GNU GPL 3.0
Strong copyleft. Free to run internally and as a service. If you distribute it, the whole work must be GPL with source.
Verify with a lawyer. This is guidance, not legal advice. Check with a lawyer before deciding.
What the licence means per use case
The verdict applies to the licence family (Strong copyleft). An individual product can have its own terms; you get the full per-product analysis when you sign in. Confidence: high.
| Use case | Verdict | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| U1 Self-hosted, internal use, unmodified | Allowed | Free to run internally. |
| U2 Self-hosted and modified | Allowed | Free to modify as long as you don't distribute it. |
| U3 Novro hosts it for you (single-tenant) | Allowed | Running it as a service is not distribution. |
| U4 Shared multi-tenant instance | Allowed | Allowed in a shared instance. |
| U5 In your cloud, managed by Novro | Allowed | Delivering an image is distribution: source or a written offer plus licence texts. |
| U6 Redistribution (builds, images, appliances) | Conditions apply | The whole work's source must be provided under the GPL. |
| U7 Commercial use | Allowed | Commercial use is allowed. |
| U8 AI acceptable use (AUP, EU AI Act) | Not applicable | Not applicable to this licence type. |
Building on it: what may you do?
Short answers based on the licence, for the version in the catalog.
- B1 Change the code for internal use in your company Yes Yes, as long as you don't distribute it.
- B2 Build your own product or service on top and offer it to customers as SaaS Yes Yes. Running it as a service is not distribution.
- B3 Make a closed-source derivative and sell or distribute it No No. If you distribute it, the whole work must carry the same licence, with source.
- B4 Use the project's name and trademark No No, not without permission. The licence covers the code, not the name or logo.
This is guidance, not legal advice. Check with a lawyer before deciding.
Common pitfalls
- Running it internally or as a web service is not distribution, but delivering an image, appliance or app to someone else is.
- If you ship hardware with it, users must be able to install modified versions (installation information).
- The licence covers the code, not the trademark. Don't use the project's name or logo in a way that suggests an official product.
- Open core: at least one product under this licence has parts under a different, commercial licence (often an ee/ or enterprise folder). Check that the features you need are not in that part.
The licence text
Last reviewed:
Products in the catalog under GPL-3.0
- Frappe HRMS
- OrangeHRM (OSS)
- ERPNext
- Dolibarr
- Mautic
- Matomo Open core
- OpenProject Open core
- ComfyUI
- Krita AI Diffusion
- Piper
- Dagu
- Budibase Open core
- Radicale
- Baikal
- mailcow
- Roundcube
- Maddy Mail Server
- iRedMail
- Janus WebRTC Server
- NodeBB
- GLPI
- ITFlow
- Beekeeper Studio Open core
- Mathesar
- Typesense
- Manticore Search
- darktable
- Krita
- GIMP
- ShareX
- Flameshot
- Shotcut
- OpenShot
- Kdenlive
- Zed
- Weblate
- Kubero
- LinkAce
- Paperless-ngx
- Cloudreve
- PairDrop
- Notesnook
- Zettlr
- Blinko
- LibreOffice
- TimeTagger
- Traggo
- Moodle
- Chamilo
- ILIAS
- AdGuard Home
- Technitium DNS Server
- LLDAP
- Netdata
- LibreNMS
- Icinga 2
- TeamPass
- SafeLine
- Halo
- EverShop
- Vendure
- OpenCart
- alf.io
- Easy!Appointments
This is guidance, not legal advice. Check with a lawyer before deciding.