Source available, not open source. Each version converts to an open license on its own Change Date, usually four years after release.
On this page
What it does
The Business Source License 1.1 is a time-delayed license. It is not open source on the day it ships, and it becomes open source on a date the publisher picks. Four fields are filled in per project: the Licensor, the Change Date, the Change License the code converts to, and an Additional Use Grant that says what use is permitted in the meantime. HashiCorp moved Terraform, Vault, Consul and Nomad to it in August 2023. Sentry, CockroachDB, MariaDB MaxScale and Couchbase Server use it too.
Details
Two projects can carry the same BUSL-1.1 identifier and permit completely different things, because the Additional Use Grant is written per project. Running Terraform inside your own build is fine under the usual grant. Selling a hosted Terraform service is the exact thing the license exists to stop. The Change Date matters just as much: each version converts on a date of its own, so the version pinned in your lockfile may already be Apache-2.0 while the current release is not. Read the grant, then record the version and the date.
Pros
- You can read the code, trace bugs, and often use it for non-production work under the published terms.
- Some licenses convert to OSI terms after a delay, which is a planned path rather than a surprise.
Cons
- A SaaS or competing-product clause can make the "free" download unusable for the exact product you are building.
- Procurement will not treat it as open source. Your attestation page should say so plainly.
What it allows and requires
Choose a category to see the full grant in one scannable list. Permissions show what the license allows, limits show what it withholds, and obligations show the conditions your release process must satisfy.
Permissions
Private use
Use inside your company, including internal forks, does not by itself trigger distribution duties.
Modify
You can usually read and change the source. Production use after the change date, or in a competing service, is where these licenses bite.
Limits
Hold liable
The authors disclaim warranty. Recipients cannot hold them liable for damages arising from the software, except where law forbids that disclaimer.
Production use
Source-available licenses often delay or restrict production use, especially as a competing hosted service.
Obligations
Include license
Keep the license text with the source you received.
Change date
After the stated Change Date the work converts to an OSI-approved license named in the Additional Use Grant. Until then, production use is limited to what that grant allows.
What BUSL-1.1 requires when you ship
BUSL-1.1 is readable source with use limits. The work is to match your use to the written grant, then keep the text on the record so procurement can read it. Do not treat a source-available identifier as OSI-style open source because the code is on GitHub.
You have read that project's Additional Use Grant. It is the paragraph that says what you may do before the Change Date, and it differs from project to project.
You are not offering the software, or a service substantially similar to it, commercially to third parties before the Change Date, unless the Use Grant allows it.
You use it inside your own build or your own product. Development, testing and internal production use are permitted by the usual Use Grant.
You have recorded the version you depend on together with its Change Date and its Change License, because each version converts on a date of its own.
You keep the license file and the copyright notices intact in anything you pass on. The notice condition applies for the whole period before conversion.
The duties named in BUSL-1.1
The written grant is the source of the limits. These rows are the usual conditions teams have to match against their actual use, then keep on the record.
Include license
Keep the license text with the source you received.
Change date
After the stated Change Date the work converts to an OSI-approved license named in the Additional Use Grant. Until then, production use is limited to what that grant allows.
Things to be aware of
- Teams treat BUSL as one license with one set of terms. It is a template, so the Licensor, Change Date, Change License and Use Grant have to be read per project.
- Teams expect the whole project to flip to open source on one day. It converts version by version, so an old release can be open while the newest one is not.
- Teams pin a version from before the license change and stop thinking about it. The next upgrade is a fresh legal decision rather than a routine bump.
- Teams read source available as no obligations. The notice condition still applies, and the limit on competing services is the whole point of the license.
What the Business Source License 1.1 does not do
Search results often flatten Business Source License 1.1 into a slogan. These are the usual misreads. BUSL-1.1 is a grant with conditions, not a permission to skip the paperwork below.
- The Business Source License 1.1 is not an OSI-approved open source license on the day it ships. Readable source is not the same as permission to offer a competing service before the Change Date.
- It does not use one Additional Use Grant for every BUSL-1.1 package. Licensor, Change Date, Change License and Use Grant are filled in per project.
