==General comparison==
{{Confusing|reason=values used in the below table are not defined and some are ambiguous|talk=Talk:Comparison of free and open-source software licences#General comparison confusing|date=May 2020}}
The following table compares various features of each licence and is a general guide to the terms and conditions of each licence, based on seven subjects or categories. Recent tools like the European Commissions' Joinup Licensing Assistant <ref>{{cite web|url=https://joinup.ec.europa.eu/solution/joinup-licensing-assistant/joinup-licensing-assistant-jla|title=Joinup Licensing Assistant|accessdate=31 March 2020}}</ref>, makes possible the licenses selection and comparison based on more than 40 subjects or categories, with access to their SPDX identifier and full text. The table below lists the permissions and limitations regarding the following subjects:
* '''Linking''' - [[Library (computing)#Linking|linking]] of the licensed code with code licensed under a different licence (e.g. when the code is provided as a [[Library (computing)|library]])
* '''Distribution''' - distribution of the code to third parties
* '''Modification''' - modification of the code by a licensee
* '''Patent grant''' - protection of licensees from patent claims made by code contributors regarding their contribution, and protection of contributors from patent claims made by licensees
* '''Private use''' - whether modification to the code must be shared with the community or may be used privately (e.g. internal use by a corporation)
* '''Sublicensing''' - whether modified code may be licensed under a different licence (for example a [[copyright]]) or must retain the same licence under which it was provided
* '''[[Trademark|TM]] grant''' - use of trademarks associated with the licensed code or its contributors by a licensee

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center; width:99%"
|-
!Licence
!Author
!Latest version
!Publication date
!Linking
!Distribution
!Modification
!Patent grant
!Private use
!Sublicensing
!<abbr title="trademark">TM</abbr> grant
|-
!<br />!! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !!<!-- [[Help:Sorting#In_a_narrow_space:_sorting_buttons_in_a_separate_row]] -->
|-
|[[Academic Free License]]<ref name="OSL/AFL 3.0">{{cite web|url=http://rosenlaw.com/OSL3.0-explained.htm|title=OSL 3.0 Explained}}</ref> || [[Lawrence E. Rosen]] || 3.0 || 2002 || {{yes|[[Permissive free software licence|Permissive]]}} || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{no}}
|-
|[[Affero General Public License]] || Affero Inc || 2.0 || 2007 || {{free|[[Copyleft]]ed}}<ref name="affero gplv2">{{cite web|url=http://www.affero.org/agpl2.html|title=affero.org: Affero General Public License version 2 (AGPLv2)}}</ref> || {{free|Copyleft except for the [[GNU AGPL]]}}<ref name="affero gplv2"/> || {{free|Copyleft}}<ref name="affero gplv2"/> || {{dunno}} || {{yes}}<ref name="affero gplv2"/> || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}}
|-
|[[Apache License]] || [[Apache Software Foundation]] || 2.0 || 2004 || {{yes|Permissive}}<ref name="apachev2s4">{{cite web|url=https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.html#redistribution|title=the section 4 of the apache license version 2}}</ref> || {{yes|Permissive}}<ref name="apachev2s4"/> || {{yes|Permissive}}<ref name="apachev2s4"/> || {{yes}}<ref name="apachev2s4"/> || {{yes}}<ref name="apachev2s4"/> || {{yes|Permissive}}<ref name="apachev2s4"/> || {{no}}<ref name="apachev2s4"/>
|-
|[[Apple Public Source License]] || [[Apple Computer]] || 2.0 || <span style="display:none">2003</span>August 6, 2003 || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{dunno}} || {{partial|Limited}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}}
|-
|[[Artistic License]] || [[Larry Wall]] || 2.0 || 2000 || {{partial|With restrictions}} || {{partial|With restrictions}} || {{partial|With restrictions}} || {{no}} || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{partial|With restrictions}} || {{no}}
|-
|[[Beerware]] || [[Poul-Henning Kamp]] || 42 || 1987 || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{no}} || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{no}}
|-
