NetApp HCI software licensing is separate from hardware pricing. The decoupling provides a choice between per node and capacity pricing. The capacity pricing model allows usage of the licensed storage capacity across an entire enterprise (multiple sites, multiple solutions). Currently 25TB and 100TB packs exist.

There are no separate software editions with regards to NetApp HCI. Each node comes equiped with an all-inclusive feature set. This means that without exception all storage software capabilities are available for use.

NetApp HCI can be connected to NetApp Cloud Central to enable additional features and services such as Kubernetes-as-a-Service with NetApp Kubernetes Service and fileservices-as-a-Service with NetApp Cloud Volumes. Some cloud services come with an additional charge.

The NetApp HCI solution comes with a 90-day trial license for VMware, which allows the NetApp Deployment Engine (NDE) to install and configure the VMware software. VMware software licenses must be purchased separately.\