How BUSL-1.1 differs from nearby licenses
These licenses are often confused with BUSL-1.1, but their release duties differ. Each row summarizes what the license requires when you ship. Open the linked page for the full checklist.
- BUSL-1.1
- Source available, not open source. Each version converts to an open license on its own Change Date, usually four years after release.
- source-available
- You can read the code. That is not the same as permission to use it any way you like. Source available is not open source.
- Elastic-2.0
- Source available with three prohibitions: no offering it as a managed service, no defeating the license keys, no removing notices.
- MPL-2.0
- File-scoped copyleft. The MPL files stay open when you ship a binary, modified or not. Your own separate files stay yours.
Common questions about Business Source License 1.1
Answers to common questions about what Business Source License 1.1 requires, when its duties apply, and what evidence belongs with a release.
What is the Business Source License 1.1?
The Business Source License 1.1 is a time-delayed license. It is not open source on the day it ships, and it becomes open source on a date the publisher picks. Four fields are filled in per project: the Licensor, the Change Date, the Change License the code converts to, and an Additional Use Grant that says what use is permitted in the meantime. HashiCorp moved Terraform, Vault, Consul and Nomad to it in August 2023. Sentry, CockroachDB, MariaDB MaxScale and Couchbase Server use it too.
What does BUSL-1.1 require when you ship a product?
You have read that project's Additional Use Grant. It is the paragraph that says what you may do before the Change Date, and it differs from project to project. You are not offering the software, or a service substantially similar to it, commercially to third parties before the Change Date, unless the Use Grant allows it. You use it inside your own build or your own product. Development, testing and internal production use are permitted by the usual Use Grant. You have recorded the version you depend on together with its Change Date and its Change License, because each version converts on a date of its own. You keep the license file and the copyright notices intact in anything you pass on. The notice condition applies for the whole period before conversion.
Is BUSL-1.1 open source?
Not in the OSI sense. BUSL-1.1 is source-available: you can read the code, but the grant restricts how you may use it. Read the actual text.
How is BUSL-1.1 different from Source available licenses?
BUSL-1.1 asks this: Source available, not open source. Each version converts to an open license on its own Change Date, usually four years after release. Source available licenses asks this: You can read the code. That is not the same as permission to use it any way you like. Source available is not open source. Open the Source available licenses page for what that license requires when you ship. Do not treat the SPDX ids as interchangeable because the short names look similar.
Where do I record BUSL-1.1 for a buyer?
The catalog records BUSL-1.1 as source available, and as a license a network deployment does not clear. So SourceTrust puts a network distribution review item on the checklist for SaaS and mixed projects, and holds publishing until a person confirms it. The fetch never lands BUSL on confirmed, even when the text matches a reference copy exactly. A filled-in template is package-specific terms, so the result is labelled as the license with package-specific parameters rather than as modified. The component page also shows a compatibility warning about competing commercial services in every deployment context except Library or SDK.
Where do I record BUSL-1.1 for a buyer?
The catalog records BUSL-1.1 as source available, and as a license a network deployment does not clear. So SourceTrust puts a network distribution review item on the checklist for SaaS and mixed projects, and holds publishing until a person confirms it.
The fetch never lands BUSL on confirmed, even when the text matches a reference copy exactly. A filled-in template is package-specific terms, so the result is labelled as the license with package-specific parameters rather than as modified.
The component page also shows a compatibility warning about competing commercial services in every deployment context except Library or SDK. Read /docs/auto-fetch-license.
- The stored text is that project's own filled-in copy, which is the one that governs you. A reference copy would not carry its Use Grant.
- SourceTrust does not track Change Dates for you. Record the version and its date where the person who upgrades the dependency will see it.
- The checklist item is not ticked for you. The tick is stored per obligation on the component, and publishing stays blocked until a person sets it. Who approved the component, and when, is recorded on the approval decision.
See also
The hub is the pillar for this cluster. Sibling licenses are the other spokes. Product FAQ links explain how SourceTrust records the duty, not the license text itself.
Practical guidance for procurement review, not legal advice. Confirm high-stakes use with counsel.