Why midPoint cost of ownership starts with the absence of an enterprise edition
If you are comparing a licensed identity governance product with midPoint, the first thing to understand is that midPoint has no license fee to pay. Evolveum states that midPoint has no enterprise edition and that every line of its code is published under open source licenses, so there is no paid tier that unlocks features. The money you spend on midPoint sits elsewhere: Evolveum subscriptions if you choose them, implementation work, hosting, and the people who run the platform day to day. Your comparison should therefore set a licensed product's annual fee against a total that includes those four components, not against zero.
Evolveum funds development through subscriptions, training and professional services, and its midPoint developers work on the product full-time. Its support subscriptions come in two kinds. Product Support covers resolution of product bugs, with an 8x5 next-business-day or 24x7 service level. Platform Subscriptions add feature development and influence over the roadmap. The support page does not publish prices, so you should ask Evolveum for a written quote covering the subscription level, the number of environments, and the term. Confirm whether the quote is per year or per multi-year period, and whether it includes upgrades to new feature releases.
Most organizations we see run midPoint in one of three ways: fully in-house, with an external partner, or in a mix. A fully in-house model suits teams that already have Java, PostgreSQL and identity engineering skills and can absorb an on-call rota for a security-critical system. A partner model suits teams that need a fixed-scope build, a faster start or occasional specialist help. The mixed model is common: the internal team owns configuration and daily operations, while a partner or Evolveum covers defect escalation, upgrades and specialist connector work. The right answer depends on how many people you can dedicate, how quickly you need bugs fixed, and how much after-hours coverage your regulator or internal policy expects.
Before you build a cost model, write down three answers. First, which skills you hold today in Java 21 or 25 runtime operations, PostgreSQL administration and connector configuration. Second, what response time your business requires when a provisioning job fails during an HR event such as a leaver run. Third, which environments you need: development, test, production and possibly a disaster recovery copy. These answers determine whether the subscription tier, the partner retainer and the staffing line are small or large. Ask your shortlist for a breakdown that shows who is paid for each component and what recurs each year.
What a midPoint cost of ownership study includes
A cost of ownership study turns midPoint's open-source licensing into a budget your organization can defend. Each card below is one part of the work, and together they produce a model that separates what you pay once from what you pay every year. DeployOpen does not publish prices, so every figure in the model comes from your own inputs, and the deliverables are written so a quote can be requested against them.
Cost model across one-time and recurring lines
The model lists every cost line and marks it as one-time or recurring. One-time lines include implementation services, connector development and initial data correlation. Recurring lines include infrastructure, database operations, subscriptions and the identity team's time. For each line, the study records who is paid, what they deliver and which input drives the amount, so the total can be checked line by line.
Edition and support decision
midPoint has no enterprise edition, so the decision is which support path to buy. Product Support covers resolution of product bugs with an 8x5 next-business-day or 24x7 SLA. Platform Subscriptions add feature development and roadmap influence. The study compares these options against your outage tolerance, your release cadence and your need for influence on features, and records the choice as a decision with its reasons.
Infrastructure sizing for the chosen topology
Sizing follows the topology you select, such as a single node or a multi-node cluster behind a sticky HTTP load balancer with a shared PostgreSQL repository. The study estimates compute, storage, database capacity, backup targets and environments for test and staging. It also notes the Java runtime you will run, since midPoint 4.11 and later recommend Java 25 and earlier releases recommend Java 21, and confirms the sizing with your infrastructure team before any figure enters the model.
Staffing model for the identity team
The staffing model estimates the roles needed to run midPoint after go-live: configuration owners, connector administrators, database and platform operators, and reviewers for access certification. For each role it states whether the work is internal, supplied through a partner retainer, or bought as Evolveum support. The model shows the time each role spends on upgrades, connector changes and periodic reviews, so the recurring labor cost is visible.
Comparison basis against licensed IGA products
A fair comparison uses the same scope on both sides: the same identity sources, target systems, lifecycle rules, approvals and certification campaigns. The study lists the licensed IGA products you are evaluating and asks each vendor for a written quote on that scope. It then sets the license and maintenance fees beside the midPoint lines above, and flags any capability you would need to confirm before assuming parity.
