CHR Licensing

CHR Licensing

CHR uses a throughput-based licensing model that is separate from physical RouterOS device licensing. All CHR features are available at every license level — the only difference is the maximum upload speed enforced per network interface.

License Tiers

License	Upload Speed Per Interface	Price	Notes
Free	1 Mbps	$0	Default on first boot; never expires
P1	1 Gbps	$45	Perpetual; upgradeable
P10	10 Gbps	$95	Perpetual; upgradeable
P-Unlimited	Unlimited	$250	Perpetual; highest tier

The speed limit applies to upload (egress) traffic per interface, not as a single global VM cap. A free CHR with four interfaces can pass traffic on all four simultaneously, each capped at 1 Mbps.

Free License

The free license activates automatically on first boot. It:

• Never expires — no renewal required
• Enables all RouterOS features (routing, firewall, VPN, containers, etc.)
• Limits each interface to 1 Mbps upload
• Is suitable for lab routing, BGP testing, and management-plane tasks

60-Day Trial

Before purchasing, you can request a full-speed trial on any paid license level:

# Generate a new system ID first (required for some cloud providers)
/system license generate-new-id

# Request a trial license (requires a MikroTik account)
/system license renew account=your-username password=your-password level=p-unlimited

After 60 days the router reverts to free-tier speeds and shows limited-upgrades: yes, disabling RouterOS upgrades and package changes until a paid license is applied.

Note

On cloud platforms like Linode where cloned instances share a system ID, always run /system license generate-new-id before requesting a trial.

Perpetual Licenses (P1, P10, P-Unlimited)

Perpetual licenses purchased under RouterOS v7 or later are lifetime licenses — buy once, use forever. Key characteristics:

• No annual renewal fee
• The router contacts the MikroTik account server periodically to confirm the license; the next-renewal-at field shows when the next check-in is due
• If the router cannot reach the license server, a grace period applies before the license is treated as expired
• When a license expires or cannot be renewed, RouterOS upgrades and package changes are disabled

:::info Legacy (pre-v7) licenses Licenses purchased before RouterOS v7 require annual renewal after the initial validity period. Renewal prices: P1 $25/year, P10 $45/year, P-Unlimited $95/year. :::

Activating a License

Online Activation (MikroTik Account)

The router must have internet access to reach account.mikrotik.com.

# Check current license status
/system/license print

# Activate with your MikroTik account credentials
/system/license renew \
  account=your-username \
  password=your-password \
  level=p1

Example output:

[admin@MikroTik] > /system/license print
  system-id: 6lR1ZP/utuJ
      level: free

[admin@MikroTik] > /system/license renew account=your-username password=your-password level=p1
  status: done

[admin@MikroTik] > /system/license print
         system-id: 6lR1ZP/utuJ
              level: p1
  limited-upgrades: no
   next-renewal-at: 2025-08-25 13:18:06
      deadline-at: 2025-09-24 13:18:06

Prepaid Key Activation

A prepaid key is purchased in advance from the MikroTik account portal. Unlike physical RouterOS license keys, CHR prepaid keys are not applied directly via a CLI command — they are linked to a CHR instance through your MikroTik account, then activated via the standard renew flow.

Purchase and activate steps:

1. Log in to mikrotik.com/client
2. Navigate to Purchase a RouterOS License Key
3. Select the desired CHR license level
4. Choose Prepaid Key as the key type
5. After purchase, assign the prepaid key to your CHR instance from the account portal (using the instance’s system ID shown by /system/license print)
6. Then activate on the router:

/system/license renew \
  account=your-username \
  password=your-password \
  level=p1

Note

Prepaid keys are not bound to a device at purchase time. They can be stored and assigned later to any CHR instance via the account portal.

Upgrading Between Tiers

Upgrades follow a single direction: Free → P1 → P10 → P-Unlimited. Downgrading between paid tiers is not supported.

Upgrade Path	Notes
Free → P1	First paid upgrade; requires MikroTik account registration
P1 → P10	Charges full P10 price ($95); old P1 license returned to account
P1 → P-Unlimited	Charges full P-Unlimited price ($250); old P1 returned to account
P10 → P-Unlimited	Charges full P-Unlimited price ($250); old P10 returned to account

When you upgrade, the replaced license is released back to your MikroTik account and can be used on another CHR instance.

