LICENSE

What is the Business Source License?

The Business Source License (BSL) is a source-available license that allows free use for non-commercial purposes while requiring a commercial license for production use. After 4 years, the code automatically converts to Apache 2.0.

What can I do with TimeSeal?

✅ Allowed (Free):

• Personal use (send time-locked messages to friends/family)
• Educational use (learn cryptography, study the code)
• Research and development (academic projects, experiments)
• Non-profit organizations (charities, open source projects)
• Internal business tools (not customer-facing)
• Code inspection and security audits
• Self-hosting for personal use

❌ Requires License (Commercial):

• Offering TimeSeal as a service to customers
• Embedding TimeSeal in commercial products
• Using TimeSeal for revenue-generating activities
• Providing TimeSeal hosting to third parties
• White-labeling TimeSeal for clients

Why BSL instead of MIT/Apache?

BSL protects the sustainability of open source projects while keeping code transparent. It prevents large companies from taking the code, offering it as a service, and competing without contributing back.

After 4 years, the code becomes Apache 2.0 licensed, ensuring long-term open source availability.

When does it convert to Apache 2.0?

Change Date: 4 years from initial release

Change License: Apache License 2.0

After the change date, all restrictions are lifted and the code becomes fully open source under Apache 2.0.

How do I get a commercial license?

Contact us for commercial licensing inquiries:

Email: license@timeseal.dev

We offer flexible licensing options for businesses of all sizes.

Can I self-host TimeSeal?

✅ Yes, for non-commercial use. You can deploy your own instance on Cloudflare Workers for personal use, internal business tools, or educational purposes.

❌ Commercial hosting requires a license. If you're offering TimeSeal as a service to customers or using it for revenue-generating activities, you need a commercial license.

See our Self-Hosting Guide for deployment instructions.

Can I modify the code?

✅ Yes. You can modify the code for personal use, internal tools, or educational purposes. You can also contribute improvements back to the project via pull requests.

❌ Commercial modifications require a license. If you're modifying the code for commercial purposes (offering as a service, embedding in products), you need a commercial license.

Can I contribute to TimeSeal?

✅ Yes! We welcome contributions from the community. All contributions are licensed under the same BSL terms.

Submit pull requests on GitHub.

What about security audits?

✅ Fully allowed. Security researchers, auditors, and anyone can inspect the code, report vulnerabilities, and verify the cryptographic implementation. Transparency is a core principle of TimeSeal.

Is the license enforceable?

Yes. The Business Source License is a legally binding license used by many companies including HashiCorp, Elastic, and CockroachDB.

Violations of the license terms can result in legal action and termination of your license to use the software.

Where can I read the full license?

The complete license text is available in the LICENSE file in the GitHub repository.