Software License Compatibility Checker
Check whether code under one licence can be used in a project under another, for commercial, SaaS, proprietary, modification and distribution scenarios. Free, no registration.
Using MIT-licensed code in a project under BSD-3-Clause
Generally Compatible
Using MIT-licensed code in a project under BSD-3-Clause is generally compatible in this scenario.
Confidence: high
Compatibility is directional: using License A code in a License B project is a different question from using License B code in a License A project. Check the reverse direction.
Commercial Use
No issueMIT permits commercial use.
Modification
No issueThe scenario does not include modifying the component. Modification under MIT: permitted.
Distribution
No issueMIT permits distribution.
Source Disclosure
No issueMIT does not require you to publish source code.
Attribution
ObligationsMIT requires the copyright and licence notices to be kept with copies you distribute.
Patent Considerations
No issueMIT contains no express patent licence. Any patent permission would depend on implied licence doctrines, which vary by jurisdiction.
Copyleft
No issueMIT has no copyleft.
SaaS / Network Use
No issueThe scenario does not include offering the software over a network. MIT has no network-use clause.
Proprietary Use
No issueThe project is not declared proprietary.
Why?
- MIT permits commercial use.
- MIT does not require you to publish source code.
- MIT requires the copyright and licence notices to be kept with copies you distribute.
- MIT permits distribution.
- MIT contains no express patent licence. Any patent permission would depend on implied licence doctrines, which vary by jurisdiction.
What do I need to do?
- Include the MIT copyright notice and licence text with the distributed software (source, binary documentation or an "open-source notices" screen).
Authoritative Sources
Rules applied
MIT_COMMERCIAL_USE (INFO), NO_SOURCE_DISCLOSURE (INFO), MIT_ATTRIBUTION (INFO), MIT_DISTRIBUTION (INFO), PATENT_NO_EXPRESS_GRANT (INFO)
This tool provides general software licensing information and is not legal advice. License obligations may depend on how software components are combined, modified, distributed and used.
How the checker works
Results come from a deterministic rule engine, not from AI. Each supported licence is described by structured facts taken from SPDX, the Open Source Initiative, the GNU Project and the licence stewards: copyleft strength, source-disclosure scope, attribution, patent and network-use terms. Rules combine those facts with your scenario, and every rule that fires is listed with its identifier.
Compatibility is directional. Using MIT code in a GPL-3.0 project is generally fine, but using GPL-3.0 code in an MIT project means the distributed result must be licensed under GPL-3.0. License A is always the code you want to use; License B is the project it goes into.
Commercial use is not the same as proprietary use. Almost every open-source licence allows commercial use; the question that usually matters is whether you can keep your own source code closed when you distribute or host the result.
The engine is open source: @esdecode/license-checker on GitHub, including every rule and its tests.
What the results mean
- Generally Compatible
- The licence terms generally allow this use; notice obligations may still apply.
- Compatible With Conditions
- The use is generally possible if specific conditions are met, such as providing source code or allowing relinking.
- Potential Conflict
- A conflict is plausible depending on how the code is combined, distributed or licensed.
- Likely Incompatible
- The licence terms, as generally understood, do not permit this combination.
- Manual Review Required
- The terms are proprietary, custom or product-specific and must be read individually.
- Unknown
- A licence could not be identified, so no conclusion is drawn.