Why we chose BSL 1.1
ModPageSpeed 2.0 is licensed under the Business Source License 1.1. This page explains what that means for you, why we chose it, and how it works in practice.
What you can do
- ✓ Use ModPageSpeed 2.0 for development, testing, and CI pipelines — no license key required.
- ✓ Read the full source code. Every line is available for review and audit.
- ✓ Contribute improvements back to the project.
- ✓ Wait 3 years for automatic conversion to Apache 2.0 — every release eventually becomes fully open source.
What requires a license
Production use — meaning serving real traffic — requires a paid subscription. If ModPageSpeed 2.0 is processing requests from your users, you need a license key.
Why BSL?
ModPageSpeed 2.0 is built and maintained by a solo developer. BSL lets us sustain that work while keeping the code transparent.
- Source-available — you can audit every line of code running on your servers. No black boxes.
- 3-year change date — every release automatically converts to Apache 2.0 after 3 years. The code is never locked away permanently.
- Sustainable development — production licensing funds continued development, security patches, and performance improvements.
How BSL compares
| BSL 1.1 (ours) | Proprietary | AGPL | MIT | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Source available | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Non-production free | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Production free | No (paid) | No (paid) | Yes (with conditions) | Yes |
| Becomes open source | After 3 years | Never | Already | Already |
Full license text
The complete BSL 1.1 license text is available in the LICENSE file in our repository.
“BSL is not real open source”
You're right — BSL is not an OSI-approved open-source license. It's source-available. We chose it because it lets us share the code transparently while sustaining development as a solo developer. You can read every line, run it in dev, contribute back, and know that every release will become Apache 2.0 after 3 years. We think that's a fair trade.
The BSL change date is a legal guarantee: after 3 years, the code automatically becomes Apache 2.0 regardless of our company's status. If We-Amp B.V. ceases operations, your deployment continues to work, and the code becomes fully open source on the scheduled change date.