Assumptions register and quote-ready scope
Every input and assumption is recorded in an assumptions register with its owner, its source and the date it was confirmed. Examples include user counts, number of target systems, expected change volume and upgrade frequency. The study closes with a quote-ready scope that states what a partner should price, which items are excluded and which values you must confirm, so a fixed-scope quote can be compared with your internal estimate.
What moves midPoint cost up or down
This table lists the factors that change how much effort, infrastructure and ongoing team time a midPoint deployment needs, and what keeps each one manageable. Read it as a checklist for scoping: the rows with the widest spread between a small and a large estate are the ones to size first. Because midPoint has no enterprise edition, most of the cost sits in implementation, connectors and the team that runs the platform rather than in a license fee.
| Driver | Why it moves cost | What keeps it down |
|---|---|---|
| User population and identity sources | More identities and more authoritative HR or directory sources mean more reconciliation, correlation rules and data quality work during the initial load and in steady state. | Agree one authoritative HR source for lifecycle events and limit secondary sources to clearly defined attributes. |
| Number and type of target systems | Each target needs its own connector configuration, mappings, testing and upkeep. Connectors differ in maturity, from documented ones such as LDAP and Active Directory to community or experimental ones. | Prioritize systems by business risk, favor supported ConnId connectors, and defer low-value targets to later phases. |
| Connector maturity (ConnId) | Community and experimental connectors may need more custom testing, patching or in-house maintenance than supported connectors such as LDAP, Active Directory, SCIM2 or Microsoft Entra ID. | Check each connector's status in the Evolveum catalog before the quote and budget for custom work where status is community or experimental. |
| Role model and approval complexity | Many business roles, nested assignments and multi-step approvals take longer to design, validate with owners and keep correct as the organization changes. | Start with a small set of business roles, standardize approval paths and add exceptions only when the business case is documented. |
| Customization | Custom object templates, schema extensions, expressions, archetypes and custom forms add design, testing and upgrade-regression effort. | Use standard configuration first and keep custom code small, documented and version controlled. |
| Compliance evidence needs | Access certification campaigns, audit trail retention and evidence exports require configuration, sign-off workflows and repeatable reporting for assessors. | Define the control evidence list early, and agree which reports are generated by midPoint and which are produced manually. |
| Release track (LTS or feature) | A long-term support release gives a longer support window with fewer forced upgrades. A feature release brings newer capabilities but shorter support and more frequent upgrade testing. | Choose the track against the support window in the release table and plan a recurring upgrade test cycle either way. |
| Support model | Evolveum Product Support covers product bugs with an 8x5 or 24x7 SLA, while Platform Subscriptions add feature development. Partner work and in-house operations are separate cost lines. | Compare the subscription tier to the operating hours your organization needs and avoid paying for coverage you will not use. |
| High availability requirements | A multi-node setup needs a sticky load balancer, a shared PostgreSQL repository, cache invalidation between nodes, distributed task scheduling and database failover, each with its own testing. | Confirm the availability target in writing before design, and start with the topology that meets it rather than a larger one. |
| Environment type (VM, Docker, Kubernetes) | Virtual machines or Docker images on Linux are simpler to start with. Kubernetes adds cluster operation, persistent storage and ingress skills that the team must already have or acquire. | Match the platform to skills your team runs today, and confirm which Java and PostgreSQL versions the chosen release requires. |
| Air-gapped networks | Without outbound internet access, connector libraries, container images, updates and documentation must be mirrored internally, and upgrades need a controlled transfer process. | Ask for an offline update and artifact plan during scoping and include transfer and testing time in the quote. |
| Number of environments | Each extra environment for development, test, staging and production repeats installation, data loading and regression testing. | Keep environments few, use automated configuration deployment and refresh test data on a fixed schedule. |
How midPoint is licensed, supported and funded
midPoint's code is licensed under the European Union Public License (EUPL-1.2), with Apache 2.0 as a secondary license. Evolveum states that midPoint has no enterprise edition: every line of midPoint code is published under open source licenses, and the project describes itself as open source rather than open core. For a cost model, this means there is no license fee to budget for the software itself. Your recurring costs sit in support, the infrastructure that runs it, and the team that operates it. Ask your legal or procurement team to confirm how EUPL-1.2 obligations apply to any modifications you plan to distribute, particularly if you extend connectors or the user interface.
