Developers
License FAQ
What the Desyn Non-Commercial Source License allows, what counts as commercial use, self-hosting, modifications, contributions and how to get a commercial license.
On this page
- What can I do for free?
- What counts as commercial use?
- Can my company self-host Desyn for its designers?
- Can I use designs I made with Desyn commercially?
- Can I modify it and publish my changes?
- What about the name and logo?
- What happens if I break the terms?
- Third-party components and fonts
- Contributions
- Getting a commercial license
- Warranty
Desyn is source-available, not open source: you can read, run, modify and share the code for non-commercial purposes, and commercial rights are reserved by the licensor. The binding text is the LICENSE file in the repository (Desyn Non-Commercial Source License, Version 1.0); this page summarizes it in plain language and does not replace it.
What can I do for free?#
Use, copy, modify and run Desyn, and distribute unmodified or modified copies, for non-commercial use:
- personal projects and hobby work,
- education and academic research,
- evaluating the software,
- use by charitable, educational or public-interest organizations that are not run for profit.
Self-hosting for these purposes is free, with every feature unlocked.
What counts as commercial use?#
Any use primarily intended for commercial advantage or monetary compensation, including:
- offering Desyn or a 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 — including hosting it for a company's own employees or customers,
- using its output as a core part of a paid service.
Can my company self-host Desyn for its designers?#
Not under the free license: running it inside a for-profit organization's operations is commercial use. You need a commercial license — or use the hosted Pro plan at desyn.app.
Can I use designs I made with Desyn commercially?#
The license governs the software. Using the hosted app at desyn.app under its terms of service is separate from licensing the source code. On a self-hosted installation running under the non-commercial license, using its output as a core part of a paid service is commercial use. For anything in between, contact us.
Can I modify it and publish my changes?#
Yes, for non-commercial use. Keep the license, copyright notice and attribution; clearly mark your version as modified; and pass the same license on to anyone you distribute it to. You may not remove or bypass license notices.
What about the name and logo?#
"Desyn", the sun mark and desyn.app are not licensed. Do not use them to imply endorsement or to name a derivative in a way that could be confused with Desyn.
What happens if I break the terms?#
Your license ends automatically. For a first violation, it is reinstated if you fix the problem within 30 days of notice.
Third-party components and fonts#
Components included in Desyn keep their own licenses, listed in THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md. Fonts such as Instrument Serif, Instrument Sans, JetBrains Mono and the Google Fonts set are under the SIL Open Font License.
Contributions#
Contributions are made under the Contributor License Agreement, which lets the licensor relicense them, including commercially. See contributing.
Getting a commercial license#
Write to hello@desyn.app with your organization, how you plan to use Desyn (internal use, hosting for customers, embedding, reselling) and roughly how many people will use it.
Warranty#
The software is provided "as is", without warranty of any kind, and the licensor is not liable for damages arising from its use, to the extent permitted by law.