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Source License

Last updated 20 October 2026

Draft pending legal review. This text explains our intentions in plain language and may change before launch. If anything here is unclear, write to us.
The Desyn Non-Commercial Source License in plain words, with the full text.

Desyn is open source, free for non-commercial use. The source code is public under the Desyn Non-Commercial Source License. Here is what it means in plain words. The licence text itself is what counts; it is reproduced in full below.

You may

  • read, copy, modify and run the source;
  • self-host Desyn with every feature for personal projects, hobbies, education, research and non-profit organisations;
  • share modified or unmodified copies under the same licence, marked as modified where you changed them.

You may not, without a commercial licence

  • use Desyn inside a for-profit business, including for its own employees;
  • offer Desyn, or something built from it, as a hosted, managed or white-label service;
  • sell, rent, sublicense or bundle it with a paid product;
  • use the name “Desyn”, the sun mark or desyn.app to name or promote a derivative.

All commercial rights are reserved. For a commercial licence, write to hello@desyn.app.

Contributions

Contributions are made under a Contributor License Agreement that lets us relicense them, including commercially. Fonts and other third-party components keep their own licences, such as the SIL Open Font License.

The full licence

Desyn Non-Commercial Source License, Version 1.0

Copyright (c) 2026 Sami Hindi ("Licensor"). All rights reserved except as granted below.

DRAFT NOTICE: this text is a working draft prepared without legal review. Have it reviewed by a lawyer before relying on it.

1. Definitions
   "Software" means the Desyn source code, assets, documentation and everything else in this repository, in source or binary form.
   "Commercial Use" means any use of the Software that is primarily intended for, or directed toward, commercial advantage or
   monetary compensation. This includes, without limitation: offering the Software or any derivative as a hosted, managed or
   white-label service; selling, sublicensing, renting or bundling it with a paid product; using it inside a for-profit
   organization's business operations; and using its output as a core part of a paid service. Hosting it for a company's own
   employees or customers is Commercial Use.
   "Non-Commercial Use" means personal use, hobby projects, education, academic research, evaluation and use by charitable,
   educational or public-interest organizations that are not operated for profit, in each case without Commercial Use.

2. Grant
   Subject to these terms, the Licensor grants you a worldwide, non-exclusive, non-transferable, royalty-free license to use,
   copy, modify and run the Software, and to distribute unmodified or modified copies, solely for Non-Commercial Use.

3. Commercial Use reserved
   ALL COMMERCIAL RIGHTS ARE RESERVED BY THE LICENSOR. You may not make any Commercial Use of the Software unless you have a
   separate written commercial license signed by the Licensor. To request one, see COMMERCIAL.md.

4. Conditions
   (a) Keep this license, copyright notice and attribution in all copies. (b) Modified versions must be clearly marked as modified.
   (c) You may not remove, bypass or disable any notice of this license. (d) Distributing the Software or a derivative to others
   passes only the rights of this license; recipients are bound by it. (e) Trademarks: "Desyn", the sun mark and desyn.app are
   not licensed; you may not use them to imply endorsement or to name a derivative in a confusing way.

5. Contributions
   Contributions you submit are licensed to the Licensor under the Contributor License Agreement described in CONTRIBUTING.md,
   which allows the Licensor to relicense them, including commercially.

6. Third-party components
   The Software includes third-party components under their own licenses (see THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md). Those licenses apply to
   those components. Fonts such as Instrument Serif/Sans, JetBrains Mono and Google Fonts are under the SIL Open Font License.

7. Termination
   Your license ends automatically if you violate these terms. It resumes if you cure the violation within 30 days of notice
   (first violation only).

8. No warranty; limitation of liability
   THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. THE LICENSOR IS NOT LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM,
   DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY ARISING FROM THE SOFTWARE OR ITS USE, TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

9. Governing law
   To be set by the Licensor with legal advice.