Evolveum funds midPoint development through subscriptions, training and professional services, and states that midPoint developers work on the product full-time. Two subscription types are described on its support page. Product Support covers resolution of product bugs, with an 8x5 next-business-day or 24x7 service level. Platform Subscriptions add feature development and influence over the roadmap. The two address different needs: one protects you when the product misbehaves, the other shapes what the product becomes. Decide which of these you need before you request pricing, because they are priced separately and neither is required to run midPoint.
Evolveum's support subscriptions page lists no prices. Treat any figure you see in a third-party article as unverified and request a written quote from Evolveum that states the subscription type, the service level, the number of covered deployments or environments, the term, and whether renewal is automatic. Ask whether production, test and disaster recovery environments are counted separately. Ask what happens to coverage if you run a release that has passed its support end date, because that determines whether you must upgrade before renewing.
The release track you choose affects recurring cost more than almost any other decision in this area. midPoint 4.8 (Curie) is a long-term support release, supported until 17 October 2028. midPoint 4.10 (Braille) is a feature release supported until 26 November 2027. midPoint 4.9 support ends on 18 October 2026, and midPoint 4.11 (Čapek) is planned for 21 October 2026. Staying on a track that is nearing end of support means either paying to extend coverage, accepting unsupported risk, or paying for an upgrade on short notice. Choosing a long-term release lowers the frequency of upgrade projects, but it does not remove them, so model the cost of one upgrade per support window across your planning horizon.
Upgrade frequency also drives the internal cost. Each move to a new release can bring Java changes, since midPoint recommends Java 25 for 4.11 and later and Java 21 for 4.10 and older, along with connector and configuration testing. Budget your identity team's time for regression testing against each connected system, not only for the platform upgrade itself. Ask any implementation partner to price upgrades as separate line items from initial build, and confirm whether the quote includes Java runtime changes and connector version checks.
How the cost model is built, step by step
This sequence turns a midPoint deployment into a cost model that separates the open-source platform from the people, infrastructure and support around it, so the total can be compared with a licensed IGA quote on the same scope.
Inventory identity sources and target systems
List every authoritative source of identities, such as HR or directory systems, and every target system that will receive accounts, groups or roles. For each one, record the connector midPoint would need, whether a documented ConnId connector exists in the Evolveum catalog, and whether the connector is supported, community or experimental. Custom connectors and scripted integrations are flagged for separate effort. The output is a dated inventory that both your team and the implementation partner sign off, because it sets the connector count that drives later build and support effort.
Size users, environments and topology
Count identities by type, including employees, contractors, service accounts and leavers still in retention, and estimate how many assignments and changes each day would flow through the system. Define the environments you need (production, test, and any staging for connector changes) and the topology: a single node or a multi-node cluster behind a sticky load balancer, with a separate PostgreSQL database server. The output is a sizing sheet that the infrastructure estimate in a later step reads from. Ask the partner to state the sizing assumptions in writing so the figures can be revisited.
Map staffing and skills for the identity team
Identify the roles the platform needs to run: an identity architect, a midPoint administrator, someone who owns connectors and target system knowledge, database and Linux operations support, and an owner for access certification and audit evidence. For each role, note whether it is filled internally, covered by a partner, or unfilled. Staff cost is usually the largest recurring line in an open-source identity program, so this map shows how much of the effort is internal and where skills must be bought or trained. The output is a role-by-role coverage table with the time each role is expected to spend, confirmed by the people who will do the work.
Select subscription and support options
Decide which Evolveum support level fits the risk profile: Product Support for resolving product bugs, with either an 8x5 next-business-day or 24x7 SLA, and whether a Platform Subscription that adds feature development and roadmap influence is worth the cost. Choose the midPoint release line as well, since long-term support and feature releases have different support end dates and affect how often upgrades happen. Evolveum's support page does not list prices, so request the current figures in writing for the chosen level. The output is a documented choice, with the reasons, and a note on how partner support would sit alongside it.
