial use: a test rig, a production line, a dashboard or the building services in your own company each need a Commercial licence, even though nothing is sold. Only private use — at home, for personal projects — is free.
Can our company try it before buying?
Yes. A company may evaluate Melanite free of charge for 30 days per device, as long as it does not run in production or in front of customers. After that, or as soon as it does productive work, it needs a Commercial licence.
Is it free for schools and universities?
Teaching and non-commercial academic research are covered by the free Community tier. Research carried out for or paid by a company is commercial use, and so is an association or non-profit running its own building or events.
Is Melanite a safety controller?
No. Melanite is not certified for functional safety and must not carry safety functions — emergency stops, guard monitoring and anything else that protects people belong in a certified safety controller or safety relay, wired independently. Melanite can run next to one and show its status, never replace it.
How do I report a security vulnerability?
Email security@melanite.io. The disclosure policy at melanite.io/security covers what is in scope, what to include, response times (acknowledgement within 5 business days, triage within 10), coordinated disclosure after 90 days by default, and safe harbour for good-faith research.
Do I need to be online?
No. Licences verify offline on the device — no phone-home. Industrial machines are offline by design.
How do I install Melanite?
Three ways, one product: the Docker image (docker pull melanite.io/melanite, for any PC, server or NAS, amd64 or arm64), a Debian package or tarball for your own Linux machine (Debian 12/13, Ubuntu 22.04/24.04, amd64 or arm64), or the ready-to-flash image for a Raspberry Pi 5 (microSD card) or a Compute Module 5 (eMMC). The download page has the commands and each file's SHA-256.
What hardware does it run on?
A Raspberry Pi 5 or a ~€50 Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 — headless, on a touchscreen, or DIN-rail — with one ready-to-flash image that has the real-time kernel and EtherCAT built in. It also runs in Docker or on any Linux PC or server.
Is there a difference between a Raspberry Pi 5 and a CM5?
Not in what you get: both run the same Melanite image — PREEMPT_RT kernel, EtherCAT, the touch HMI, nothing else to install. Only the flashing differs. On a Raspberry Pi 5 you write the image to a microSD card (32 GB or more) and it boots from the card; NVMe boot is not supported. On a Compute Module 5 you write it to the onboard eMMC over USB with Raspberry Pi's rpiboot tool.
Can I rebrand the HMI?
Yes. The custom HTML HMI at /device lets you ship a fully branded operator UI. The Commercial licence removes the 'powered by Melanite' badge.
Does every panel in a fleet need its own licence?
Yes. A licence is per device, and a device is every running Melanite instance. A client panel in a fleet is a complete Melanite instance that can also run on its own, so it counts as a device of its own.
What happens to the licence when we sell the machine?
It goes with the machine. A Commercial licence may be passed on together with the device it runs on; the previous owner then stops using it on that device.
Is there a subscription?
No. The Commercial licence is a perpetual, one-time purchase per device. Only the company-level Integrator tier is billed yearly.
How do I pay / get an invoice?
Checkout will run through Paddle as merchant of record: Paddle handles EU VAT and issues proper invoices automatically.
Can I get a refund?
Yes. Within 14 days of buying a licence you get the full price back, no reason needed; Paddle pays it back the way you paid. A refund ends the licence, so remove the licence key from your devices — they carry on in the free Community tier. Details are on the refund policy page.
Not answered here? Ask us directly, or read the licence terms for the binding wording.