Quick decision guide: Do I need a commercial license?
┌─────────────────────────────┐
│ Using Forge? │
└──────────┬──────────────────┘
│
┌─────────────┴──────────────┐
│ │
┌────────▼─────────┐ ┌─────────▼─────────┐
│ Using ONLY │ │ Using AI │
│ Forge Core + │ │ Extension? │
│ Non-AI Exts │ └─────────┬─────────┘
└────────┬─────────┘ │
│ │
┌────────▼─────────┐ ┌─────────▼─────────┐
│ ✅ FREE! │ │ What purpose? │
│ MIT License │ └─────────┬─────────┘
│ │ │
│ Use for: │ ┌────────────┼────────────┐
│ • Personal │ │ │ │
│ • Commercial │ ┌──▼───┐ ┌───▼───┐ ┌───▼────┐
│ • Any purpose │ │ Per- │ │ Edu/ │ │ Comme- │
└──────────────────┘ │ sonal│ │ Resea-│ │ rcial │
│ │ │ rch │ │ Prod │
└──┬───┘ └───┬───┘ └───┬────┘
│ │ │
┌──▼───────────▼────┐ ┌──▼──────┐
│ ✅ FREE! │ │ ❌ Need │
│ │ │ License │
│ • Personal proj │ └─────────┘
│ • Learning │
│ • Research │
│ • Evaluation │
└────────────────────┘
Using Forge Core + Any Non-AI Extensions:
- Personal projects → Free
- Commercial products → Free
- Startups → Free
- Enterprises → Free
- Open source → Free
Using AI Extension for:
- Personal projects → Free
- Learning/education → Free
- Academic research → Free
- Evaluation (90 days) → Free
Using AI Extension for:
- Production SaaS → License Required
- Commercial product → License Required
- Internal business tools → License Required
- Revenue-generating apps → License Required
- After 90-day evaluation → License Required
Building a side project
- Using any Forge components → ✅ Free
Building portfolio/learning
- Using AI Extension → ✅ Free
Building SaaS product
- Without AI Extension → ✅ Free
- With AI Extension → ❌ License Required
Internal tools (pre-revenue)
- Evaluation period → ✅ Free (90 days)
- After evaluation → ❌ License Required
Customer-facing product
- Without AI Extension → ✅ Free
- With AI Extension → ❌ License Required
Evaluation/POC
- 90 days → ✅ Free
Production deployment
- Without AI Extension → ✅ Free
- With AI Extension → ❌ License Required
- Volume licensing available
Any use case
- Everything → ✅ Free
- Including AI Extension
Building for clients
- Development → ✅ Free
- Client's production (non-AI) → ✅ Free
- Client's production (with AI) → ❌ Client needs license
| Extension | License | Commercial Use |
|---|---|---|
| Forge Core | MIT | ✅ Free |
| auth | MIT | ✅ Free |
| cache | MIT | ✅ Free |
| consensus | MIT | ✅ Free |
| dashboard | MIT | ✅ Free |
| database | MIT | ✅ Free |
| events | MIT | ✅ Free |
| graphql | MIT | ✅ Free |
| grpc | MIT | ✅ Free |
| hls | MIT | ✅ Free |
| kafka | MIT | ✅ Free |
| mcp | MIT | ✅ Free |
| mqtt | MIT | ✅ Free |
| orpc | MIT | ✅ Free |
| queue | MIT | ✅ Free |
| search | MIT | ✅ Free |
| storage | MIT | ✅ Free |
| streaming | MIT | ✅ Free |
| webrtc | MIT | ✅ Free |
| ai | Commercial | ❌ License Required |
Need help deciding?
📧 Email: [email protected]
🌐 Web: https://github.com/xraph/forge
💬 Issues: https://github.com/xraph/forge/issues
For detailed information, see:
- LICENSE - MIT License for Forge Core
- LICENSING.md - Complete licensing guide
- LICENSE_FAQ.md - Common questions
- extensions/ai/LICENSE - AI Extension license
- extensions/ai/LICENSE_NOTICE.md - AI summary
Rule of thumb: If AI Extension is helping you make money, you need a license. Otherwise, it's probably free! 🎯