Estimate the infrastructure cost
Price the compute for midPoint nodes, either as virtual machines on Linux or as containers from the Docker images, sized for the topology from the earlier step. Add the PostgreSQL database on its own server, the load balancer, the non-production environments, backup storage and retention, and the high availability design for both application nodes and the database. Confirm the Java version the chosen release requires, since that affects the base image and patching work. The output is an infrastructure estimate split into one-time setup and recurring hosting, with each line tied to a sizing assumption and the cloud or data center rate you actually pay.
Compare against licensed IGA quotes
Ask two or three licensed identity governance vendors to price the same scope: the same sources, targets, user counts, environments, approval and certification features and support hours. Put their license, subscription, implementation and annual support costs beside the open-source model, using the same time horizon and the same staffing and infrastructure assumptions. Note what each side includes that the other does not, such as vendor-hosted options, bundled connectors or roadmap commitments. The output is a side-by-side comparison on one scope, which is the only fair basis for the decision. Ask each vendor to state its price basis in writing.
Sign off the model with assumptions and review dates
Assemble the inventory, sizing, staffing map, subscription choice, infrastructure estimate and comparison into one model. Record each assumption with its owner and the event that would change it, such as a new source, a connector moving status, or a release reaching end of support. Set review dates tied to those events and to the platform's release calendar. The model is complete when the budget owner and the identity lead have both signed it and the implementation partner has confirmed the written scope, including a timeline, which you should request explicitly because this page does not set one.
Which parts of midPoint cost to keep in-house and which to outsource
This table compares each midPoint cost line with the team that should own it and the skill it requires. Read it as a checklist: any row without a named owner is a cost that will likely slip. The main takeaway is that the platform's license cost is the smallest part of the total, and the largest risks sit in ongoing identity administration and skills that few teams hold in-house.
| Cost line | Who should own it | Skill it requires | Risk of underestimating it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Identity team administration and role governance | In-house, ongoing | IGA concepts, HR joiner-mover-leaver process knowledge, role and certification ownership | Roles and access rules drift from HR and business intent, and certification campaigns become rubber-stamping |
| Evolveum subscriptions | Bought directly from Evolveum, with an internal owner | Vendor management and ticket triage, deciding between Product Support and Platform Subscriptions | Bugs stall because no one triages tickets or ties them to upgrade plans |
| Initial implementation and connector build | Often outsourced, with in-house review | Java, ConnId connector development, PostgreSQL schema and tuning knowledge | Connectors built without full correlation and error handling cause data quality issues after go-live |
| Infrastructure operations | In-house or hosting provider | Linux administration, container or virtual machine operations, PostgreSQL backup and restore | Backups are never restore-tested, and patching lags behind supported Java and midPoint releases |
| Upgrade testing before each release | Shared between identity team and implementation partner | Regression testing of configuration and connectors, Java runtime changes, release notes review | Skipping regression tests on connectors breaks provisioning silently after an upgrade |
| Java runtime and platform currency | In-house, linked to upgrade planning | Tracking midPoint's recommended Java versions per release line | Running an unsupported Java version forces an emergency upgrade on a fixed deadline |
What midPoint costs after go-live every year
The recurring cost of midPoint is not a single license line. Evolveum states that midPoint has no enterprise edition, so the software itself carries no fee, and the ongoing budget is made up of several separate lines that should be priced individually. The first is an optional Evolveum subscription: either Product Support for resolving product bugs or a Platform Subscription that adds feature development and roadmap influence. Evolveum's subscription page lists no prices, so this figure comes from a written quote. Beyond that, expect recurring spend on hosting for the application nodes and the PostgreSQL database, database operations such as patching, monitoring and tuning, storage for backups and disaster recovery copies, and the identity team's time. Record each line as an annual figure with its basis written down.
The release line you run decides how often you upgrade. midPoint 4.8 (Curie) is a long-term support release supported until 17 October 2028. midPoint 4.10 (Braille) is a feature release supported until 26 November 2027, and 4.9 support ends on 18 October 2026. The next feature release, 4.11 (Čapek), is planned for 21 October 2026 according to the releases page. A deployment on a feature line must move to a newer release within its support window, so upgrade work, including regression testing of mappings, roles and connectors, recurs more often. An LTS line lengthens the interval between upgrades but still requires a planned move before its end date. Ask Evolveum for the current support calendar at the time of your quote, because published dates can change.
