How To Read This Comparison
The meaningful distinction is not “features missing vs present” on the same checklist. It is:- Core Platform vs. Managed Platform — the stable open-source server versus the full product experience Speckle operates or licenses.
- Distributed Code vs. Operated Services — code you run and integrate yourself versus services Speckle runs at scale (often on Speckle infrastructure).
- Extensibility vs. Responsibility — both paths are API-first; who owns ingestion, integration glue, execution environments, uptime, and support differs.
Shared Core Across Deployments
All Speckle deployments build on the same core platform:- Projects, models, and versioning
- GraphQL and REST APIs and the data transport connectors use
- The web application and 3D viewer
Managed Layer and Why the UI Differs
Speckle-hosted (Team and Enterprise on Speckle Cloud) is the fully realized product: the core plus a workspace model and managed services—for example ingestion pipelines, integrations with external platforms (such as CDEs), and execution environments such as Automate (where included in your plan). The open-source server is the distributed form of the core. It provides that foundation without the managed service layer that sits above it in the cloud. In practice, differences you see in the UI and feature surface reflect that managed layer and workspace experience, not a separate “lightweight viewer-only” product. You are comparing core-only self-host against core plus operated platform.Beyond OSS Is Not the Same as Cloud-Only
Capabilities that are not part of the public open-source distribution (often because they rely on proprietary code or Speckle-operated infrastructure) are still delivered in more than one commercial shape:- Speckle-hosted Team or Enterprise — Speckle runs the stack and the managed services.
- Enterprise licensed and self-hosted — many organization, compliance, and integration features are available on your infrastructure under a commercial license. See Enterprise License.
- APIs and SDKs for ETL and data transformation
- Webhooks for event-driven workflows
- Embedding or driving the viewer in downstream applications
Licensing and Cost (Overview)
Open-source self-hosting has no Speckle licensing fee for the public server. Your costs are infrastructure and your own operational time. Speckle-hosted plans are subscriptions at the workspace level. Limits and commercial terms depend on plan—for example capacity for users, projects, and stored model versions on Team, and usage-aligned models on Enterprise. For how plans treat usage and limits, see Billing. Pricing and quotes are published on speckle.systems/pricing. In practice, cost and capacity on hosted plans scale most with model versions, data churn, and how often you sync and automate (together with model size and concurrency)—not primarily “per API call” for building custom apps. Bottlenecks:- Hosted: governed by workspace plan limits and fair-use expectations described with your plan.
- Self-hosted: governed entirely by your infrastructure—especially database performance, object storage, and throughput for background processing.
Support and Operations (Overview)
The Speckle-hosted product is continuously deployed and operated by Speckle: scaling, monitoring, and incident response for the cloud service. Support and uptime commitments depend on plan and contract (for example Speckle-hosted Enterprise). With open-source self-host, deployment, scaling, upgrades, backup, and recovery are yours. Updates ship in the open-source release process; operational support is documentation and the community unless you have a separate agreement. For Enterprise on your infrastructure, operations split: you run the clusters and data plane; commercial terms cover the Enterprise software and how Speckle supports you. Details belong in your license and deployment guide—not generalized here.Open Source Foundation and Enterprise Scale
Speckle started as an open source project because the AEC industry needs open, interoperable infrastructure that no single vendor can lock down. The core platform is and remains open source. You keep control over your data and how you deploy and extend Speckle. Commercial offerings add operated or licensed layers; they do not redefine the core as “the incomplete version.”Growing Needs Beyond the Core
Larger or more regulated deployments often need managed CDE integrations, organization-scoped administration, compliance evidence, analytics, and workflow automation at a level that requires ongoing operational investment, not only code. Paid Team and Enterprise offerings fund that investment—reliability, security posture, support, and product development—while the open-source core stays available to self-host and build on.Our Approach
The core stays open so you keep flexibility, including self-hosting. Speckle-hosted and Enterprise offerings add managed or licensed platform pieces on top: operated services, integration paths, and contractual support where that matches how your organization works. That model lets Speckle:- Keep investing in the open-source core that benefits everyone
- Ship enterprise and hosted capabilities where organizations need them
- Offer support and SLAs where projects are mission-critical on Speckle-hosted deployments
- Fund development without giving up the openness of the platform
- Stay on open source and self-host if that matches your responsibility model.
- Use a Speckle-hosted Team plan when you want Speckle to operate the platform and deliver analytics-oriented product surface area.
- Use Speckle-hosted Enterprise when you need advanced capabilities, automation, support, and governance aligned with an organization-wide strategy.
- License Enterprise and self-host when data and control must stay in your environment but you still want Enterprise scope—knowing some capabilities (such as Automate execution) still use Speckle-operated infrastructure.
Comparison by Boundary
The table groups differences by where the boundary runs, not by ticking individual features. Rows summarize what each side is responsible for.| Boundary Area | Open Source (Self-Hosted) | Speckle Cloud / Enterprise (Hosted or Enterprise-Licensed) |
|---|---|---|
| Core Platform | You deploy the core: projects, models, versions, GraphQL and REST APIs, and the 3D viewer. This is the stable, open-source foundation. | Built on the same core, delivered as (or paired with) Speckle’s managed product: operated stack, product cadence, and services that extend beyond what the OSS distribution alone provides. |
| Managed Services | You operate or substitute your own: workflow automation, analytics and validation stacks, and ingestion and scaling patterns. Integrate via APIs and your toolchain. | Speckle-operated layers where offered—for example Intelligence, hosted ingestion and processing, and Automate (hosted-only execution)—evolve on product roadmaps separately from an OSS-only deployment. |
| Integrations | Connectors work with your server. Managed CDE and cloud integrations that Speckle operates for hosted customers are not bundled into the OSS distribution; you can still build comparable flows with APIs and your stack. | Managed integrations and first-party CDE paths where Speckle ships and operates them, plus the connector ecosystem, for teams that want Speckle to own that integration and operations path. |
| Operations | You own hosting, scaling, monitoring, backups, upgrades, and uptime. Support from community channels. Compliance and org admin models are yours to implement. | Speckle operates infrastructure and reliability for Speckle-hosted customers; dedicated support and SLAs per Speckle-hosted Enterprise agreements. Enterprise self-host: you operate infra; commercial license and support terms apply per contract. |
Enterprise licensing (self-host): Capabilities that are not part of the public open-source server may still be available on your infrastructure under a Speckle Enterprise Server license. What you are entitled to deploy is set out in your commercial agreement. In this docs section, start with Hosting Your Own Speckle Server, Deployment Options, and Enterprise License.