Sandbox program Sandboxie is now freeware and later open source

The premium version of the popular sandbox software Sandboxie is now free to use and owner Sophos will eventually release the program under an open source license. Sophos acquired Sandboxie in 2017.

A free version of Sandboxie already existed, but it had less functionality than the paid premium version. For example, the possibility to run multiple sandboxes on a system was missing. Sophos has now adapted the program in such a way that no license key is needed anymore to release the paid functions: the free license gives access to all functions.

Sophos reports that the simplest decision for Sophos would be to consider Sandboxie end-of-life, which seems to indicate the company is not a profitable software. The love for the technology and the community around the program would have made Sophos decide to make the sandbox application freeware. The company will announce more about the transition to open source software at a later date.

For support, customers will now be required to join the community and continue paid licenses until their expiration date, at which point the free license will apply once users update the software. To obtain the free version from the download site, users must first complete a Software Export Compliance form mandated by the US government. Sophos promises not to use any data entered for marketing purposes.