License comparison
MIT vs Apache-2.0: patents and notices
MIT and Apache-2.0 both let you distribute software in a closed product when you preserve the required notices. Apache adds an express contributor patent grant, with termination conditions, and requires modified files to say they changed. If the upstream work includes NOTICE, relevant attribution notices must also accompany your distribution in a permitted form. MIT has no express patent grant or separate NOTICE requirement.
Compare the permissions, limits and obligations recorded in each guide. Read the license text for the full conditions that apply to your release.
Permissions
MIT
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.
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.
Limits
MIT
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.
Patent grant
The text does not grant patents. If buyers want an express patent grant, Apache-2.0 is the usual alternative.
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.
Obligations
MIT
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.
Substantial portion
MIT names copies or substantial portions. Keep the copyright line and the permission notice with both whole packages and excerpts you vendor.
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.
License texts
Practical guidance for procurement review, not legal advice. Confirm high-stakes use with counsel.