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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-05-16T22:56:55+00:00

I am planning to start a commercial web project (like e.g. facebook) which requires

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I am planning to start a commercial web project (like e.g. facebook) which requires a database.

I’ve read through all the licenses and FAQ’s of MySQL, PostgreSQL and HSQLDB but I am still not certain if I need to purchase a license (commercial type) or have to publish the source code of my web project (open source license) since I am not a lawyer.

My Question is: Can I use any of the databases mentioned above for my commercial project without having to purchase a commercial license or publish my source?

If not, is there a database out there which I could use?

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    I contacted the mysql guys and they said that using MySQL as described in my initial post is free of charge:

    Certainly during the development phase
    there is no requirement to purchase a
    license as you can use the Community
    Server for that, however it would make
    sense that once you went live you
    would purchase MySQL Enterprise to
    ensure you had access to the most
    stable versions and support.
    More information can be found at:

    http://www.mysql.com/about/legal/licensing/oem/

    Community Server is released under the
    GNU General Public License Version 2
    (also known as the GPLv2). This can
    be found at
    http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0.html

    Provided your use of MySQL Community
    Server complies with the GPLv2 then
    you are free to use it. If you are in
    any doubt, then it is worth looking at
    Enterprise.

    I also asked if I had to release/publish my code under a open source license if I used the community server. This is the answer I got:

    I am not a lawyer, so please take this
    into account. Also you probably
    should be talking to the sales staff
    on what you can and cannot do, you can
    get their details from the contact
    pages on http://www.mysql.com. However as I
    understand the GPL unless you are
    distributing MySQL with your code you
    do not need to release your code under
    the GPL. If, however, you do
    distribute MySQL then you either need
    an OEM/ISV license or your code must
    be under the GPL, or one of the other
    Open Source licenses covered in the
    FOSS exceptions listed in the FAQ page
    I gave you.

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