Java requirements can force platform work even when the features you use do not change. Evolveum recommends Java 21 for midPoint 4.10 and older, with Java 17 supported, and Java 25 for 4.11 and later, with Java 21 supported. A move to 4.11 therefore means a JDK change on every application node, which touches the operating system image, the container base or the VM template, and the patching cycle that goes with it. Budget for a regression pass over connectors and custom scripts after any runtime change. Confirm with Evolveum and your operating system vendor that the JDK build you plan to use is supported on your platform before the change window is booked.
When you compare midPoint with a licensed identity governance product, separate one-time costs from recurring costs and show them in separate columns. One-time costs include design, initial implementation, connector build, data migration and the first certification campaign. Recurring costs include the Evolveum subscription if you choose one, hosting, database operations, backup storage, upgrade testing, connector maintenance, certification campaign operations and the identity team. A licensed product often adds an annual license and maintenance charge that recurs alongside the same operational lines. Compare recurring totals across the full contract term, not only the first year. Ask each vendor and partner to put the recurring items in writing, state the assumptions behind each one, and explain what changes when a release or a target system changes.
Where midPoint cost models usually go wrong
Most midPoint cost estimates fail in the same places: the license line looks empty, so people assume the project is free, and the people and support costs that remain get left out. The cards below name six recurring errors and the check that prevents each one in a cost model for midPoint cost of ownership and editions.
Treating zero license cost as zero total cost
Evolveum states that midPoint has no enterprise edition, so the software itself carries no license fee. That does not make the platform free to run. Build the model around the remaining lines: implementation, infrastructure, the identity team, and support. Ask every bidder and internal estimate to show each of these as a separate line, with the recurring ones marked as annual.
Leaving out the identity team's time
midPoint needs people who understand role models, HR-driven lifecycle, connector behavior and certification campaigns. Those people are often existing staff whose time is not charged to the project, so the cost disappears from the model. Estimate their hours per month for operations, change requests and upgrades, and show who is paid for that time, whether internal staff, Evolveum, or a partner.
Choosing a feature release without a support plan
midPoint 4.8 is a long-term support release supported until 17 October 2028, while 4.10 is a feature release supported until 26 November 2027. A feature release can be the right choice, but its shorter support window creates upgrade work on a fixed schedule. Compare the upgrade effort per year for each release line, and confirm which Evolveum Product Support or Platform Subscription covers the version you run.
Underestimating connector work for community connectors
midPoint uses the ConnId framework, and its documented connectors range from supported to community and experimental status. Connectors outside the supported set may need more configuration, testing and maintenance time, and fewer vendor fixes. For each target system, record the connector's status in the Evolveum catalog, then add build and test effort to the model, including the effort to keep the connector working after upgrades.
Omitting high availability and backup costs
A multi-node midPoint deployment needs a sticky HTTP load balancer, a shared central database, cache invalidation between nodes, and distributed task scheduling through Quartz. Each node, the PostgreSQL server, its high availability design and its backups carry infrastructure and operations costs that a single-node estimate leaves out. Ask for the node count, database topology, backup retention and restore test frequency to appear in the quote.
Comparing fixed-scope work with an open-ended retainer
A fixed-scope implementation has an agreed scope, deliverables and timeline before work starts. An ongoing retainer covers support, upgrades or continuous work with no defined end. Comparing the two as if they were the same line item hides the difference. Put the implementation, the first year of support and the later years of operation side by side, and state what each option includes and when it ends.
What the client must provide before a midPoint cost estimate
A midPoint cost estimate depends on inputs that only the client can supply, and the first is an identity source inventory. List each authoritative source, such as the HR system, contractor registry and existing directories, with the attributes midPoint would read, the system of record for each attribute and the team that owns it. Without this list, no one can tell how many inbound mappings the project needs or whether a second source changes the correlation rules. Record which sources can send change events and which only provide full extracts, because that choice affects both connector work and the scheduled synchronization tasks that the infrastructure must run.
