Announcing Metalama 2025.1: Going Open Source!

Our objective with this move is to make our tools more accessible while offering enhanced support and services to customers who opt for higher-tier commercial plans, ensuring a balanced and sustainable approach for all users.

This article is part of a 3-post series announcing the launch of our 2025.1 versions:

• Metalama Is Now Open Source – Adding Full Meta-Programming Capabilities to C#: an introduction to Metalama and our open-source vision.
• Announcing Metalama 2025.1: Going Open Source!: changes in licensing and support terms for Metalama.
• Announcing PostSharp 2025.1: changes in licensing and support terms for PostSharp.

TL;DR

• The Metalama product line has been reorganized, with most of the code now open source. IDE tooling is now free for individuals, non-commercial use, or companies with up to three users.
• Starting with version 2025.1, only the latest versions of our products will be available under an open-source or free license. Maintenance of older versions is reserved for commercial or enterprise customers based on their service level.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this transition, please contact us at [email protected].

These changes would not have been possible without breaking changes. Please check the release notes for details.

Open-source transition

Metalama is now primarily free and open source, released under the MIT license. The following components remain commercial:

• Visual Studio extensions for Metalama.
• Architecture validation (formerly the Metalama.Framework.Validation and Metalama.Extensions.Architecture namespaces).
• Code fix toolkits (formerly the Metalama.Framework.CodeFixes namespace).
• Redis and Azure adapters for Metalama.Patterns.Caching.

New product catalogue

The Metalama product line has been restructured to align with our new open-source business model, making our tools and frameworks free for individuals, small teams, and non-commercial use, while offering premium services and packages to larger organizations.

We have introduced a simplified product catalogue:

• Metalama Community — A free edition, including Visual Studio tools, for individuals, non-commercial use, and organizations with up to three users.
• Metalama Professional — A full-featured edition for commercial use.
• Metalama Enterprise — Includes all Professional features, plus enhanced support and service benefits.

For a detailed comparison of editions, visit: https://www.postsharp.net/pricing/metalama.

Transitioning your existing subscriptions

Unless you are using Metalama Free, your current license key will continue to work with Metalama 2025.1 without any loss of functionality. Here’s how the transition affects different licenses:

• Metalama Free: This edition has been retired, and its license will not work with Metalama 2025.1. Your options are:
  • Use only the open-source components.
  • Switch to Metalama Community.
  • Upgrade to a Metalama Professional license.

• Metalama Professional: Now the full-featured edition with unlimited functionality, but with limited support.

• Metalama Starter and Metalama Ultimate: These editions have been retired. Your current license key will function as Metalama Professional in the new version, but you’ll need to convert your subscription to Metalama Professional upon renewal.

Pricing overhaul

We’ve restructured Metalama’s pricing to reflect the new model:

• Metalama Professional: First-year pricing is $89 for individuals and $295 for businesses.
• Volume Discounts are no longer available. Larger teams are now served by Metalama Enterprise, which offers four tiers with varying benefits and team sizes.

See Metalama pricing.

If the pricing changes negatively impact you and your software licensing budget has already been approved, please contact us. We’ll honor the previous pricing to ensure a smooth transition.

Support model updates

We have updated our support model to align with the open-source transition.
These changes apply only to new or renewed subscriptions. Existing contracts remain under the previous License and Support Services Agreement (LSSA).

Servicing phases

We have introduced servicing phases to clarify the lifecycle of Metalama versions (YYYY.N):

• Current: Supported until the next version is released.
• Extended: Supported for six months after the next release.
• Long-Term Support (LTS): Supported for two years after the next LTS release or until the underlying platform reaches end-of-life.

Starting with version 2025.1, only the current version will be maintained under the open-source model. Access to Extended and LTS builds will require a commercial license.

Updates are never mandatory. Once a build becomes eligible for you, it will remain accessible indefinitely.

Note that maintenance builds of previous versions remain accessible to all users, regardless of support level.

For more details, visit: Versioning Policies.

Premium support tiers

We have formalized premium support into clear tiers, offering benefits such as:

• Private support tickets
• Access to Extended and LTS builds
• Faster response times and issue escalation
• Defined number of technical contacts
• Access to proprietary source code
• Advisory and video calls
• GDPR/vendor form assistance
• Private Slack or Teams channels
• Priority bug fixes and remote debugging
• EULA amendments and regression shields
• License audit waivers
• Open-source sponsorship tiers

For newly acquired or renewed subscriptions, the support level is determined by the edition (Professional or Enterprise tiers E1–E4). For existing subscriptions, the support level is determined by the number of users.

Please visit Service Levels for details regarding support benefits and how they map to product editions.

To know your current support level, please visit the customer portal.

Source code access

Metalama’s open-source code is now available on GitHub under the MIT license. Additionally, Enterprise customers gain exclusive access to private GitHub repositories for:

• Premium packages (e.g., architecture validation, code fix toolkits, Redis and Azure adapters).
• Core packages once they enter Extended Support or LTS phases.

To request access, check your support level in the customer portal and email us at [email protected] with the GitHub usernames to be granted access.

Conclusion

By transitioning Metalama to an open-source business model, we aim to promote greater awareness and adoption of meta-programming within the developer community.

We believe that vendor-led open source strikes the right balance between transparency and dependability: developers gain the ability to inspect and contribute to the code, while the vendor ensures long-term support through a sustainable commercial offering. If the vendor fails to uphold its commitment to maintaining the software, the community has the freedom to step in and take over.

Our goal is to create a fair balance between open-source accessibility, proprietary features, and premium services. We’ve worked hard to ensure these changes benefit as many users as possible. However, if you feel these changes impact you unfairly, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We’re committed to finding a solution that works for you.

Thank you for your continued support, and happy meta-programming!

-gael