Qt Licensing Overview
Whether you're developing a mobile application, an embedded device, or desktop software, the Qt licensing options provide the freedom to choose the best fit for your product's specific requirements.
Qt Framework’s Dual Licensing Model
Enabling Both Scalable Businesses and Community Projects
Qt licensing comes with both commercial and open source options. Commercial Qt enables you to build scalable, proprietary products. In addition, as believers in the Free Software movement, we also provide the Qt Community Edition for open source use with certain rights and obligations.
The choice you make between the two determines what terms you agree to adhere to.
Make sure you choose the right license for your project from the start, marking that open source is a matter of liberty, not price.
Qt Licensing Options
Carefully consider between the Commercial Qt and the Qt Community Edition licenses against your needs long-term. Qt also comes with options for educational, SDK, and small business use.
Commercial Qt
Retain your IPR better and gain benefits such as help and support, longer maintenance periods, support on security and regulatory compliance, and additional services.
Qt Community Edition
Use Qt under the LGPL or GPL license and help improve the Qt project, allowing others to modify, distribute, and use your code, as per open source obligations.
Educational Use
As an academic student or teacher, gain free access to Qt Framework, tools and resources for learning purposes.
Considerations Between the Commercial
and Open Source Licensing
At first look, the Qt Community Edition may seem free of charge.
However, there are actual costs and a lot of responsibilities connected to using open source, and they can be less predictable than the well-defined costs and responsibilities connected to Commercial Qt licensing.
Commercial Qt
Commercial Qt enables you to build scalable, proprietary products.
What you first see:
- Purchased licenses
- Commercial terms
What you also get:
- Costs are predictable
- Better control of your IPR, including patenting
- Business relation with Qt; customer success and technical support
- Commercial-only features
- Building blocks for regulatory compliance
- Longer support cycles and readily available patches
Qt Community Edition
Open source suits community projects for unrestricted, modifiable software.
What you first see:
- Open-source licenses without purchase
- GPL / LGPL terms
- Your software must be open to copy, modify, and distribute
What you should be mindful of:
- Making your source code available upfront and maintaining it
- Limited access to some Qt capabilities
- Building regulatory compliance from scratch
- Updates with delay, implemented manually
Switching between Commercial and Open Source?
Combining or mixing the Commercial Qt licensing and the Qt Community Edition within the same application or device development project is not allowed. You have to pick one or the other.
Typically, switching between the two for an existing product is not allowed other than in special conditions and with a special permission from Qt. Therefore, we encourage you to carefully consider the long-term aspects of your choice between the different license types before getting started.
We’re happy to help you with any questions or concerns you might have regarding your case.
Contact us, and we’ll find the best license type to suit your product.