---
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title: Choosing an open source license doesn’t need to be scary
description: A site to provide non-judgmental guidance on choosing a license for your open source project
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---

<h2>
  <span>{</span>
  Which of the following best describes your situation?
  <span>}</span>
</h2>
<ul class="triptych situations clearfix">
  <li class="whatever">
    <a href="licenses/mit">
      <span class="triptych-sprite three-arrows"></span>
      <h3>I want it simple and permissive.</h3>
    </a>
    <p>
      The <a href="licenses/mit">MIT License</a> is a permissive license that is short and to the point. It lets people do anything they want with your code as long as they provide attribution back to you and don’t hold you liable.
    </p>
    <p>
      <strong>jQuery</strong> and <strong>Rails</strong> use the MIT&nbsp;License.
    </p>
  </li>
  <li class="patents">
    <a href="licenses/apache-2.0/">
      <span class="triptych-sprite lightbulb"></span>
      <h3>I’m concerned about patents.</h3>
    </a>
    <p>
      The <a href="licenses/apache-2.0/">Apache License</a> is a permissive license similar to the MIT License, but also provides an express grant of patent rights from contributors to users.
    </p>
    <p>
      <strong>Apache</strong>, <strong>SVN</strong>, and <strong>NuGet</strong> use the Apache&nbsp;License.
    </p>
  </li>
  <li class="copyleft">
    <a href="licenses/gpl-2.0/">
      <span class="triptych-sprite circular"></span>
      <h3>I care about sharing improvements.</h3>
    </a>
    <p>
      The GPL (<a href="licenses/gpl-2.0/">V2</a> or <a href="licenses/gpl-3.0/">V3</a>) is a copyleft license that requires anyone who distributes your code or a derivative work to make the source available under the same terms. V3 is similar to V2, but further restricts use in hardware that forbids software alterations.
    </p>
    <p>
      <strong>Linux</strong>, <strong>Git</strong>, and <strong>WordPress</strong> use the GPL.
    </p>
  </li>
</ul>
<h2>
  <span>{</span>
  What if none of these work for me?
  <span>}</span>
</h2>
<ul class="triptych see-more clearfix">
  <li>
    <h3>My content isn’t code.</h3>
    <p>
      Check out <a href="http://creativecommons.org/choose/">Creative Commons</a>.
    </p>
  </li>
  <li>
    <h3>I want more choices.</h3>
    <p>
      <a href="licenses">More licenses are available</a>.
    </p>
  </li>
  <li>
    <h3>I don’t want to choose a license.</h3>
    <p>
      <a href="no-license">You don’t have to</a>.
    </p>
  </li>
</ul>