|[[BSD License]] || [[Regents of the University of California]] || 3.0 || {{dunno}} || {{yes|Permissive}}<ref name="bsdlicense">{{cite web|url=http://opensource.org/licenses/BSD-3-Clause|title=BSD license}}</ref> || {{yes|Permissive}}<ref name="bsdlicense"/> || {{yes|Permissive}}<ref name="bsdlicense"/> || {{no|Manually}}<ref name="bsdlicense"/> || {{yes}}<ref name="bsdlicense"/> || {{yes|Permissive}}<ref name="bsdlicense"/> || {{No|Manually}}<ref name="bsdlicense"/>
|-
|[[Boost Software License]] || {{dunno}} || 1.0 || <span style="display:none">2003</span>August 17, 2003 || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{dunno}} || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}}
|-
|[[Creative Commons Zero]] || [[Creative Commons]] || 1.0 || 2009 || {{yes|Public Domain}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/27081 |title=Using CC0 for public domain software |date=April 15, 2011 |publisher=[[Creative Commons]] |accessdate=May 10, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html |title=Various Licenses and Comments about Them |publisher=[[GNU Project]] |accessdate=April 4, 2015}}</ref> || {{yes|Public Domain}} || {{yes|Public Domain}} || {{no}} || {{yes|Public Domain}} || {{yes|Public Domain}} || {{no}}
|-
|[[CC-BY|CC BY]] || [[Creative Commons]] || 4.0 || 2002 || {{yes|Permissive}}<ref name="auto">[https://www.fsf.org/blogs/licensing/cc-by-4-0-and-cc-by-sa-4-0-added-to-our-list-of-free-licenses cc-by-4-0-and-cc-by-sa-4-0-added-to-our-list-of-free-licenses] (2015)</ref> || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{no}} || {{yes}} || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{dunno}}
|-
|[[CC-BY-SA|CC BY-SA]] || [[Creative Commons]] || 4.0 || 2002 || {{Free|Copylefted}}<ref name="auto"/> || {{Free|Copylefted}} || {{free|Copylefted}} || {{no}} || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{dunno}}
|-
|[[CeCILL]] || [[Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives|CEA]] / [[CNRS]] / [[INRIA]] || 2.1 || <span style="display:none">2005</span>June 21, 2013 || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{no}} || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{partial|With restrictions}} || {{no}}
|-
|[[Common Development and Distribution License]] || [[Sun Microsystems]] || 1.0 || <span style="display:none">2004-12</span>December 1, 2004 || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{dunno}} || {{partial|Limited}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}}
|-
|[[Common Public License]] || [[IBM]] || 1.0 || <span style="display:none">2001</span>May 2001 || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{dunno}} || {{free|Copylefted}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}}
|-
|[[Cryptix General License]] || Cryptix Foundation || {{n/a}} || 1995 || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{no|Manually}} || {{yes}} || {{dunno}} || {{No|Manually}}
|-
|[[Eclipse Public License]] || [[Eclipse Foundation]] || 2.0 || August 24, 2017 || {{partial|Limited}}<ref name="epl">{{cite web|url=http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-v10.html|title=the eclipse public license version 1}}</ref> || {{partial|Limited}}<ref name="epl"/> || {{partial|Limited}}<ref name="epl"/> || {{yes}}<ref name="epl"/> || {{yes}}<ref name="epl"/> || {{partial|Limited}}<ref name="epl"/> || {{No|Manually}}<ref name="epl"/>
|-
|[[Educational Community License]] || [[Indiana University]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://scholarworks.iu.edu/dspace/handle/2022/3076|title=Open Source Collaboration in Higher Education: Guidelines and Report of the Licensing and Policy Framework Summit for Software Sharing in Higher Education|first1=Daniel|last1=Greenstein|first2=Brad|last2=Wheeler|date=1 March 2007|publisher=|via=scholarworks.iu.edu}}</ref> || 1.0 || 2007 || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{dunno}} || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}}
|-
|[[European Union Public Licence]] || [[European Commission]] || 1.2 || <span style="display:none">2009</span>May 2017 || {{yes|Permissive, according to EU law (Recitals 10 & 15 Directive 2009/24/EC)}} || {{free|Copylefted, with an explicit compatibility list}}<ref name="eupl-compat">{{cite web|url=https://joinup.ec.europa.eu/collection/eupl/eupl-compatible-open-source-licences|title=EUPL compatible open source licences}}</ref> || {{free|Copylefted, with an explicit compatibility list}}<ref name="eupl-compat" /> || {{yes}}<ref name="eupl">{{cite web|url=https://joinup.ec.europa.eu/collection/eupl/eupl-text-11-12|title=EUPL text (1.1 & 1.2)}}</ref> || {{yes}}<ref name="eupl" /> || {{free|Copylefted, with an explicit compatibility list}}<ref name="eupl-compat" /> || {{no}}<ref name="eupl" />
