SAP HANA Runtime vs. Full-Use License
Introduction
Understanding the difference between a SAP HANA Runtime license and a Full-Use license is critical for organizations using SAP. Making the wrong choice can lead to unnecessary costs or compliance risks. A HANA Runtime license is a restricted-use license intended to run SAP applications on HANA.
In contrast, a Full-Use HANA license permits broader usage of the HANA database beyond SAP applications. This distinction matters because it impacts what you can do with the HANA platform and how much you pay.
IT decision-makers must grasp these differences to license HANA appropriately for their business needs and avoid surprises during audits.
What Is a HANA Runtime License?
The HANA Runtime license (sometimes called “limited runtime”) allows you to use HANA strictly as the database for SAP software (such as SAP S/4HANA, SAP Business Suite, or SAP BW). It comes at a lower cost and is often calculated as a percentage of the SAP application’s value rather than per gigabyte of memory.
For example, many SAP products require roughly 15% of the application’s license value as the HANA runtime database fee. The runtime license’s key limitation is that it cannot be used for non-SAP data or applications. All data access, modeling, and operations on the HANA database must occur through the SAP application’s interface and tools.
You cannot directly connect third-party tools or create custom schemas in a runtime-licensed HANA instance. Essentially, the runtime license is cost-effective for customers who only need HANA to support their SAP systems, but it locks down the HANA environment to prevent standalone use.
What Is a HANA Full-Use License?
The HANA Full-Use license (also known as HANA Enterprise Edition or Platform license) provides unrestricted access to HANA’s capabilities. With a full-use license, your organization can use HANA for any purpose – including SAP, third-party, or custom applications – without the strict limitations imposed by the runtime license.
This license is typically measured by the amount of HANA memory (GB of RAM) you license. You purchase a certain amount of HANA capacity and can deploy it for any workload. Full-use licenses are significantly more expensive than runtime licenses because they unlock the entire HANA platform’s potential.
You have no functional restrictions on data access or development: you can freely connect non-SAP systems or direct query tools to HANA.
This flexibility comes at a premium price—SAP often sells HANA full-use licenses at the list price per GB (with little discount). Companies choose full use when they want HANA as a general-purpose database beyond accelerating SAP applications.
Read about SAP Hana Memory-Based Licensing and Sizing.
Key Differences
- Usage Restrictions: The runtime license only allows SAP applications to use HANA. Under a runtime license, you cannot directly use HANA for third-party or custom applications. By contrast, the full-use license allows any application or user to leverage HANA, including loading non-SAP data and direct access by external tools, with no data modeling or integration restrictions.
- Pricing & Cost: Runtime licensing is tied to SAP software value (a percentage of your SAP application’s price, essentially a database add-on). This makes runtime generally cheaper initially. Full-use licensing is based on the HANA database size (memory capacity) and typically comes at a higher cost. SAP positions the full-use license as a premium product, often sold at standard rates per GB without deep discounts.
Real-World Example
For example, one manufacturing company ran SAP ERP on HANA with a runtime license. Later, their analytics team connected a third-party BI tool to the HANA database to run complex queries.
This direct access was outside the scope of the runtime license. During a software audit, SAP’s tools detected the non-compliant usage, and the company was required to purchase a full-use HANA license for that environment – an unplanned expense in the millions.
This scenario underscores how using a runtime license beyond its allowed scope can lead to costly compliance issues. By contrast, another organization knew from the start that they wanted HANA as an enterprise-wide data platform.
They opted for the full-use license upfront, accepting the higher cost in exchange for the freedom to integrate multiple data sources and build custom applications on HANA without legal constraints. In their case, the full-use license enabled innovation but required careful planning to control memory usage and cost.
Recommendations
- Use Runtime for SAP-Only: The runtime license is the most cost-effective choice if you only use HANA to support SAP applications (and nothing else). Be diligent about its restrictions: educate your team that no external or custom solutions may directly access the HANA database. Monitor usage to ensure all interactions remain within the SAP application environment.
- Use Full-Use for Flexibility: If you anticipate the need to use HANA beyond standard SAP apps – either now or shortly – opt for a full-use license. While it comes at a higher cost, it will allow you to leverage HANA for any data or application without legal constraints. This is often the better long-term solution if you plan to integrate diverse data sources or develop custom HANA-based applications.
- Regularly Review Compliance: Whichever license you choose, perform periodic reviews or audits of your HANA usage. Verify that you remain within the permitted usage (no unauthorized third-party access on runtime, and within memory limits on full use). Being proactive helps avoid surprises; if your needs have outgrown a runtime license, address it with SAP before it becomes an audit issue.