Upgrade via CLI:

# Upgrade an existing P1 to P10
/system/license renew \
  account=your-username \
  password=your-password \
  level=p10

Upgrade via Web interface:

1. Go to System → License
2. Click Renew License
3. Enter your MikroTik account credentials and select the new level

License Management

Checking License Status

/system/license print

Key fields in the output:

Field	Description
system-id	Unique identifier bound to this CHR instance
level	Current license tier (free/p1/p10/p-unlimited)
limited-upgrades	yes after trial expiry or if server unreachable
next-renewal-at	Scheduled check-in with the license server
deadline-at	Grace period end — license treated as expired after this

License Transfer

A CHR license can be transferred to a different CHR instance up to 3 times per account. Transfers are performed from the MikroTik account portal.

Because the license is bound to the system ID (derived from the virtual disk identity), the system ID changes if you:

• Rebuild the instance from scratch
• Migrate to a different cloud provider without preserving the disk
• Clone an existing instance

After a system ID change, apply a new license or initiate a transfer from your account.

# View current system ID
/system/license print

# Generate a new system ID (use with caution — invalidates current license binding)
/system/license generate-new-id

Expired Licenses

When a license expires or cannot be verified:

• Routing, firewall, and all network functions continue to operate
• RouterOS upgrades and package installation/removal are disabled
• The router logs warnings about the license state

To recover, renew the license online or apply a new prepaid key.

Cloud Platform Considerations

CHR licenses are cloud-agnostic — the same free/P1/P10/P-Unlimited tiers apply regardless of where the instance runs. However, each cloud provider has platform-specific notes.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

CHR runs on EC2 as a BYOL (Bring Your Own License) deployment. The recommended method uses the AWS Marketplace AMI, which simplifies deployment. Manual import via RAW disk is also supported.

Recommended instance types: m4.large or c4.xlarge. Underpowered instances may fail RouterOS package updates.

Minimum networking: Two ENIs — one for management, one for data traffic.

Licensing note: After launching, the instance starts with a free license (1 Mbps/interface). Activate a paid license via /system/license renew once the instance has internet access.

See Installing CHR on AWS for the full deployment walkthrough.

Google Cloud Platform (GCP)

CHR can be deployed from the GCP Marketplace or by uploading a RAW/VMDK image to Google Cloud Storage and creating a custom image.

Licensing note: The GCP marketplace listing may offer a PAYG billing option integrated with Google Cloud billing. For BYOL, import the image manually and apply your CHR license after first boot.

See Installing CHR on GCP for the full deployment walkthrough.

Microsoft Azure

Azure deployment uses a VHD image, available from the Azure Marketplace or as a manual upload. The Marketplace listing supports both PAYG (billed through Azure) and BYOL.

Licensing note: When using the BYOL path, apply your CHR license via /system/license renew after the VM is running and has outbound internet access to account.mikrotik.com.

See Installing CHR on Azure for the full deployment walkthrough.

Hetzner Cloud

Hetzner Cloud does not have a native MikroTik Marketplace image. Deploy CHR by uploading a RAW image as a custom image via the Hetzner API or console.

Licensing note: Hetzner is treated as a generic x86/KVM cloud. Apply a standard CHR license after first boot using /system/license renew or a prepaid key.

# After Hetzner instance first boot, check system ID
/system/license print

# Optionally generate a new system ID if the image was cloned
/system/license generate-new-id

# Activate license
/system/license renew account=your-username password=your-password level=p1

Troubleshooting

License server unreachable

If the router cannot reach account.mikrotik.com, the limited-upgrades field will eventually appear. Ensure the router has outbound TCP access to account.mikrotik.com:443.

System ID changed unexpectedly

This can happen after instance migration, disk replacement, or cloning. Check your MikroTik account portal to transfer the license to the new system ID (up to 3 transfers allowed).

Trial already used

Each system ID is eligible for one 60-day trial per license level. If the trial has been used, purchase a paid license or use a prepaid key.

limited-upgrades: yes after trial

Apply a paid license to re-enable upgrades:

/system/license renew account=your-username password=your-password level=p1

Related Topics

• Cloud Hosted Router Overview
• Installing CHR on AWS
• Installing CHR on GCP
• Installing CHR on Azure
• Installing CHR on KVM
• Installing CHR on VMware