|-
|[[FreeBSD]] || The [[FreeBSD]] project|| {{n/a}} || <span style="display:none">1999</span>April 1999 || {{yes|Permissive}}<ref name="freebsdlicense">{{cite web|url=https://www.freebsd.org/copyright/freebsd-license.html|title=FreeBSD license}}</ref> || {{yes|Permissive}}<ref name="freebsdlicense"/> || {{yes|Permissive}}<ref name="freebsdlicense"/> || {{no|Manually}}<ref name="freebsdlicense"/> || {{yes|Permissive}}<ref name="freebsdlicense"/> || {{yes|Permissive}}<ref name="freebsdlicense"/> || {{no|Manually}}<ref name="freebsdlicense"/>
|-
|[[GNU Affero General Public License]] || [[Free Software Foundation]] || 3.0 || 2007 || {{free|GNU GPLv3 only}}<ref name="agplsection13">[https://www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl.html]: section 13 of the GNU AGPLv3 license</ref> || {{free|Copylefted}}<ref name="gnucopyleft">[https://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl-howto.html]: GNU licenses copyleft</ref> || {{free|Copylefted}}<ref name="gnucopyleft"/> || {{yes}}<ref name="agplv3">{{cite web|url=https://www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl-3.0.html|title=the GNU Affero General Public License version 3}}</ref> || {{partial|No network usage}}<ref name="agplv3"/> || {{free|Copylefted}}<ref name="gnucopyleft"/> || {{yes}}<ref name="agplv3"/>
|-
|[[GNU General Public License]] || Free Software Foundation || 3.0 || <span style="display:none">2007</span>June 2007 || {{free|GPLv3 compatible only}}<ref name="iflibraryisgpl3">[https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#IfLibraryIsGPL]: If library is under GPLv3</ref><ref name="gpl3linking">[https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#LinkingWithGPL]: Linking with the GNU GPLv3</ref> || {{free|Copylefted}}<ref name="gnucopyleft"/> || {{free|Copylefted}}<ref name="gnucopyleft"/> || {{yes}}<ref name="gplv3">{{cite web|url=https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html|title=the GNU General Public License version 3}}</ref> || {{yes}}<ref name="gplv3"/> || {{free|Copylefted}}<ref name="gnucopyleft"/> || {{yes}}<ref name="gplv3"/>
|-
|[[GNU Lesser General Public License]] || Free Software Foundation || 3.0 || <span style="display:none">2007</span>June 2007 || {{free|With restrictions}}<ref name="lgpl3">[https://www.gnu.org/licenses/lgpl.html]: the section 4 of the GNU Lesser General Public License version 3</ref> || {{free|Copylefted}}<ref name="gnucopyleft"/> || {{free|Copylefted}}<ref name="gnucopyleft"/> || {{yes}}<ref name="lgplv3">{{cite web|url=https://www.gnu.org/licenses/lgpl.html|title=the GNU Lesser General Public License version 3}}</ref> || {{yes}} || {{free|Copylefted}}<ref name="gnucopyleft"/> || {{yes}}<ref name="lgplv3"/>
|-
|[[IBM Public License]] || IBM || 1.0 || <span style="display:none">1999</span>August 1999 || {{free|Copylefted}} || {{dunno}} || {{free|Copylefted}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}}
|-
|[[ISC license]] || [[Internet Systems Consortium]] || {{n/a}} || <span style="display:none">2003</span>June 2003 || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{no|Manually}} || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{no|Manually}}
|-
|[[LaTeX Project Public License]] || LaTeX project || 1.3c || {{dunno}} || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{dunno}} || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}}
|-
|[[Microsoft Public License]] || [[Microsoft]] || {{n/a}} || {{dunno}} || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{no}} || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{dunno}} || {{no}}
|-
|[[MIT License|MIT license / X11 license]] || [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]] || {{n/a}} || 1988 || {{yes|Permissive}}<ref name="mit">{{cite web|url=http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT|title=MIT License}}</ref> || {{yes|Permissive}}<ref name="mit"/> || {{yes|Permissive}}<ref name="mit"/> || {{no|Manually}}<ref name="mit"/> || {{yes}}<ref name="mit"/> || {{yes|Permissive}}<ref name="mit"/> || {{no|Manually}}<ref name="mit"/>
|-
|[[Mozilla Public License]] || [[Mozilla Foundation]] || 2.0 || <span style="display:none">2012</span>January 3, 2012 || {{yes|Permissive}}<ref name="mpl2">{{cite web|url=https://www.mozilla.org/MPL/2.0|title=MPL version 2}}</ref> || {{free|Copylefted}}<ref name="mpl2"/> || {{free|Copylefted}}<ref name="mpl2"/> || {{yes}}<ref name="mpl2"/> || {{yes}}<ref name="mpl2"/> || {{free|Copylefted}}<ref name="mpl2"/> || {{no}}<ref name="mpl2"/>
