---
title: Plugin Free License and Hosting Plans
description: "This article explains the difference between the **Video Lesson Activity plugin license** and the **video hosting options**, and how they work together. Understanding this distinction helps avoid confusion during setup and planning. ### The Video Lesson Activity plugin license The…"
url: "https://www.mooplugins.com/docs/video-lesson-activity/getting-started/plugin-free-license-and-hosting-plans/"
updated: "2026-01-28"
category: Video Lesson Activity / Getting Started
---

# Plugin Free License and Hosting Plans

This article explains the difference between the **Video Lesson Activity plugin license** and the **video hosting options**, and how they work together.

Understanding this distinction helps avoid confusion during setup and planning.

### The Video Lesson Activity plugin license

The **Video Lesson Activity plugin** is **free and open source**.

You can:

- Download the plugin
- Install it on your Moodle site
- Use it without paying for the plugin itself

However, to activate and configure the plugin, a **free license key** is required.

### Why a free license is required

The free license is used to:

- Register your Moodle site
- Enable plugin setup and configuration
- Manage feature access cleanly
- Prepare the plugin for optional hosting services

The free license does **not**:

- Limit usage
- Restrict features
- Require payment

It is required only for setup and identification.

### What the plugin license does not include

The plugin license does **not** include:

- Video storage
- Video transcoding
- Video streaming infrastructure

These services are required **only if you upload videos** and are handled separately through hosting options.

### Video hosting is a separate choice

After installing the plugin and activating the free license, you can choose **how videos are hosted**, depending on your needs.

There are two hosting options:

- Self-managed hosting
- MooPlugins managed hosting

You can also use the plugin **without any hosting** if you embed videos from external platforms.

### Self-managed hosting

With self-managed hosting:

- You manage your own video infrastructure
- Videos are stored, processed, and streamed from your setup
- The plugin integrates with your infrastructure

This option is suitable if you already manage cloud services or want full control over costs and architecture.

### MooPlugins managed hosting

With MooPlugins managed hosting:

- MooPlugins provides and manages the video infrastructure
- Video storage, processing, and delivery are handled for you
- No cloud setup or maintenance is required on your side

This option is recommended if you want a faster, simpler setup with predictable pricing.

### Using the plugin without hosting

If you:

- Embed videos from platforms like YouTube or Vimeo, or
- Use externally hosted MP4 URLs

Then no video hosting setup is required.

The plugin still provides:

- Completion tracking
- Watch percentage logic
- Course progression control