Transparency & Funding
$0 FOR THE EDUCATION.
$39 FOR THE WINDOWS DESKTOP EDITION.
No tuition. No required subscription. No educational paywall.
EDUCATION IS FREE. THE WINDOWS DESKTOP PACKAGE IS NOT.
DaemonCore Academy remains committed to providing free cybersecurity education. Students do NOT need to purchase the Windows application to access the education.
Available Access Options
1. WEB ACADEMY
- Price: $0
- Education: Included
- Curriculum: Included
- Browser access: Yes
- Local desktop: No
- Docker ranges: No
Students can access the live Academy through preview.daemoncore.app at no cost. The web version provides access to the educational curriculum and Academy experience. Local Docker-based ranges/features that require the desktop environment are not available through the web version.
2. LINUX EDITION
- Price: $0
- Education: Included
- Curriculum: Included
- Local app: Yes
- Platform: Linux
The Linux edition of DaemonCore Academy remains completely free to download and use. Students who want a local Academy experience without purchasing the Windows edition can use Linux.
3. WINDOWS DESKTOP
- Price: $39
- Education: Included
- Curriculum: Included
- Native app: Yes
- Local function: Yes
- Docker ranges: Yes*
- Subscription: None
The Microsoft Store Windows edition is a commercial packaged desktop application. This is NOT tuition and it is NOT a subscription. The purchase covers the Windows desktop package and its integrated/local functionality.
Purchasing Windows is OPTIONAL. Nobody is required to pay $39 to receive the DaemonCore cybersecurity education.
If you cannot afford the Windows edition, you can still learn with DaemonCore Academy. Use the web edition. Use Linux. Learn the material. We are not putting the education behind a checkout screen.
CAN'T AFFORD WINDOWS?
The Windows Desktop Edition costs $39. If you genuinely need the Windows version and cannot afford it, you can apply for a complimentary hardship license.
So what are you actually paying for?
The $39 purchase is for the packaged Windows software experience, distribution, integrated local capabilities, continued software development, maintenance, and supporting infrastructure. It is not a charge for access to the underlying educational curriculum.
Buying Windows does not unlock better education. It gives you the Windows desktop package and its local capabilities.
Why charge for Windows?
Building, maintaining, signing, distributing, updating, and supporting a native Windows application costs money. Revenue from the Windows edition helps fund DaemonCore infrastructure, development, new educational material, labs, and continued free access through the web and Linux editions.
Commercial Professional Software
There is a fundamental distrust of "free" resources in the cybersecurity community. There should be. Usually, free means you are the product. It means telemetry harvesting, hidden affiliate funnels, or bait-and-switch paywalls.
DaemonCore is different. We operate on a simple model: We give away the knowledge. We sell the infrastructure.
DaemonCore builds and sells professional-grade offensive and defensive tooling for active practitioners and security teams, such as FieldOps.
Professional DaemonCore products are separate commercial products. Revenue from commercial software helps support the broader DaemonCore ecosystem and our ability to continue producing free educational resources.
You are never required to buy our commercial tools (like FieldOps) to complete the Academy. The knowledge is yours to keep, regardless of what software you use in the field.
Knowledge should not depend on your wallet.
Software still costs money to build.
So we drew the line there.