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License FAQ

Plain-language explanation of the AnythingMCP license. This is not legal advice — see the full LICENSE for the binding terms.

Back to README

What license does AnythingMCP use?

AnythingMCP is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3 (AGPL-3.0-only), an OSI-approved open-source license. It is the same license used by Twenty, Cal.com, Grafana, Plausible and Mastodon.

The only exception is code under ee/ directories (e.g. packages/backend/src/ee/), which contains operator-only functionality for the AnythingMCP Cloud offering and is licensed under the AnythingMCP Commercial License. EE code is inert in self-hosted deployments — you don't need it.

What can I do?

Use Case Allowed?
Use AnythingMCP internally at my company Yes
Use it for personal projects Yes
Use it for development and testing Yes
Use it for academic research or teaching Yes
Modify the source code Yes
Self-host for my own team or organization Yes
Build internal tools on top of it Yes
Offer it (even modified) as a hosted service Yes — but see the copyleft condition below
Contribute back to the project Yes — after signing the CLA

What does the AGPL require from me?

The AGPL is a copyleft license. In short:

  1. Internal/personal use: no obligations. Use and modify freely.
  2. Distributing AnythingMCP (modified or not): you must provide the source code under the AGPL.
  3. Running a modified AnythingMCP as a network service for other people: you must offer those users the source code of your modified version. This is the "Affero" clause — it closes the SaaS loophole of the ordinary GPL.

If you don't modify the code, simply pointing users at this repository satisfies the source-offer requirement.

Can I build a proprietary product on top of AnythingMCP?

You can use AnythingMCP from a proprietary product over its API (your product is a separate work). But if you incorporate or modify AnythingMCP code, the combined work must be AGPL. If that doesn't fit your business, we offer commercial licenses without copyleft obligations — contact info@helpcode.ai.

What is the ee/ directory?

Code under ee/ directories powers the AnythingMCP Cloud operation (e.g. onboarding lifecycle emails). It is:

  • Visible — you can read and audit it like the rest of the repo
  • Not AGPL — it's under the AnythingMCP Commercial License
  • Not needed for self-hosting — EE modules only load when DEPLOYMENT_MODE=cloud

This split (AGPL core + commercial ee/) is the same model used by Cal.com and GitLab.

What about old releases?

Versions of AnythingMCP released before the AGPL adoption remain under the Business Source License 1.1 they were published with. Those releases convert automatically to Apache 2.0 on their Change Date (2030-03-04). Everything from the AGPL adoption onward is AGPL-3.0-only.

Why the AGPL and not MIT/Apache?

The AGPL lets us:

  1. Be genuinely open source — OSI-approved, with all the freedoms that implies
  2. Allow free self-hosting — organizations can deploy AnythingMCP internally at no cost, forever
  3. Keep improvements open — anyone who offers a modified AnythingMCP as a service must share their changes
  4. Build sustainably — the copyleft, our commercial licenses, and the ee/ features fund continued development

Why do contributors sign a CLA?

The Contributor License Agreement lets helpcode.ai GmbH re-license contributions — which is what makes the dual model (AGPL + commercial licenses) possible with a single codebase. You keep the copyright on your contribution; the CLA is a license, not an assignment. Signing happens automatically on your first pull request and takes one click.

How do I get a commercial license?

Contact info@helpcode.ai or visit anythingmcp.com/pricing for commercial licensing options.

Back to README | Full License Text