License
Colony's Functional Source License (FSL) — source-available today, open source tomorrow.
Colony is licensed under the Functional Source License (FSL-1.1-Apache-2.0).
What This Means
The FSL is a source-available license that balances openness with sustainability:
- Read the code today. The full source code is publicly available on GitHub.
- Fork and learn. You can fork, study, and contribute to Colony freely.
- Non-production use is free. Testing, development, education — all permitted without a license.
- Production use requires a license. Commercial deployment requires one of our pricing tiers.
- Automatic open source conversion. After 2 years, each release automatically converts to Apache 2.0 — a fully permissive open-source license.
Why FSL?
We chose the FSL because it aligns with our values:
- Transparency. You can audit every line of code we ship.
- Sustainability. Revenue from production licenses funds continued development.
- Inevitable openness. The 2-year conversion clause guarantees everything becomes open source.
- No lock-in. If Colony disappears, the code becomes Apache 2.0 and the community can continue.
Comparison
| License | Source Available | Free Production Use | Eventually Open Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| FSL (Colony) | Yes | No (paid tiers) | Yes (2 years → Apache 2.0) |
| MIT/Apache | Yes | Yes | Already open |
| Proprietary | No | No | No |
| BSL (MariaDB) | Yes | After conversion | Yes (4 years) |
For Contributors
Contributions are welcome under the same FSL license. By contributing, you agree that your contributions will follow the same license terms, including the eventual Apache 2.0 conversion.
Questions?
If you have questions about licensing for your use case, contact us.