Quick Comparison
A side-by-side reference for common open source licenses.
Software Licenses
Permissive Licenses
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MIT |
Apache 2.0 |
BSD 3-Clause |
| Commercial use |
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| Modification |
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| Distribution |
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| Private use |
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| Patent grant |
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| Copyleft |
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| Must include license |
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| Must include copyright |
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| State changes |
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| Include NOTICE |
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Copyleft Licenses
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GPL v3 |
LGPL v3 |
MPL 2.0 |
AGPL v3 |
| Commercial use |
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| Modification |
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| Distribution |
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| Private use |
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| Patent grant |
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| Copyleft scope |
Whole work |
Library only |
Modified files |
Whole work + network |
| Disclose source |
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Library only |
Modified files |
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| Same license |
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For library |
For MPL files |
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| Network use trigger |
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Public Domain
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CC0 |
Unlicense |
0BSD |
| Commercial use |
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| Modification |
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| Distribution |
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| Private use |
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| Attribution required |
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| Include license |
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| Any conditions |
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Creative Commons Licenses
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CC0 |
CC BY |
CC BY-SA |
CC BY-NC |
CC BY-ND |
CC BY-NC-ND |
| Commercial use |
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| Modification |
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| Distribution |
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| Private use |
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| Attribution required |
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| ShareAlike |
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— |
— |
| Free Culture approved |
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Compatibility Matrix
Can code under License A be combined with code under License B?
| Into ► |
MIT |
Apache 2.0 |
GPL v2 |
GPL v3 |
LGPL |
MPL 2.0 |
| MIT |
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| Apache 2.0 |
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| GPL v2 |
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| GPL v3 |
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| LGPL v3 |
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| MPL 2.0 |
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= License A code can go into License B project
Note: "GPL v2 or later" has different compatibility than "GPL v2 only."
Quick Selection Guide
| If you want... |
Choose |
| Maximum adoption |
MIT |
| Patent protection |
Apache 2.0 |
| Derivatives stay open (strong) |
GPL v3 |
| Derivatives stay open (weak) |
MPL 2.0 or LGPL |
| Network use triggers copyleft |
AGPL |
| No restrictions at all |
CC0 or Unlicense |
| Credit but no other requirements |
CC BY |
| Data sharing |
CC0 |
| Documentation |
CC BY or CC BY-SA |
SPDX Identifiers
| License |
SPDX ID |
| MIT License |
MIT |
| Apache 2.0 |
Apache-2.0 |
| BSD 2-Clause |
BSD-2-Clause |
| BSD 3-Clause |
BSD-3-Clause |
| GPL v2 only |
GPL-2.0-only |
| GPL v2 or later |
GPL-2.0-or-later |
| GPL v3 only |
GPL-3.0-only |
| GPL v3 or later |
GPL-3.0-or-later |
| LGPL v2.1 |
LGPL-2.1-only |
| LGPL v3 |
LGPL-3.0-only |
| MPL 2.0 |
MPL-2.0 |
| AGPL v3 |
AGPL-3.0-only |
| CC0 1.0 |
CC0-1.0 |
| CC BY 4.0 |
CC-BY-4.0 |
| CC BY-SA 4.0 |
CC-BY-SA-4.0 |
| Unlicense |
Unlicense |