License comparison
Apache-2.0 vs GPL-3.0: source duties
Distributing a changed Apache-2.0 component does not itself require publishing your modifications as source; you still owe its license, applicable notices and changed-file markings. A distributed work covered by GPL-3.0 carries broader duties: the covered whole must remain under the GPL and recipients must receive corresponding source through an allowed delivery method. A notice bundle alone cannot satisfy that GPL source duty.
Compare the permissions, limits and obligations recorded in each guide. Read the license text for the full conditions that apply to your release.
Permissions
Apache-2.0
Commercial use
You may ship the code inside a paid product. The license does not restrict commercial use.
Modify
You may change the code, including keeping those changes private, unless a later obligation says otherwise.
Distribute
You may give copies to others. Distribution is what usually turns notice and source duties into real work.
Sublicense
You may include the code under your own product terms, so long as you still meet this license's conditions.
Private use
Use inside your company, including internal forks, does not by itself trigger distribution duties.
Patent use
The license includes an express patent grant from contributors for the licensed work.
GPL-3.0-only
Commercial use
You may ship the code inside a paid product. The license does not restrict commercial use.
Modify
You may change the code, including keeping those changes private, unless a later obligation says otherwise.
Distribute
You may give copies to others. Distribution is what usually turns notice and source duties into real work.
Private use
Use inside your company, including internal forks, does not by itself trigger distribution duties.
Limits
Apache-2.0
Hold liable
The authors disclaim warranty. Recipients cannot hold them liable for damages arising from the software, except where law forbids that disclaimer.
Use trademark
Apache-2.0 section 6 says the grant does not let you use the names of the licensor or contributors to endorse products, except as required for NOTICE reproduction.
GPL-3.0-only
Hold liable
The authors disclaim warranty. Recipients cannot hold them liable for damages arising from the software, except where law forbids that disclaimer.
Use trademark
The license is not a trademark license. Names, logos and product marks stay with their owners unless a separate grant says otherwise.
Open your product
Copyleft can reach a combined work you distribute, not only the original files. How far that reaches in your stack is a counsel question.
Network copyleft
Classic GPL has no network clause. Offering the program as a hosted service, without distributing a copy, does not by itself trigger the source offer.
Obligations
Apache-2.0
Include copyright
Keep the copyright line with every copy or substantial portion you distribute.
Include license
Keep the license text with every copy or substantial portion you distribute. A web page is not a substitute for notices inside a shipped artifact.
Include notice
If a NOTICE file travelled with the work, reproduce the attribution notices from it in the form the license describes.
State changes
Mark changed files so they are not misrepresented as the original.
GPL-3.0-only
Include copyright
Keep copyright notices on distributed copies.
Include license
Give recipients a copy of the license with the program.
Disclose source
When you distribute a binary of a covered work, corresponding source has to be offered in the way the license describes.
Same license
The combined work you distribute has to stay under this license. You cannot close the covered work with a more restrictive grant.
Installation Information
Section 6 also asks for Installation Information when a binary ships in a User Product, so the owner can run a modified build on the device.
License texts
Practical guidance for procurement review, not legal advice. Confirm high-stakes use with counsel.