Sonatype limits Nexus Repository Community Edition, the free edition of Nexus Repository, to 40,000 total components or 100,000 requests per day (Sonatype’s Usage Center documentation, read 2026-10-08). If your server has reached one of those limits, this page covers what changed, what happens over a limit, and your options. Every fact about Sonatype’s product links to the Sonatype page that states it.
What changed
Nexus Repository OSS became Community Edition in 3.77.0
Release 3.77.0, released February 4, 2025, renamed the free edition: “As of version 3.77.0, the free edition of Nexus Repository is now called Sonatype Nexus Repository Community Edition.” The same release notes say Community Edition includes usage limitations (Sonatype’s 3.77.0 release notes, read 2026-10-08).
Sonatype says Community Edition also gives you the option of an external PostgreSQL database, and access to formats that were previously Pro-only, including Composer (PHP), Rust/Cargo and Conan v2 (Sonatype’s Community Edition onboarding page, read 2026-10-08).
The limits, then and now
When Sonatype announced Community Edition on February 4, 2025, it said the limits would target teams handling more than 200,000 requests or 100,000 components (Sonatype’s announcement, read 2026-10-08). Sonatype’s earlier PDF guide for teams over the limits gives them as 200,000 requests in any 24-hour period and 100,000 components (How to restore Nexus Repository usage, read 2026-10-08).
Release 3.87.0, released December 2, 2025, adjusted them: Community Edition “now supports up to 40,000 total components and 100,000 requests per day” (Sonatype’s 3.87.0 release notes, read 2026-10-08). Those are the limits Sonatype’s Usage Center documentation gives today (read 2026-10-08).
How requests are counted
Sonatype counts “HTTP requests that are directed towards repository endpoints”, meaning the /repository/* path, and its requests-per-day figure covers the past 24 hours, recalculated every hour (Sonatype’s Usage Metrics documentation, read 2026-10-08). One client command can be many requests. The same page gives Docker as the example: “A single docker pull command translates into multiple HTTP requests: one for the authentication token, one or more for manifests, and then a pair of HEAD/GET requests for each unique layer blob.”
What happens over a limit
Over either limit, Sonatype says “users are not able to add new components until the deployment returns to being under both of these limits.” Once usage is back under both, users can add new components again, and the usage figures take up to an hour to update (Sonatype’s Usage Center documentation, read 2026-10-08).
Your options
Get back under the limits
Sonatype’s earlier PDF guide for teams over the limits lists common causes: a short spike in requests, a misconfigured script or CI job that keeps reading or publishing, and missing cleanup policies. For each it suggests waiting for the spike to pass, finding the source in the request logs, or adding a cleanup policy to remove components you no longer need, after a full backup (How to restore Nexus Repository usage, read 2026-10-08). It was written for the earlier limits, so check the figures against the Usage Center page.
Stay on a release before 3.77.0
The limits are part of Community Edition, which began with 3.77.0 (Sonatype’s 3.77.0 release notes, read 2026-10-08). Sonatype’s version status page marks every listed release before 3.77.0 as sunsetted, and the 3.76 releases passed their sunset date on July 7, 2026 (Sonatype’s Nexus Repository 3 versions status, read 2026-10-08). For a sunsetted version, Sonatype’s lifecycle page lists “No additional features or bug fixes”, while bug fixes and security updates are listed for versions in general availability (Sonatype’s sunsetting information, read 2026-10-08).
Our CVE page for Nexus Repository 3.76.1 lists the known vulnerabilities in that release, and the Nexus Repository version index covers every other version.
Buy Nexus Repository Pro
Sonatype says uploading a Pro license removes the Community Edition limits (Sonatype’s Usage Center documentation, read 2026-10-08). Its pricing page lists Pro Self-Hosted starting at $7,500 a year, including 50K components and 15M requests a month, and Pro Cloud starting at $1,950 a year plus consumption (Sonatype’s pricing page, read 2026-10-08). The same page says new customer contracts are consumption-based, with the usage metrics and terms set in your quote. Our Nexus pricing guide works through what each option costs to run.
Move to a managed repository
CloudRepo is a managed artifact repository for Maven, PyPI, npm and Docker: we run the servers, the upgrades and the patches. Each self-serve plan publishes its storage and monthly transfer allowance, with unlimited repositories and users, and starts with a 14-day free trial. See the plans, or our Nexus migration guide.
Before you sign a Nexus Pro quote, send it to us. We’ll give you a very competitive counteroffer, and you win either way, because Sonatype will usually reduce its initial quote when you present a better one from a competitor.
Every Sonatype page this article cites was read on 2026-10-08. Vendors change limits and prices, so check each page before you decide.