License¶

Dual Licensing Model¶

Sekha uses a fair dual-license model designed to support both open-source principles and sustainable development.

Free & Open Source License¶

AGPL-3.0 (GNU Affero General Public License v3.0)¶

Who Can Use It Free:

• ✅ Individuals - Personal projects, learning, experimentation
• ✅ Students & Academics - Research, education, coursework
• ✅ Non-Profits - Charitable organizations, NGOs
• ✅ Small Businesses - Companies with fewer than 50 employees
• ✅ Open Source Projects - Building on Sekha with compatible licenses

Key Terms:

1. Free Forever - No usage limits, no feature restrictions, no time limits
2. Modify Freely - Change, extend, and customize the code as needed
3. Share Modifications - If you distribute modified versions, you must:
4. Publish your modifications under AGPL-3.0
5. Provide source code to users
6. Maintain copyright and license notices
7. Network Use = Distribution - If you run a modified Sekha service that others access over a network, you must make your source code available

What You Can Build:

• Commercial products (if you open-source derivative works)
• SaaS applications (if you publish modifications)
• Internal tools (no distribution = no requirement to publish)
• Research prototypes
• Educational materials

Example Use Cases:

Commercial License¶

Sekha Enterprise License¶

Who Needs a Commercial License:

• ⚖️ Large Companies - 50+ employees
• ⚖️ AI Vendors - Companies building LLM products (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.)
• ⚖️ Closed-Source SaaS - Want to offer Sekha without publishing modifications
• ⚖️ Cloud Providers - AWS, Azure, GCP offering managed Sekha
• ⚖️ Enterprises - Need legal certainty, indemnification, or support SLAs

Pricing Tiers¶

Usage-Based, Not Per-Seat - Fair pricing that scales with your actual usage:

What You Get¶

Legal Certainty:

• ✅ Perpetual commercial use rights
• ✅ No copyleft obligations
• ✅ No source code publication requirements
• ✅ Legal indemnification
• ✅ Patent grant

Enterprise Features:

• ✅ Priority support (SLA-backed)
• ✅ Security patches & updates
• ✅ Architecture consultation
• ✅ Custom feature development (Enterprise tier)
• ✅ On-premise deployment assistance
• ✅ Compliance documentation (HIPAA, SOC2, ISO 27001)

Deployment Flexibility:

• Self-hosted on your infrastructure
• Managed cloud deployment
• Hybrid deployments
• Air-gapped environments

Frequently Asked Questions¶

Do I need a license for internal use?¶

No, if you're under 50 employees. AGPL-3.0 allows internal use without distribution requirements.

Yes, if you're 50+ employees. Commercial license provides legal clarity for enterprise use.

What counts as "distribution"?¶

Under AGPL-3.0, network use counts as distribution. If external users access your Sekha deployment:

• ✅ Internal-only: Your employees use Sekha → No distribution
• ⚠️ External SaaS: Customers use your Sekha-powered service → Distribution
• ⚠️ API access: Third parties call your modified Sekha API → Distribution

If you distribute, you must publish your modifications under AGPL-3.0.

Can I build a SaaS product with Sekha?¶

Yes, in two ways:

1. Open-Source SaaS: Publish your modifications under AGPL-3.0 (free)
2. Closed-Source SaaS: Get a commercial license (paid)

What if I exceed my API call limit?¶

Overages are charged automatically at the published per-call rate. No surprises—you'll receive monthly usage reports.

Can I switch from AGPL to Commercial later?¶

Yes! Contact us anytime. We'll backdate the license to your first deployment date (no retroactive fees for internal use).

Do you offer startup discounts?¶

Yes. Startups under 2 years old with <$1M revenue qualify for 50% off the first year.

What about government/education/non-profit use?¶

Educational institutions and non-profits: Free under AGPL-3.0, regardless of size.

Government agencies: Contact us for public sector pricing.

Revenue Allocation¶

We're committed to transparency. Here's how commercial license revenue is used:

• 50% - Core development team (hire full-time maintainers)
• 25% - Community grants (contributor bounties, open-source sponsorships)
• 15% - Infrastructure (CI/CD, hosting, testing, documentation)
• 10% - Legal & governance (trademark protection, compliance audits)

All financials are published quarterly via Open Collective.

Alternative Funding¶

We also accept:

• GitHub Sponsors: Individual donations
• Open Collective: Transparent community funding
• Corporate Sponsorships: Logo placement, prioritized feature requests
• Grants: Mozilla, NLNet, GitHub Accelerator, university research grants

How to Get a Commercial License¶

Step 1: Contact Sales¶

Email: [email protected]

Include:

• Company name and size (employee count)
• Expected usage (API calls/month estimate)
• Deployment model (cloud, on-premise, hybrid)
• Timeline for production use

Step 2: License Agreement¶

We'll send a standard enterprise license agreement. Legal review typically takes 1-2 weeks.

Step 3: License Key¶

Upon agreement signature, you'll receive:

• Enterprise license key (JWT format)
• Support portal access
• Architecture consultation session

Step 4: Deployment¶

Add your license key to config.toml:

[license]
key = "sekha_enterprise_your-key-here"

The controller validates the key and unlocks enterprise features.

Enforcement¶

AGPL Enforcement¶

We use standard DMCA takedowns for AGPL violations:

1. Detect violation (non-compliance, closed-source distribution)
2. Request compliance (15-day cure period)
3. Legal action if necessary

Commercial License Enforcement¶

Audit Rights: Enterprise tier customers grant annual audit rights to verify usage.

Grace Period: 30 days to purchase a license if accidental non-compliance is discovered.

Good Faith: We work with companies to resolve licensing issues fairly.

Open Source Philosophy¶

We believe:

• Your data is your intellectual property - No vendor should own your AI memories
• Open source drives innovation - The best ideas come from collaborative development
• Sustainable funding enables quality - Commercial licenses fund long-term maintenance
• Fairness matters - Small users shouldn't subsidize large enterprises

Questions?¶

Email: [email protected]
License FAQ: https://docs.sekha.dev/troubleshooting/faq
Community: Discord

Last updated: January 2026