1.2 License

MuPDF is released under two licenses.

Firstly, it is available under the GNU Afferro General Purpose License (henceforth the GNU AGPL). This is a complex license worthy of careful study and more words than we have space for here. Some key points, however are:

• You are free to use MuPDF within a piece of software written entirely for your own use with no problems. The moment you pass that software to any other person, or make it available to any other person as part of a “Software as a service” installation, you must abide by the following terms.
• If you link MuPDF into your own software, then the entirety of that software must be licensed under the GNU AGPL (or a compatible license¹ ).
• If you use MuPDF as part of a “Software as a service” installation, then you must license the entirety of that installation under the GNU AGPL.
• Releasing a piece of software under the GNU AGPL requires you to be prepared to give full source code to any user that receives a copy of the software. No charge (other than nominal media costs) may be made for this.
• You must ensure that all end users of that system have the ability to update the software with an updated version of MuPDF. This includes embedded systems.
• Using MuPDF under the GNU AGPL, you receive no warranty and no support.

There are other terms too, and we strongly recommend that you read the license in full and understand your obligations under it before developing code based upon MuPDF.

If you find that you can abide by all the terms of the GNU AGPL, you can use MuPDF in your own projects without any license fee.

These terms, however, are generally stringent enough that they are inappropriate for people producing commercial products - giving the source code to a commercial product away is generally unacceptable, and the ‘relinking’ requirements of the GNU AGPL are too cumbersome for embedded users.

It is for this reason that Artifex (the developers of MuPDF) offer commercial licenses. Contact sales@artifex.com for a quote tailored to your exact needs.

The Artifex commercial license removes all the onerous terms of the GNU AGPL, including the need to license your entire app, to give away source, and to ensure relinking capabilities.

If you find yourself unable to accept and comply with the terms of the GNU AGPL, and unwilling to obtain a Commercial license from Artifex, you cannot legally use MuPDF in any software that you distribute (or make available as “Software as a service”).