Sonatype Product Overview

You may have noticed that there is a difference between the names used on our website (solutions) and the names you will find on our help site (products).

In general, when we are talking about a solution, we are referring to a particular license (Nexus Lifecycle vs. Nexus Firewall or Nexus Repository OSS vs. Nexus Repository Pro) and the features it unlocks. In contrast, when we describe a product, we specifically mean the thing you will install Nexus Repository (Manager) and Nexus IQ (Server).

While not a license in the same sense, the principle for Nexus Repository is the same, meaning we treat Pro as a license, which would enable features within the Nexus Repository (Manager) product. However, there is a slight difference between 2 and 3. For Nexus Repository 2, there are separate product installs that support each license. In contrast, for Nexus Repository 3, there is a single install that will provide OSS features by default, and allow a Pro license to be added, unlocking additional functionality.

Of course, this can still be a bit confusing, so we've broken down the various solutions (licenses) available, and their corresponding product in the table below.

Solution (License)Product (What's Installed)

Nexus Repository OSS 2

Nexus Repository OSS 2
Nexus Repository Pro 2Nexus Repository Pro 2
Nexus Repository OSS 3Nexus Repository 3
Nexus Repository Pro 3Nexus Repository 3
Nexus AuditorNexus IQ Server
Nexus FirewallNexus IQ Server
Nexus LifecycleNexus IQ Server

Sonatype Cloud

(Lifecycle and Firewall)

Nexus IQ Server

(Installed in an AWS bucket by our vendor partner)

As you may have noticed, in some cases the same product is installed regardless of the license. To help understand which features are unlocked by a particular license, we've included matrices to assist:

Repository Manager Feature Matrix

IQ Download and Compatibility