Control CoreDocs

Subscription Management

This guide explains how to view and manage your Control Core subscription and how the commercial model relates to license connection and telemetry.

Commercial model (Kickstart and Custom)

Control Core is sold as two tiers—Kickstart (zero-cost pilot to prove value) and Custom (scaled production and advanced options)—as described on controlcore.io/pricing. There is no vendor-hosted Control Plane product line; the platform always runs on infrastructure you operate.

Why this matters for operations teams

  • Policy managers, compliance officers, security engineers, CIAM administrators, and auditors can use authoring, testing, simulation, promotion, and review workflows without a commercial story tied to per-seat or per-authorization-decision metering.
  • Spend tracks protected infrastructure: commercial alignment is to deployed Bouncers (enforcement instances in front of APIs, apps, data paths, AI routes, and similar). Adding users or increasing decision volume does not change that narrative.
  • Velocity and control: central PBAC shortens time-to-production for new services, keeps enforcement consistent across legacy and AI-facing paths, and preserves strong audit evidence—so platform investment converts into faster delivery and better governed change.

Your subscription tier in the admin UI still determines license-server integration and any pilot boundaries; feature gates for testing and production promotion follow License enforcement.

Overview

Your subscription tier determines:

  • Pilot vs production packaging (Kickstart vs Custom)
  • License Server connection requirements
  • Policy testing and production deployment gates when license verification is required

Viewing Your Subscription

Accessing Subscription Settings

  1. Log in to the Control Core admin console
  2. Navigate to Settings → General
  3. Click on the Subscription tab

Understanding Your Current Plan

The Subscription page displays:

  • Current Plan: Active tier (Kickstart or Custom)
  • Plan Features: Capabilities included in your agreement
  • Trial / pilot status: If on Kickstart, pilot window and reminders when applicable
  • License Server Connection: Status of connection to Control Core License Server

Subscription tiers

Kickstart

Typical use: Proof of value on a single-instance footprint in your environment (see Kickstart deployment).

Platform use: Policy authoring, sandbox and production environments (as enabled), testing and promotion when license connection and status allow.

Pilot: Kickstart is the structured pilot path; when the pilot window ends, continue on Custom or as agreed with Control Core.

Custom

Typical use: Production scale—multiple instances, larger Bouncer fleets, HA patterns (Enterprise deployment, scaling).

Platform use: Full feature set per your agreement; same principle—Bouncer count is the primary commercial dimension, not headcount of policy authors.

License Server Connection

Why connection may be required

The Control Plane may require a connection to the License Server for:

  • Subscription verification
  • Feature gating (for example policy testing and production promotion)
  • Pilot / subscription state sync

Without License Server connection

If License Server is not connected (and your build enforces it):

  • You may be able to create and edit policies
  • Policy testing and production promotion may be blocked until connection is valid

Connecting to License Server

  1. Navigate to Settings → General → Telemetry tab
  2. Configure License Admin URL (for example https://business-admin.controlcore.io)
  3. Enter your API Key (provided by Control Core)
  4. Click Test Connection
  5. Click Save

See Telemetry Management.

Managing your subscription

Contacting support

Bouncers and billing

Deployed Bouncers are reported through telemetry for reconciliation and invoicing (see License management). Operational guidance for many Bouncers: Multiple bouncers.

Troubleshooting

Subscription not displaying correctly

  1. Verify License Server connection
  2. Check Settings → General → Telemetry
  3. Contact support if the tier or pilot state is wrong after sync

Trial / pilot expired

  1. Confirm dates on the Subscription page
  2. Contact support@controlcore.io to move to Custom or extend pilot per agreement

Cannot test or promote policies

  1. Verify License Server connection
  2. Confirm subscription tier is active
  3. Use Test Connection on the Telemetry tab