In the past we had a donation campaign where users can donate arbitrary amounts of money to us. We called it an "enterprise license" as a joke - the "enterprise license" just gave you a fancy logo with the word "enterprise" in it.
Phusion Passenger Enterprise is no longer a joke. It is now a real product with real features. A while ago we started "de-joking" the old donation page. As you can see at, the page now explicitly mentions that it's a donation. The 'enterprise.html' URL is kept to prevent links from breaking, but we may change that as well in the future to reduce confusion.
That said, we're grateful to all the people who have donated and supported us. Our Startup license type is our way to support other startups.
Yep, it was a license purchase, sorta (I was in batch 2). From their website at the time: "you’ll be able to purchase the limited version of Phusion Passenger Enterprise Edition for the price that you think that it’s worth. Get it while supplies last." Followed by a big green button saying "BUY ENTERPRISE LICENSE TODAY".
BUT, right below that it said: Actually this is really a donation. The "enterprise" name is just a joke.
Phusion Passenger Enterprise is no longer a joke. It is now a real product with real features. A while ago we started "de-joking" the old donation page. As you can see at, the page now explicitly mentions that it's a donation. The 'enterprise.html' URL is kept to prevent links from breaking, but we may change that as well in the future to reduce confusion.
That said, we're grateful to all the people who have donated and supported us. Our Startup license type is our way to support other startups.