License Picker
Choose an open-source licence and get the text.
How to use
- 1 Answer the questions about copyleft, patent grants and simplicity.
- 2 Read the recommended licence and its summary.
- 3 Enter your copyright holder name and the year.
- 4 Optionally override the choice, then copy the full LICENSE text.
About License Picker
The License Picker turns the daunting question "which open-source licence should I use?" into a few simple yes/no choices.
Tell it whether you want derivative works to stay open, whether you need an explicit patent grant, whether you prefer the shortest possible terms, or whether you would rather dedicate your work to the public domain, and it recommends a sensible licence from five widely used options: MIT, Apache 2.0, GPL 3.0, MPL 2.0 and the Unlicense.
Each recommendation comes with a plain-language summary and quick badges showing whether it is permissive or copyleft and whether it carries a patent grant, so you can understand the trade-offs at a glance.
Once you are happy, the tool fills the licence template with your copyright holder name and year and gives you the full text to copy straight into a LICENSE file.
You can also override the recommendation and preview any of the five licences directly.
Everything runs in your browser — nothing is sent anywhere — so you can compare licences privately and offline.
Note that this is informational guidance to help you get started, not legal advice; for anything with real commercial or legal stakes, read the full licence and consult a professional.
FAQ
What is the difference between permissive and copyleft licences?
Permissive licences (MIT, Apache) let others use your code with few conditions, including in closed-source products. Copyleft licences (GPL, MPL) require derivative works to remain open under the same terms.
Is this legal advice?
No. It is a helpful starting point that explains common licences and fills in the boilerplate. Read the full text and consult a lawyer for anything with significant stakes.
Which licence should I use for a simple library?
If you just want maximum adoption with minimal fuss, the MIT licence is the most common default. Choose Apache 2.0 if you also want an explicit patent grant.