Choosing an Open Source License
It’s easy to get caught up in code. Sharing your code isn’t everything, though: it’s also important to tell people how they can use that code. Choosing an open source…
It’s easy to get caught up in code. Sharing your code isn’t everything, though: it’s also important to tell people how they can use that code.
Choosing an open source license can be confusing. We’ve created ChooseALicense.com to help you make that decision.

You can see a breakdown of what’s required, what’s permitted, and what’s forbidden for each license:

When you’ve made your choice, copy it to your clipboard with one click:

Have any suggestions? ChooseALicense.com itself is open source. Send us a Pull Request with your changes.
Licenses on GitHub.com
Now that we have all these licenses in one happy home, we want to help people choose their licenses on GitHub, too. When you create a new repository you’ll see a new license picker:

To get started, simply point your browser at choosealicense.com, or for more information, you can dive into the full documentation. Happy licensing!
Written by
Related posts
What to expect for open source in 2026
Let’s dig into the 2025’s open source data on GitHub to see what we can learn about the future.
Securing the AI software supply chain: Security results across 67 open source projects
Learn how The GitHub Secure Open Source Fund helped 67 critical AI‑stack projects accelerate fixes, strengthen ecosystems, and advance open source resilience.
Welcome to the Eternal September of open source. Here’s what we plan to do for maintainers.
Open source is hitting an “Eternal September.” As contribution friction drops, maintainers are adapting with new trust signals, triage approaches, and community-led solutions.