Legal

Open Source Licence

The Spwig commerce platform is released as free and open-source software under AGPL-3.0-or-later. The SDKs are Apache-2.0. Hosted infrastructure and the SPWIG® trademark remain proprietary.

Effective 8 July 2026

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Plain-English answers to the questions we hear most.

What licence is Spwig released under?+

The commerce platform (Spwig/commerce) and marketplace components (Spwig/components) are AGPL-3.0-or-later. The developer SDKs (theme, provider, headless, React) are Apache-2.0. Hosted infrastructure (updates.spwig.com, mail-gw, registry, etc.) is proprietary.

Do I need to buy a licence to use the platform?+

No. The Community edition auto-activates on first boot with no purchase and no server round-trip. Paid Pro and Enterprise editions exist for merchants who want our hosted email gateway, higher rate limits, priority support, or Enterprise SSO — but the Community edition is the full platform, including POS, not a stripped-down demo.

Can I use Spwig to run a store for a paying client?+

Yes. Running Spwig for a merchant — even one who pays you for the setup — is normal use of the platform. You have no publication obligation because you're not offering Spwig itself as a hosted service to third parties.

Do I have to publish my modifications?+

Only if you distribute the modified version or offer it as a service to users. If you run modifications privately on your own store, no. If you host a *modified* fork of Spwig as a SaaS for other merchants, then yes — the AGPL requires you to make your modifications available to the users of that service.

What if I only self-host for my own store?+

You have no publication obligation. You are the user, not a service provider. Modify, patch, and run the platform however you like.

Can I build a proprietary payment provider on Spwig?+

Yes. Provider SDKs are Apache-2.0 exactly so that third-party developers can build proprietary payment, shipping, email, or authentication integrations without AGPL contamination. Your provider is a separately-loaded module, not a modification of the AGPL platform, so its licence is yours to choose.

Can I fork Spwig and rebrand it?+

Yes, provided you don't call the result "Spwig" or use the SPWIG® trademark. The AGPL covers the code; the trademark is separate. See the Trademark Policy for what's allowed and what needs permission.

What's the difference between Community, Pro, and Enterprise?+

The same binary. A signed licence key toggles which paid modules are active at runtime. Community is free and fully-functional and includes full POS terminal support. Pro unlocks hosted email gateway, higher hosted-service rate limits, and priority support. Enterprise unlocks SSO integrations and the highest rate limits.

Does Spwig collect telemetry?+

Yes — one anonymous ping per day per install: install UUID, version, edition, country, and feature-flag bucket counts. No customer data, order IDs, prices, or PII. Opt out at any time by setting SPWIG_TELEMETRY=0. Details in the Privacy Policy.

Where do I get the full licence text?+

Below on this page, or at https://github.com/Spwig/commerce/blob/main/LICENSE for the source-of-truth version alongside the code.

Full licence text

The complete text of the Spwig licence overview and the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 that governs the platform.

Third-Party Software Notices

The Spwig platform incorporates open-source and third-party components. Below is a summary of the licence types used. The full Third-Party Notices file is included with the software distribution.

LICENSE SUMMARY
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

License Type                              Count      %
---------------------------------------- ------ ------
MIT                                         112  40.6%
BSD                                          84  30.4%
Apache 2.0                                   46  16.7%
Other/Proprietary License                    13   4.7%
MPL                                           4   1.4%
LGPL                                          4   1.4%
ISC                                           3   1.1%
PSF                                           2   0.7%
UNKNOWN                                       2   0.7%
LicenseRef-NVIDIA-SOFTWARE-LICENSE            1   0.4%
DFSG approved                                 1   0.4%
NVIDIA Proprietary Software                   1   0.4%
LicenseRef-NVIDIA-Proprietary                 1   0.4%
GPL                                           1   0.4%
ZPL-2.1                                       1   0.4%
---------------------------------------- ------ ------
TOTAL                                       276


82 direct dependencies and their transitive dependencies are listed in the full Third-Party Notices file included with the software distribution.