Let software do
a little more good.
The collaboration you know from open source, with a published licence fee for large companies.
A one-time upgrade to the LICENSE file takes a minute. After that we handle the rest: licence credentials for large companies, coverage records and a public record of where the fees go. Paddle, our reseller, takes the payments. No billing integration or any paperwork for you.
The model includes shareable certificates for project administrators and contributors, with charity impact backed by recorded transfers.
Spread the word
From shared code to practical help.
Upgrade to Purpose Source LICENSE
Adopt the published LICENSE once your rights are in place. Your repository, workflow and copyright stay yours.
Larger companies buy a licence credential
Individuals and qualifying small organisations use it freely. Larger ones buy an annual licence credential at a published price, sold through our reseller Paddle, which handles checkout, invoices and sales tax. We keep the coverage records.
Where the fees go
After processing fees and published, capped costs, we transfer funds directly to listed public-benefit organisations.
Help for people, animals and the world we share.
- Health
- Education
- Poverty relief
- Humanitarian aid
- Animal welfare
- Environment
- Research
Projects and contributors can choose among these seven categories or leave their share to the Association. The board chooses listed recipients under the public allocation rules.
And a public record of where it went.
The statutes protect the public-benefit destination, with no distributable private profit. Published cost caps and the public ledger make the money traceable.
How coverage and transfers work →What stays familiar. What changes.
The collaboration stays in your repository. The licence adds a published fee for larger organisations.
| What you can do | Open source | Purpose Source |
|---|---|---|
| Read, modify and share code | Yes, under its licence | Yes, under the size and coverage rules |
| Build together through the repository | Yes | Yes |
| Keep contributors’ copyright | No transfer required by the licence | No transfer required by the licence |
| Have large companies pay a published licence fee | A separate funding arrangement | Part of the licence model |
| Follow the fees to public-benefit recipients | Depends on the project’s arrangements | Shared registry, cost rules and public ledger |
Purpose Source is not OSI-approved. Each release becomes Apache-2.0 after four years. Compare the models in more detail →
Your project stays yours.
Adoption needs no account or separate agreement. You keep your reviews and roadmap. A Purpose Source dependency does not make you relicense or publish your own application; the component’s coverage rules still apply. You can choose another licence for future releases where you hold the rights, while earlier releases keep their terms.
Explore it with your community →