Next, provide a target system list with a named owner for each system. For every target, state the product and version, where it is hosted, whether it is Active Directory, LDAP, Microsoft Entra ID through the Graph API, a SCIM2 application, a database table or a CSV file, and whether Evolveum documents a supported connector for it. Connector status in the integration catalog ranges from supported to community and experimental, so a community connector changes the risk and the effort. Also provide joiner, mover and leaver volumes for a typical month and a peak month, plus the total identity count. These figures drive cluster sizing, reconciliation run time and the number of recurring reviews the team will operate.
Ask for current identity governance or provisioning contracts, including license terms, maintenance renewals, per-identity or per-connector fees, professional services agreements and notice periods. midPoint has no enterprise edition, so the comparison is not license against license. The recurring cost is an Evolveum support or platform subscription, which Evolveum sells without a published price list, plus infrastructure, implementation and staff. Request the subscription quote in writing, and ask the current vendor to itemize what its renewal covers, including connectors, reporting and environments. A like-for-like comparison is only possible when both sides list the same components and the same exit dates.
Hosting standards decide which parts of the design are allowed. Provide the approved cloud accounts or data centers, whether Linux virtual machines or Docker images are accepted, whether a managed PostgreSQL service is permitted for the repository, and which Java runtime the platform team supports. midPoint recommends Java 25 for version 4.11 and later and Java 21 for version 4.10 and older, so the runtime your team can support limits the releases you can plan. Also list the compliance obligations that will drive evidence work, such as periodic access review, audit trail retention and reporting requirements, and confirm them with the people who will be audited. Evidence work adds configuration, reporting and retention effort that is easy to leave out of a first estimate.
Name an owner for each decision before the estimate is final: the release track, the Evolveum subscription tier and the approver for scope changes. For the release track, the choice is between the long-term support release 4.8, supported until 17 October 2028, and feature releases such as 4.10, supported until 26 November 2027, with 4.11 planned for 21 October 2026. For the subscription, the choice is between Product Support, with an 8x5 next-business-day or 24x7 SLA, and a Platform Subscription that adds feature development and roadmap influence. Also list the internal staff who will run midPoint after go-live, with their roles and expected time commitment, and state whether each person is already employed, contracted or still to be hired. Missing inputs are the main reason estimates change after a quote is issued, because an unnamed connector owner, an unstated volume or an absent approver usually surfaces during discovery and moves both the price and the schedule.
Questions buyers ask about midPoint cost of ownership
Does midPoint cost money to license?
No, the midPoint software carries no license fee. Evolveum publishes every line of midPoint code under open source licenses. The repository is licensed under the EUPL-1.2 with Apache 2.0 as a secondary license, and Evolveum states that midPoint has no enterprise edition. Your spending therefore sits elsewhere: implementation, infrastructure, the identity team that operates the platform, and any optional Evolveum subscriptions. Ask your legal team to confirm how the EUPL-1.2 applies to any modifications you plan to distribute, since obligations depend on how you use and share the code. Treat the license as the zero line in the cost model and build every other line from there.
What do Evolveum subscriptions cover, and how much do they cost?
Evolveum sells two kinds of subscription, and its support page does not list prices. Product Support covers resolution of product bugs under either an 8x5 next-business-day SLA or a 24x7 SLA. Platform Subscriptions add feature development and influence over the roadmap. To get prices, request a written quote from Evolveum for the tier, SLA and scope you need. Ask which midPoint release lines the subscription covers, whether it applies to the long-term support track, and how your coverage changes if you move to a different tier during the year.
How long does a midPoint cost model take to produce?
The time depends on how much of your environment is known when the work starts, so no fixed duration applies. A cost model follows the scope: HR sources, target systems, role model, approval and certification needs, and rollout phases. Ask for the timeline in writing with dated milestones and the inputs you must supply for each one. Request line items that separate one-time work from recurring costs, state who is paid for each item, and list exclusions. Ask for the assumptions on connector count, environments and infrastructure sizing, and confirm that the model names the midPoint release track and Java version it assumes.
What does a midPoint project need from our own team?
