KernelCare is one of the cheapest lines in a hosting stack and one of the simplest to price: one product, one per-server rate, billed monthly. The complexity is at the edges — when a fleet crosses into Enterprise pricing, what LibCare and ePortal cost on top, and which servers the base subscription does not cover at all.
This article works through all of it with real numbers. Prices are USD per server per month, billed monthly and prorated to the 15th, the same as every other license in the catalogue.
The base rate
$3.95 per server per month. That buys rebootless kernel CVE patching for every mainstream distribution a host runs: AlmaLinux, Rocky, RHEL, CentOS 6/7/8, Ubuntu LTS, Debian, Amazon Linux, Oracle Linux, and CloudLinux kernels. There are no account or domain bands — a node with 5 sites and a node with 500 pay the same $3.95. Annualised that is about $47 per server, at the low end of the $45-65 retail range for live patching across a fleet.
| In the base rate | Not in the base rate |
|---|---|
| Kernel patchsets for all supported distros | Userspace patching for glibc, OpenSSL, OpenSSH — that is LibCare |
WHM/cPanel plugin and kcarectl CLI | Kernels past the distro's vendor EOL — needs TuxCare ELS |
| ePortal on-prem patch server | Custom or vendor-unsupported kernels — Enterprise only |
| Portable licensing (reassign a seat between servers) | Non-Linux workloads |
| L1 support with TuxCare escalation |
KernelCare is not bundled into any CloudLinux OS edition — despite both coming from TuxCare, they are separate line items, as spelled out in the CloudLinux license tiers breakdown. Budget the $3.95 separately on every CloudLinux node that needs live patching.
Standard vs Enterprise
There are two commercial tiers. Same agent, same patch latency, same distro matrix — the difference is fleet size and what comes bundled.
| Standard | Enterprise | |
|---|---|---|
| Target fleet | 1-9 servers | 10+ servers |
| Per-server rate | $3.95/mo | $3.95/mo list, fleet discount applies |
| ePortal (air-gapped patch server) | Included | Included |
| LibCare userspace patching | Paid add-on | Bundled |
| Custom / unsupported kernels | Not covered | Covered via TuxCare |
| Support | L1 + TuxCare escalation | L1 + TuxCare escalation |
The fleet rate kicks in at 10+ servers on one billing account. Volume discounting follows the same curve as the rest of the catalogue — it starts at 5 licenses and most resellers see 15-25% off list once they cross 20. At 25 servers, 20% off $3.95 is roughly $3.16 per server, or about $79/month for the fleet. Contact sales for the exact number at your count.
LibCare add-on
The base license patches the kernel only. A glibc or OpenSSL CVE lives in userspace, and every long-running daemon keeps the vulnerable library mapped until you restart it. LibCare patches those libraries in memory instead.
It is bundled with Enterprise and sold as a paid add-on on Standard. Two hard limits regardless of price:
- x86-64 only. There are no ARM userspace patches, so Graviton and Ampere nodes cannot use LibCare even with the entitlement. Kernel patching on ARM still works on the base license.
- Coverage follows the OS lifecycle. On an EOL distro you need ELS for the userspace patches to keep coming, on the same window as the ELS kernel patches.
EOL distributions cost extra
The base subscription stops patching a kernel when the distribution reaches vendor EOL. CentOS 7 kernels in 2026 are not covered by a standard KernelCare license — you need TuxCare Endless Lifecycle Support, priced separately per server. If part of your fleet is still on EL7, price those nodes as ELS, not KernelCare, until the migration finishes.
Worked examples
Single VPS. One AlmaLinux 9 node: 1 × $3.95 = $3.95/month. Prorated on activation, cancel any time, seat is portable if you rebuild the box on a new IP.
8-server growing host. All AlmaLinux and Ubuntu, no air-gap requirement: 8 × $3.95 = $31.60/month. Still Standard — under the 10-server line — but close enough that the next two servers should trigger a fleet quote.
25-server fleet, PCI segment. Enterprise: 25 seats at roughly 20% off ≈ $79/month, LibCare bundled, ePortal hosted on your own VM at no extra license cost. Compare that to rebuilding kernels across 25 boxes on every CVE.
Mixed fleet mid-migration. 20 AlmaLinux 9 nodes on KernelCare Enterprise plus 3 remaining CentOS 7 boxes on ELS. The EL7 three are a separate SKU and a separate line on the invoice — drop the ELS renewals as each one migrates.
Monthly billing vs buying annual direct
Buying through Panellicense is month-to-month, prorated, cancel any time — you are never holding seats for a server you decommissioned last week, because cancellations refund the rest of the cycle. Buying an annual term direct from TuxCare is usually a few percent cheaper per seat but locks the count for 12 months, which is the wrong trade for a fleet that churns servers. If your count is stable and large, ask us for an annual fleet quote — you get both.
How much does KernelCare cost per server?+
Is there a volume discount for KernelCare on a large fleet?+
Does a KernelCare license include glibc and OpenSSL patching?+
Is KernelCare included with a CloudLinux license?+
Does KernelCare patch CentOS 7 kernels in 2026?+
Do I need to pay extra for ePortal?+
Next steps
- CloudLinux license tiers explained — what the OS license does and does not bundle.
- KernelCare vs Ksplice — the procurement-model comparison for Oracle Linux shops.
- Hosting stack license cost per server — where the $3.95 sits in the full monthly bill.
- Activate now on the KernelCare license page or check the full pricing matrix.