What's the difference between BSD-2 and BSD-3?

BSD-3 adds a 'no endorsement' clause — you can't use the author's name to promote derivative works without permission. BSD-2 is otherwise identical. For most projects, MIT covers the same ground more concisely.

When should I pick GPL?

GPL-3.0 is copyleft — derivative works must also be GPL. Pick it when you want to ensure forks stay open. Avoid it if you want your code embedded in commercial closed-source products.

Is Unlicense the same as CC0?

Both put work in the public domain. CC0 has stronger international legal standing — it's drafted to handle jurisdictions where pure public-domain dedication is hard. Unlicense is shorter and equally common in the dev world.

Open Source License Generator

Pick MIT, Apache 2.0, GPL, BSD, MPL, or public-domain. Fill author and year. Get the LICENSE file.

License

The most-used permissive license. Almost no restrictions — keep the copyright notice and you're done. Default for most small open-source projects.

Author / copyright holder

Year

LICENSE · 22 lines

MIT License

Copyright (c) 2026 Your Name

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
SOFTWARE.

01 — Overview

How it works

Generate a complete LICENSE file for your open-source project. Choose from the most-used OSI-approved licenses (and a couple of public-domain options), fill in the author and copyright year, and copy or download. Each license includes a short rationale so you can pick with confidence.

02 — Use cases

When to use it

01
Bootstrap a new repo with a license in 30 seconds
02
Re-license a project — generate the canonical text without copy-paste errors
03
Get the right author + year format for your jurisdiction
04
Decide between MIT and Apache 2.0 with quick guidance

03 — Examples

Real input, real output

MIT, Jane Doe, 2025

ex 01

The most-used permissive license for small projects.

Apache-2.0, Acme Corp, 2025

ex 02

Apache License\nVersion 2.0, January 2004...

Permissive with explicit patent grant — good for companies.

04 — FAQ

Frequently asked

Both are permissive. MIT is shorter and more famous. Apache 2.0 adds an explicit patent grant and requires changes to attributed files to be marked — preferred for corporate-backed projects and anything that ships in a product with patent risk.

05 — More

Tools that pair well

.gitignore Generator

Describe your stack in plain English, or pick from a list of common environments — get a clean, deduplicated .gitignore.

Config/gitignore

Meta Tags Generator

Generate a full SEO + OpenGraph + Twitter Card meta tag block. Optional AI-suggest from a URL or page description.

Web/meta-tags

Hash Generator

Hash a string with MD5, SHA-1, SHA-256, SHA-512, or bcrypt. Compare two hashes side by side.

Auth/hash