A midPoint project needs named owners on your side for several functions that a partner cannot supply. Expect owners for HR source data, for each target system, and for the directory or cloud tenant that midPoint will provision into. You also need a security owner to approve administrator authorizations and credential handling, a database administrator for the PostgreSQL repository, and an infrastructure team for virtual machines or containers and the load balancer. Business approvers must sign off the role model and certification campaigns. Agree on joiner, mover and leaver rules early, because rework often traces back to rules that nobody owned. Ask the partner to list these roles and the time each owner should expect to give, in writing.
Can our own staff run midPoint without a partner?
Yes, if your team has the skills and capacity to own the platform over the long term. The question is staffing rather than licensing. Operating midPoint means maintaining a Java application on Linux or Docker, a PostgreSQL repository, connector configuration and the mappings that drive provisioning. Upgrades require testing configuration and connectors against the new release, and Java requirements change between release lines. Check whether your team can cover on-call duty, the upgrade calendar and key-person risk if one engineer leaves. Evolveum subscriptions and partner retainers can each cover part of this work, and you can combine them. Decide based on a written skills review and an operating plan.
How does midPoint total cost compare with licensed IGA products?
Compare total cost of ownership across the same scope, including license fees, support, connectors, services and staff. A licensed IGA product usually places a license or subscription fee at the center of its price, and that fee may include connectors, support or hosted components depending on the contract. midPoint moves more of the spend into implementation, infrastructure and the team that runs it, and those costs depend heavily on your environment. Ask each vendor for a written breakdown of licenses, support, connectors, implementation, infrastructure, upgrades and staff effort over the same period. Note which connectors and features each product includes, because a gap in one list often becomes a paid add-on or a custom build in the other.
Which midPoint release track should we budget for?
Budget for the long-term support track unless you need a specific feature on a shorter cycle. midPoint 4.8 (Curie) is a long-term support release, supported until 17 October 2028. midPoint 4.10 (Braille) is a feature release supported until 26 November 2027, and midPoint 4.9 support ends on 18 October 2026. midPoint 4.11 (Čapek) is a feature release planned for 21 October 2026 according to the releases page. Check the Java requirement before you choose: midPoint recommends Java 25 for 4.11 and later, with Java 21 supported, and Java 21 for 4.10 and older, with Java 17 supported. Confirm the current status on the releases page before you fix the plan.
What happens to our cost if we later move to a feature release?
Plan for a recurring upgrade cost, because feature releases have shorter support windows and change more often. Each move to a feature release adds regression testing of configuration and connectors, change control for the cycle, and a Java upgrade where the release requires a newer runtime. Your Evolveum subscription may also need to change, so ask whether your tier covers the feature track and what keeping up with it costs. Budget for a repeating upgrade cycle rather than a single project cost. Ask the partner or Evolveum to estimate the work for each upgrade in writing, and tie the plan to the support end dates for the release you run.
How DeployOpen builds a midPoint cost model with clients
midPoint has no enterprise edition, so its cost of ownership is built from components you can name: Evolveum subscriptions if you buy them, infrastructure in your environment, implementation work and the identity team that runs it. DeployOpen plans that model with you in writing before any work starts, so each cost line has an owner, a basis and a review point. Engagements are fixed-scope, and ongoing support is available as a retainer.
How we scope
- The written scope lists each midPoint cost line: Evolveum subscriptions, hosting, implementation and internal staffing.
- We record whether you need an Evolveum Product Support or Platform Subscription, and the reason for that choice.
- The scope names the HR sources, target systems and connectors included, so the cost basis is explicit before quoting.
How we build
- We build a cost model that separates one-time items, such as implementation, from recurring items, such as subscriptions and hosting.
- We size PostgreSQL, Java and virtual machine or Docker hosting against midPoint's published system requirements.
- We test the chosen midPoint release line against your planned connectors and Java version before the model assumes it.
How we hand over
- You receive the cost model with its assumptions, named owners and the recurring items to review each year.
- The handover states which release line and Evolveum support level the model assumes, including each line's published support end date.
- A short runbook sets out who reviews subscriptions, upgrades, licences and infrastructure spend, and how often.
How we support
- Ongoing support and upgrades can run as a retainer, so recurring costs stay visible after the project closes.
- We revisit the model when a release line reaches end of support, such as midPoint 4.9 in October 2026.
- Ask any implementation partner to confirm which costs sit with Evolveum, your cloud provider and your own staff.
