Licensing Information

StarPound's Dual-Licensing Model

StarPound, along with companies like MySQL, uses a business model for its software called Dual Licensing. The Dual Licensing business model allows software companies like us to provide their products for two distinct uses - open source software development and commercial use. Dual Licensing is based on the principle of Quid Pro Quo - something for something.

StarPound aims to make the best open-source BPM, call center, and IP telephony tools in the world.  By selling commercial licenses, we are able to staff a full-time dedicated development team and are able to provide first class support. At the same time, we have a desire to give back to the open-source community and to enable as many people as possible to benefit from our products.

By providing our products under open source licenses, we are also an active member of the open source community. This community has played an important role in ensuring the stability and quality of our products. StarPound's products are thoroughly tested by many open source developers around the world. Through active community participation in our development process, StarPound products reach commercial stability far more quickly. This is our Virtuous Cycle.

If you still have questions about StarPound's licensing terms after reading the information below, please contact us.

StarPound Simple Public License (SSPL)

Our products are made available to the open-source community under the StarPound Simple Public License (SSPL) v1.0.  While we encourage you to read the SSPL license agreement in its entirety and understand it fully before downloading these products, the SSPL can be summarized as follows:

  • Free for personal use, or use internally by your organization.
  • If you want to host the platform for others, you need to arrange for a commercial waiver or agreement with StarPound.

The SSPL document itself can be viewed via the following links:

Commercial Agreements

Our commercial agreements can vary in structure, depending upon your needs.  For details, please contact us.

Commercial Waivers

There are situations in which we will grant a commercial waiver (for example, a non-profit organization).  If you feel that your organization might qualify for such a waiver, we welcome you to contact us.