|-
|[[Netscape Public License]] || [[Netscape]] || 1.1 || {{dunno}} || {{partial|Limited}} || {{dunno}} || {{partial|Limited}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}}
|-
|[[Open Software License]]<ref name="OSL/AFL 3.0">{{cite web|url=http://rosenlaw.com/OSL3.0-explained.htm|title=OSL 3.0 Explained}}</ref> || Lawrence Rosen || 3.0 || 2005 || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{free|Copylefted}} || {{free|Copylefted}} || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{free|Copylefted}} || {{dunno}}
|-
|[[OpenSSL license]] || OpenSSL Project || {{n/a}} || {{dunno}} || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{dunno}} || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}}
|-
|[[PHP License]]<ref name="PHP 3.01">{{cite web|url=https://www.php.net/license/3_01.txt|title=PHP Licence 3.01}}</ref> || PHP Group || 3.01 || 2019 || {{partial|With restrictions}} || {{partial|With restrictions}} || {{partial|With restrictions}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{partial|With restrictions}} || {{no|Manually}}
|-
|[[Python Software Foundation License]] || Python Software Foundation || 2 || {{dunno}} || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{dunno}} || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}}
|-
|[[Q Public License]] || [[Trolltech]] || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{partial|Limited}} || {{dunno}} || {{partial|Limited}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}}
|-
|[[Sleepycat License]] || [[Sleepycat Software]] || {{n/a}} || 1996 || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{partial|With restrictions}} || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{no}} || {{yes}} || {{no}} || {{no}}
|-
|[[Unlicense]] || unlicense.org || 1 || <span style="display:none">2010</span>December 2010 || {{yes|Permissive/Public domain}} || {{yes|Permissive/Public domain}} || {{yes|Permissive/Public domain}} || {{dunno}} || {{yes|Permissive/Public domain}} || {{yes|Permissive/Public domain}} || {{dunno}}
|-
|[[W3C Software Notice and License]] || [[World Wide Web Consortium|W3C]] || 20021231 || <span style="display:none">2002</span>December 31, 2002 || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{dunno}} || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}}
|-
|[[WTFPL|Do What The Fuck You Want To Public License]] (WTFPL) || Banlu Kemiyatorn, [[Sam Hocevar]] || 2 || <span style="display:none">2004</span>December 2004 || {{yes|Permissive/Public domain}} || {{yes|Permissive/Public domain}} || {{yes|Permissive/Public domain}} || {{no}} || {{yes}} || {{yes}} || {{no}}
|-
|[[XCore Open Source License]]<br>also separate "Hardware License Agreement" || [[XMOS]] || {{dunno}} || <span style="display:none">2011</span>February 2011 || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{no|Manually}} || {{yes}} || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{dunno}}
|-
|[[XFree86|XFree86 1.1 License]] || The XFree86 Project, Inc || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{dunno}} || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}}
|-
|[[zlib/libpng license]] || Jean-Loup Gailly and Mark Adler || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{dunno}} || {{yes|Permissive}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}}
|-
|}

Other licences that don't have information:
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center; width:99%"
|-
!Licence
!Author
!Latest version
!Publication date
|-
!<br />!! !! !! 
|-
|[[Eiffel Forum License]]|| NICE || 2 || 2002 
|-
|[[Intel Open Source License]]||[[Intel Corporation]]|| {{n/a}} || {{dunno}} 
|-
|[[RealNetworks Public Source License]]||[[RealNetworks]]|| {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} 
|-
|[[Reciprocal Public License]]|| Scott Shattuck || 1.5 || 2007 
|-
|[[Sun Industry Standards Source License]]|| Sun Microsystems || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} 
|-
|[[Sun Public License]]|| Sun Microsystems || {{dunno}} || {{dunno}} 
|-
|[[Sybase Open Watcom Public License]]||[[Watcom C/C++ compiler#Open source|Open Watcom]]|| {{n/a}} || 2003-01-28 
|-
|[[Zope Public License]]||[[Zope Foundation]]|| 2.1 || {{dunno}} 
|-
|}