Meraki MS licensing: Enterprise, Advanced and subscription tiers

Why switches need a licence

Meraki states that all current Meraki products need valid licensing to operate. For switches, the licence is what keeps them managed in the Meraki dashboard and entitled to firmware and Meraki support. If licensing lapses in a co-term organisation, there is a 30-day grace period, during which users see no difference, and then the organisation's networks shut down until it is licensed again; see what happens when a Meraki licence expires.

Which rules apply to your switches depends on your organisation's licensing model. You cannot mix models in one organisation. Our Meraki licensing models guide explains how to tell which one you are on.

Co-term MS licences: one per switch model

Switch licensing under co-term is stricter than access point licensing. According to Meraki's co-term documentation:

• Licences are per model. Every MS model has its own licence, and a licence for one model will not cover another. This applies even between PoE and non-PoE versions of the same switch.
• Licences are not transferable between models. If you replace a switch with a different model, you need the licence for the new model.
• Licences add to the organisation's limit. A licence is not tied to a serial number; it raises the number of that model you can use in the organisation. Switches sitting in inventory but not in a network do not count.
• Terms: 1, 3, 5, 7 and 10 years, with the exception that one compact series' Advanced licence is not offered in 7 or 10-year terms.
• Shared expiry: as with every co-term licence, the term you buy feeds into the organisation's single co-termination date. See co-term licensing.

The practical upshot: when you add switches or change models, check that the licence count for each model covers what is deployed, or the organisation drops into its grace period.

MS Enterprise vs MS Advanced

Meraki lists the Advanced licence as available only on specific switch families, including its newer compact and access series and selected cloud-managed Catalyst switches, and not on most older MS series. If you want Adaptive Policy across your network, the switch family matters as much as the licence; we can check your current and planned switches against Meraki's list.

Subscription: Essentials and Advantage for switching

Under subscription licensing, switches are not licensed model by model. Meraki groups switch hardware into licence classes by switch class and size (small, medium and large), and one subscription licence covers any switch in that class. Licences are bound to networks rather than the whole organisation, terms run from 12 to 84 months with start and end dates you choose, and you pick a tier per network:

Meraki lets organisations on Essentials trial Advantage features for 30 days. Our Essentials vs Advantage page compares the tiers across all product families.

Cisco Smart Switches and unified licences

Cisco's newest switches, the Cisco Smart Switches, are licensed through Cisco Networking Subscription with their own access and core licence classes. These unified licences are what allow the same hardware to run in Meraki cloud mode, in a mixed mode where licences and inventory sit in the Meraki dashboard while the switch is managed on premises, or fully on premises, depending on the family. Meraki notes that in regions where Cisco Networking Subscription is not yet available, these switches can be ordered with term licences in co-term instead, and those term licences are for cloud management only. Meraki also sets a 36-month minimum subscription term for the Smart Switches, against 12 months for Meraki MS and cloud-managed Catalyst switches.

If you are choosing between Meraki-native switching and Catalyst, see Cisco Meraki vs Catalyst and Catalyst in the Meraki dashboard.

Moving switches from co-term to subscription

Meraki describes Cisco Networking Subscription as the future of Cisco and Meraki licensing, and co-term organisations can move across when their licences come up for expiry. For switches, the main attractions are that one subscription licence covers any switch in its class, so replacing a switch with a different model in the same class needs no licence change, and that subscription enforcement applies only to the devices or networks out of compliance rather than the whole organisation.

What Meraki's conversion guide says to expect:

1. Conversion normally happens when your co-term licences reach their expiry date. Early conversion is possible within six to nine months of expiry through Meraki support.
2. The change is organisation-wide and cannot be reversed.
3. The dashboard can recommend the subscription licences and quantities your current devices need.
4. You can set the subscription's start date to follow the co-term expiry, so you do not pay for an overlap.
5. Claiming the subscription key converts the organisation; you then bind the subscription to your networks.

We can model both options for your switch estate and quote them side by side. See subscription licensing for the wider picture.

Common MS licensing mistakes

• Swapping a switch for a different model without buying the new model's licence in a co-term organisation.
• Counting switches, not licences: in co-term, compliance is measured per model against the licence limit, so a spare of a different model added to a network can trigger the grace period.
• Claiming a key as a renewal by mistake: in co-term, claiming as a renewal resets the licence limit to that key alone. Use 'license more devices' to add switches.
• Buying Advanced for switches that cannot use it: check the switch family first.
• Leaving renewal late: Meraki says renewal licence time starts counting down from the date of purchase, so there is nothing to gain by holding a key, and a lapsed organisation has only 30 days' grace. See Meraki licence renewal.

Getting MS licences from Forever Systems

The cost depends on the switch models or classes, the tier, the term and your licensing model. Forever Systems is a Cisco Partner and can quote MS licences on their own or with new switches, check your current licence position against what is deployed, and plan a move from co-term to subscription if that suits you better. For switch supply and installation see our Meraki switches service page, or contact us for a quote.