FAQ
Answers about running Pando, licensing and pricing.
General
What is Pando for?
Hosting the small apps people build, such as dashboards, internal tools and prototypes, and sharing them with the people who need them. See why Pando.
What does Pando need to run?
A machine with Docker or Podman. Apps can also run across several hosts or on Kubernetes. The quickstart covers installing it.
Does my data leave my server?
No. Pando has no hosted service behind it. The only outside services it talks to are the ones you connect, such as an identity provider or an AI model.
Do I need an AI provider?
No. AI features are optional, and they can use a local model.
Can people sign in with our identity provider?
Yes. Any OIDC or SAML provider, such as Okta, Microsoft Entra ID or Google, with SCIM to keep users and groups in sync.
Can an app be public?
Yes. Apps are private by default. Share one with people or groups, make it public, or make it public behind a passcode. Host policy decides which of those are allowed.
What isn’t Pando built for?
Business-critical systems and infrastructure, or services that need replication or autoscaling. See what Pando is built for.
How do I update Pando?
Pando shows what changed in each release and can upgrade itself in place, taking a backup first.
Licensing and pricing
Why the AGPL, and not MIT or Apache?
The AGPL keeps every version of Pando open. Anyone who changes Pando and offers it to others, including as a hosted service, has to publish their changes under the same license. That keeps every feature available to everyone, and means no one can turn Pando into a closed product and sell it. See our approach.
If Pando is free, why is there a commercial license?
Many companies don’t allow AGPL software, because it can require them to publish changes they make or how they use it. A commercial license lets them run Pando without those terms. It’s the same software, with the same features. Contributors sign a Contributor License Agreement so that their work can be offered under both licenses.
Does the AGPL apply to the apps I host?
No. It applies to Pando itself. Running your company’s internal tools on Pando doesn’t put them under the AGPL.
Can I modify Pando and keep my changes private?
Yes, if you only use it to host your own apps. You have to publish changes if you distribute Pando or run a modified version as a service for other people. A commercial license removes that requirement.
Is there a paid edition with more features?
No. There’s one release, and it includes SSO (OIDC and SAML) and SCIM. Support and managed hosting are services, not a different version. See our approach.
How is commercial pricing set?
It depends on how you plan to use Pando. Email [email protected] with a short description.
How are contributions licensed?
You keep the copyright. Before your first pull request is merged, you sign the Contributor License Agreement by posting a one-line comment. It gives the maintainer a license to your contribution under any terms, which is what makes a commercial license possible, and your contribution stays available under the AGPL.
Still have a question?
Email [email protected].