Project Governance & License Guarantee

Open Source Forever

ArcadeDB is committed to remaining Open Source Forever. This is not just a slogan — it is a structural guarantee built into the project's legal and organizational framework.

1. License Guarantee

ArcadeDB is and will always be licensed under the Apache License 2.0. We will never adopt a non-OSI-approved license (such as BSL, SSPL, ELv2, or any "Source Available" license).

Even if this guarantee were ever violated, the Apache License 2.0 is irrevocable: every version released under Apache 2.0 remains freely available, usable, and forkable under Apache 2.0 in perpetuity.

2. Fragmented Copyright

We deliberately do not require a Contributor License Agreement (CLA). Under Section 5 of the Apache License 2.0, every contribution submitted to the project is automatically licensed under Apache 2.0. Contributors retain full ownership of their copyright — they simply grant a permanent, irrevocable license (including patent rights under Section 3) to the project and its users.

This distributed copyright structure means that no single entity — not even the project's founders or any future acquirer — can unilaterally change the license. Doing so would require the explicit consent of every contributor who has ever submitted code to the project.

3. Sustainability over Lock-in

Our business model is based on value-added services and support, not on restricting access to the core database technology. We believe that a truly open database earns adoption and trust, and that locking users in through license restrictions is a short-sighted strategy that ultimately harms both the project and its community.

Why This Matters

Too many open source database companies have used the "bait-and-switch" approach: build a community under a permissive license, then change to a restrictive one once they have market traction. ArcadeDB is architecturally designed — both technically and legally — so that this cannot happen here.