Welcome to the License Chooser
| This tool is in beta. Please help us make it better by reporting problems and sharing your ideas for improvement. |
FOSS (Free/Open Source Software) allows people to use, study, share and improve the code freely. It offers tremendous flexibility and potential, though the licensing options can appear daunting. This tool helps you explore the options available.
How to use this tool in three easy steps:
- Explore the options available
- Click the option that sounds right
- Read the suggestion
Get started
Useful resources:
| Please remember that this tool does not provide legal advice. If you want legal advice you should talk to a lawyer. |
The GNU GPL may be a good fit.
- It provides the freedom to use, study, share and improve code
- It provides this freedom to all subsequent users
- It requires that linked code also provide this freedom
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Market information:
- Version 2 of this license is used in 49.41% of all FOSS projects
- Version 3 of this license is used in 5.31% of all FOSS projects
- This license is used by projects like Linux, Busybox and WordPress
Learn more:
Market figures from Blackduck Software on the 14th of November 2009.
The GNU LGPL may be a good fit.
- It provides the freedom to use, study, share and improve code
- It provides this freedom to all subsequent users
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Market information:
- Version 2.1 of this license is used in 9.46% of all FOSS projects
- Version 3 of this license is used in 0.42% of all FOSS projects
- This license is used by projects like GNOME and OpenOffice.org
Learn more:
Market figures from Blackduck Software on the 14th of November 2009.
The GNU AGPL may be a good fit.
- It provides the freedom to use, study, share and improve code
- It provides this freedom to all subsequent users
- It requires that linked code also provide this freedom
- It requires that network applications using the code provide this freedom
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Market information:
- This license is used by 229 FOSS projects
- This license is used by projects like Launchpad and Wikidot
Learn more:
Market figures from Blackduck Software on the 14th of November 2009.
Rethinking this may be a good idea.
Learn more:
The Modified BSD may be a good fit.
- It provides the freedom to use, study, share and improve code
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Market information:
- Varients of this license are used in 6.28% of all FOSS projects
- The similar MIT license is used by 3.9% of all FOSS projects
- This license is used by projects like FreeBSD and NetBSD
Learn more:
Market figures from Blackduck Software on the 14th of November 2009.
Let’s explore your options
Allowing people to use, study, share and improve your code is a good decision. It allows you to benenfit from the knowledge and experience of experts around the world. However, choosing the correct license for your code requires careful consideration. There are some questions you should ask yourself.
- Do you want to provide this freedom to all future users?
- Do you want all linked code to also provide this freedom?
- Do you want to provide this freedom when your code is used in web applications?
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You can use this tool to find suggestions for different answers to these questions.
Remember:
- You can only choose a license for code you own
- You cannot relicense another person’s work without their permission
