In Marco Leo's most recent blog - One Platform, One Liferay: The 2026 Release Model - we announced that in 2026 instead of releasing separate products for non-subscribers (Liferay Portal CE) and subscribers (Liferay DXP) we've moved to a single unified, modular platform, available for everyone.

If you're a Subscriber, there's no change in how you obtain and activate Liferay DXP, but for non-subscribers the process is slightly different because you'll need to download a free activation key, which you'll apply in your environment to unlock the capabilities provided in the Free Tier.

A key point though is - this is available for everyone. If you've previously used Liferay Portal CE you can continue to use all of the features you're already familiar with. Upgrading from Liferay CE to Liferay DXP is something my good friend and colleague Dave Nebinger blogged about recently. It's not something to be feared, and ultimately not that different from upgrading from an older version of Liferay CE to a newer one.

But, whether you're upgrading from an older version of Liferay CE, or using the Free Tier for the first time, you will need to get an Activation Key - and here's how you do it:

1. Use the Download link in the main navigation on this very page to visit the Free Tier page on liferay.com.
2. From there you can download Liferay DXP 2026.q1.0-lts - the latest version of the platform.
3. Next, pop over to Liferay DXP - Free Tier on the Liferay Marketplace, and login using your liferay.com login details. If you don't have an account already it's quick and easy to get one.
4. Then, click on "Get Activation Key", fill in the required fields, make sure you review the Terms and Conditions and the End-User License Agreement" and click the Get Activation Key button.
5. Your new Activation Key will be generated immediately, at which point you can download it and get started!

Some points about this process:

• Your key will be issued with a 12-month expiry date. But, that doesn't mean you'll lose access after 12 months. You can generate a new key any time you want.
• Your key is also tied to a specific domain, which you entered during the registration process. You'll be able to use your Liferay DXP instance for that domain, or locally via localhost.
• If you start another project, you can get another activation key at any point. If it's for another domain, just enter that one.
• If you need to run Liferay DXP in a cluster you can simply add additional nodes that use the same Liferay Database - no need to get a new key.

Some of the benefits of this new model include:

• Each release of Liferay DXP goes through a lengthy testing, tuning, optimisation process once the development work is completed.
• You will be able to download a new version of Liferay DXP every quarter - meaning you'll have access to new features, fixes to known issues, security fixes and so on every three months.
• If you have everything you need as a non-subscriber, you're good to go - you can extend Liferay DXP as you need, you can make use of our comprehensive documentation at learn.liferay.com.
• But, if your circumstances change, and you need the benefit of Enterprise support, to unlock new product capabilities available to Subscribers, access to Liferay's Partners, or our Global Services team, moving to an Enterprise Subscription just means applying a new Subscriber Activation Key - there's no migration, no upgrade, no complicated redevelopment of code. Just apply the new key and you're done.

Of course that's just some of the benefits - to learn more please reach out to us - the Downloads page on liferay.com provides contact details, and a link to try the full Enterprise Subscription features for 30-days.

And to learn about the new features in Liferay DXP 2026.Q1, please register for our Q1 Release Webinar, taking place on March 25th. You can find all the details for that here.

And if you have questions, we've just added a new Free Tier category on discuss.liferay.com. Pop over and see us!