Can I build a business on this repo?
Paste a GitHub repo. Get a plain-English answer for the three things indie builders ask: sell it, host it as a paid service, keep your changes private.
Compare with other licenses: all license families side by side
Not legal advice. Your browser asks GitHub's public API directly; we don't see which repo you check. This reads only the repo's root LICENSE (as GitHub detects it; if GitHub can't, we search the text for common source-available licenses). Per-file headers, subfolder licenses and dependencies are not checked. Dependencies, code copied from elsewhere, trademarks and contributor agreements can add other conditions. For anything you'll bet money on, read the license or ask a lawyer.
Cheat sheet
- MIT, BSD, ISC, Apache-2.0: sell it, host it, change it. Keep the notices.
- MPL, LGPL, EPL: fine to use; share changes to their files if you distribute them.
- GPL: fine as a hosted service; shipping it inside a closed app is not.
- AGPL: hosting it means offering users your full modified source.
- SSPL, BUSL, Elastic, Commons Clause, "NC": source-available, not open source. Hosted/commercial use usually needs the author's paid license.
- No license: all rights reserved. Ask the author.
Guide: every license family: sell it, run it as SaaS, keep changes private?