Dual License
Free for noncommercial use. Commercial license required for businesses and for-profit use. Clear, fair, and designed to sustain the project.
Use, modify, and distribute Ferrum Edge freely for noncommercial purposes.
- Personal projects and side projects
- Academic research and education
- Nonprofit organizations
- Internal evaluation and proof-of-concept
- Open source projects (noncommercial)
- Developer learning and experimentation
Required for commercial use. Enables all use cases that generate revenue or provide commercial value.
- › Commercial products and SaaS services
- › For-profit companies (any company that generates revenue)
- › Managed API gateway services
- › Bundling in commercial software or hardware
- › Cloud provider offerings
License Comparison
| Use Case | PolyForm Noncommercial | Commercial License |
|---|---|---|
| Personal projects | ✓ Free | ✓ Included |
| Academic research | ✓ Free | ✓ Included |
| Nonprofit organizations | ✓ Free | ✓ Included |
| Internal company tools (for-profit company) | ✗ Requires commercial | ✓ Included |
| For-profit company production use | ✗ Requires commercial | ✓ Included |
| SaaS product integration | ✗ Requires commercial | ✓ Included |
| Managed gateway service offering | ✗ Requires commercial | ✓ Included |
| Bundling in commercial software | ✗ Requires commercial | ✓ Included |
| White-label rights | ✗ Not included | ✓ Enterprise tier |
| SLA support | ✗ Community only | ✓ Commercial tier |
| Security patch backports | ✗ Latest only | ✓ Extended support |
| Roadmap input | ✗ Via GitHub issues | ✓ Direct input |
Licensing FAQ
If your startup generates (or intends to generate) revenue, you need a commercial license. If you're pre-revenue and using Ferrum Edge for internal evaluation or learning purposes, the noncommercial license may cover you during that phase — but once you move to production and have paying customers, you'll need to upgrade to a commercial license.
When in doubt, contact us. We're happy to discuss startup-friendly pricing.
The PolyForm Noncommercial license prohibits "business use" — which includes side projects that generate income, even if small. If your project earns money (ads, subscriptions, freelance work), a commercial license is required. Contact us; we have reasonable pricing for small-scale commercial use.
Yes, for noncommercial open source projects. If your open source project is maintained by a company that uses it commercially, or if the project itself is the commercial product, a commercial license is needed. Pure community open source projects with no commercial affiliation: free to use.
Internal business use at a for-profit company requires a commercial license, even if no customers directly interact with Ferrum Edge. The PolyForm Noncommercial license is clear that any use that contributes to a for-profit organization's operations falls outside noncommercial use.
The commercial license grants unlimited use in commercial contexts, with tiers based on usage scale. Higher tiers include: SLA support, security patch backports, roadmap input sessions, dedicated engineering advisory hours, and white-label rights. Contact us for pricing details.
Enterprise Licensing Benefits
PolyForm Noncommercial License 1.0.0
Key terms (abbreviated). Read the full license at polyformproject.org.
Acceptance. In order to get any license under these terms, you must agree to them as both strict obligations and conditions to all your licenses.
Copyright License. The licensor grants you a copyright license for the software to do everything you might do with the software privately. Your license to use the software extends to the extent necessary to run and use the software privately.
Noncommercial Purposes. Any noncommercial purpose is a permitted purpose. A purpose is noncommercial if the primary purpose of the activity is not to generate commercial advantage or monetary compensation.
Commercial License. If you would like to use the software for a commercial purpose, please contact the licensor to obtain a separate commercial license.
Ready for a Commercial License?
Reach out to discuss pricing, terms, and enterprise features tailored to your organization.
Contact Us for Commercial Licensing →