You can modify, integrate and use the Open Source CKEditor 4 and the Open Source CKEditor 5 in your commercial websites and products for free as long as they follow the Open Source restrictions of a given CKEditor license:
- CKEditor 4 is licensed under the terms of any of the following licenses of your choice: GPL, LGPL, and MPL.
- CKEditor 5 is licensed under the terms of GPL 2+.
If you need a license that allows special license terms and dedicated support, visit the CKEditor pricing page.
In case of any questions related to the above, please contact us.
Comments
25 comments
Ludwika,
I'm wondering if you could expand on your previous comments regarding the use of CKEditor in a commerical website. I'm not sure I understand what it means when you say your source code must remain open and accessible to others. My website runs on my server and uses CKEditor. I am not making any changes to the CKEditor code. I am using it as-is. The code that constitutes the website is not distributed in the normal sense of distributing an application. Do I need to provide a link somewhere on the website to the CKEditor code? I just don't understand what it means for the code to be accessible in the context of a website.
Thank you for any clarification you can provide on this matter.
Hey Marty, I am sorry for replying to you so late. I have just sent you an email. Let's talk about your use case and needs there.
Hi Ludwika,
I also have exactly same question as Marty, Can you explain which source code we have to make public? CKEditor code or my website source code?
Thanks.
Hi Ludwika,
i also have the same question as Marty and Whop.
When using your official ckeditor 5 wrapper for angular:
Thanks.
Hey Tommy,
Thank you for your comment. Because you also sent us an email with the same questions, we decided to answer them directly via email. Please let us know in case you need any further information regarding licensing.
Hi,
I had the same question as Tommy. Can you answer me please? Thanks
Andrii
Hi
same question as Marty...
Can we use it without modify CKeditor source code for free?
Thanks
Hi
same question as Marty...
Can we use it without modify CKeditor source code for free? I want to use it as html preview function in my website.
Thanks
Hi.
Same question as Marty,
Can we use it for free in our sever ? WHat part of it should be openSource.
Thanks.
Unfortunately I believe I accidentally deleted the response that Ludwika sent me several months ago. Could you re-response to my original question, please.
Thank you.
Hi,
Can i use your product for my admin panel?
I would like to use the open source CKEditor in my closed-source commercial product as a way for users to define email content. Obviously I don't want to open-source my source code. Is this allowed under the terms of the open source license? (I understand there is no support under the terms of the open source license)
Hi.
If my project includes ckeditor 5, and use existing API to customize it,e.g. add new toolbar item, do I need to open source my whole project source?
Hi
I have a same question as Marty...
I would like to use the open source CKEditor in my closed-source commercial product. I don't want to open-source my source code. Can we use it without modify CKeditor source code for free?
Hi
I have a same question as Marty...
I would like to use the open source CKEditor in a closed-source commercial product in the company i work for It will not be possible to open-source the source code. Can we use it without modify CKeditor source code for free?
Best regards
Anders
I apologize for being dense, but I'm still unclear on the licensing. Let me try with a real life example. If Facebook or Twitter were to replace their text input on their web interface for posting and tweeting with CkEditor, what license would they need to use?
The Free license indicates that it only supports 5 active users; however, it also says that freemium users do not count as active users. Does this mean that Twitter and Facebook would be safe using the Free license?
Now if these services offered a tiered model where for $5 per year you could get extra features, would they have to purchase a commercial license to accomodate this new tier?
Thanks in advance.
Hi
I have a same question as Marty...
I want use CKEditor5 on my commercial website for Post editor.
What happens if I download via npm and bundle it with my client source without modifying the CKEditor source code?
I've read all of the comment threads, but I'm confused.
Hi
I have a same question as Marty...
I am using the version 4.11.1 into my website and i didn't modified it. Do i need to have any licence ? Can you explain please.
Hi
I have a same question as all...
I would like to use the open source CKEditor 4 in my closed-source commercial product. I don't want to open-source my source code. Can I use it without modify CKeditor source code for free?
Regards
Hi
I have a same question as Marty...
I would like to use the open source CKEditor in my closed-source commercial product. I don't want to open-source my source code. Can we use it without modify CKeditor source code for free?
Regards
Hi
I have a same question as everybody else.
I would like to use the open source CKEditor 4 in my commercial product (web application). I don't want to open-source my source code (any more than it already is due to being a SPA). I don't intend to modify or hide the code for CKEditor. Can I use it with the Open Source license? Is there a difference between 4 and 5?
Regards
Hi Ludwika,
First of all apologies if I am again asking the same question that has already been asked. Since I am still unclear, I am going to ask that question again.
I have a commercial website, where I would like to use CK Editor GPL v2+ licensed open source software editor for some content authoring by admin. I don't need to make any changes to CK Editor and will use it as-is. At this stage I don't see any need of support as well. Can I freely use the unmodified open source CK Editor in my website and still keep my code private?
Thanks.
Hi,
Like others, I am interested in using ckeditor in a commercial (SaaS) environment and am keen to understand whether the free (Open Source) version will meet our needs, and to what extent we need to make the code (of our application and of ckeditor) available.
Please could you email me with more information as you have done for others?
Many thanks.
Hi
I have a same question as Marty...
I would like to use the open source CKEditor in my closed-source commercial product. I don't want to open-source my source code. Can we use it without modify CKeditor source code for free?
Regards
Hi,
I have same question and I didn't find any reply from you in this chain.
If I develop a social/commercial web application with CKeditor4, do I need to purchase any license(even free license) or even if my website visitors over a million?.
My purpose is to use ckeditor4 without modifications and use it with other plugins which are GPL, LGPL and MPL like CKEditor4. Do I need to make my code (javascript-rendered to browser or server code) open source. As per my reading on GPL, LGPL and MPL I don't have to open source my application code, please confirm.
Regards
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