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Ask HN: Software licence that is free until you earn money

2 points by samsquire ↗ HN
Hi,

Would this idea ever work?

The code is open source but you are required to pay an amount of money if you earn money using the software.

The price can be scaled, as a percentage and has a maximum cap price.

Would you use software licenced with this manner?

5 comments

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stevenoel
There are several software companies whose license models are based on your revenue. Not "free until you make money", more like "$X to get a license and then additional costs based on your annual revenue".
gus_massa
I agree.

Just to add that most people don't consider those licenses "open source", only "source available".

There are other possibility that is dual license, i.e. AGPL for everyone, but the business can buy a non AGPL version it they don't want to publish their secret sauce.

I'm not sure if someone is mixing the two approaches.

stevenoel
I may have confused the issue - I was answering in more generic terms. There are license agreements that are based on overall revenue.

I wasn't commenting on the OP's question of an open source license or whether anyone would pay based on the revenue created just from that tool.

prirun
How do you verify whether an entity is making money using the software?
stevenoel
Large software vendors usually have clauses in their contracts that allow them to audit your installation - and in some cases tie this audit to revenue reporting. If you're a public company this is all easily auditable, but even a private company can produce an accounting report. There's usually some level of trust involved unless there's reason to suspect you're "cooking the books" for your report.