FreeCAD
Parametric 3D CAD program for engineering, architecture and technical drawing.
LGPL-2.1Weak copyleft
Desktop app: installed on users' computers, not run as a web service.
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.
- 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 Yes, with conditions Yes, if your code stays separate (e.g. the library linked, your own files). Changes to the licensed code must be shared.
- 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.
The licence in brief
GNU LGPL 2.1 (LGPL-2.1)
Weak copyleft. Changes to the covered code must stay open if you distribute them. Internal use is unaffected.
This is guidance, not legal advice (inte juridisk rådgivning). Check with a lawyer before deciding.
Facts
- Licence
- LGPL-2.1
- Licence type
- Weak copyleft
- Open core
- No
- GitHub stars
- 33.9k
- Latest activity
- Deployment
- Desktop
- Login/SSO
- Unknown
- API
- Unknown
- Multi-tenant
- Unknown
- EU vendor
- Unknown
- Source code
- github.com/FreeCAD/FreeCAD
- Source
- GitHub API, fetched 2026-10-03
Licence analysis per use case
Sign in to see what the licence means for eight use cases – from internal self-hosting to offering the tool as a service.
Sign in