Licensing
Which CheerpJ licence applies: free uses, desktop licences for Java applications your organisation runs, and application licences for software you build
CheerpJ is free for personal, educational and hobby use, and for technical evaluation by organisations of any size. One-person companies and non-commercial open-source projects can also use it for free, with a “Built with CheerpJ” credit. Business use needs a licence.
This page summarises the licences with examples. The full terms, prices and a licence finder are on cheerpj.com/licensing
.
Two kinds of licence
A CheerpJ licence depends on who uses the application, not on how CheerpJ is integrated.
- Desktop licences cover Java applications your organisation uses, such as Oracle Forms, Oracle E-Business Suite, applets, Java Web Start applications and your own Java clients. They are priced per desktop: each machine whose browser runs CheerpJ.
- Application licences cover software you build with CheerpJ for customers or the public, including commercial products and SaaS. They are priced per developer or per application.
A Desktop licence covers CheerpJ Core, the Applet Runner and the JNLP Runner on that desktop.
Free use
The Community licence is free, and covers:
- Personal, educational and hobby use
- Technical evaluation, for organisations of any size
- Software published by an individual or a one-person company, including paid software, with a “Built with CheerpJ” credit
- Non-commercial free and open-source (FOSS) projects, loading CheerpJ from the CheerpJ CDN, with a “Built with CheerpJ” credit
Community use loads CheerpJ from the CheerpJ CDN (cjrtnc.leaningtech.com), with no metering. Applications running without a licence key show a non-commercial licence message on the CheerpJ display.
Examples
| Use case | Licence |
|---|---|
| You build a Java game or educational applet and publish it on your own website | Community, free |
| You are a one-person company selling a Java application that runs in the browser | Community, free, with a “Built with CheerpJ” credit |
| You maintain a non-commercial open-source project and put a web demo of it online | Community, free, with a “Built with CheerpJ” credit |
| Your company tests whether its Java application runs with CheerpJ before rolling it out | Community, free, as a technical evaluation |
| Your staff open Oracle Forms or EBS in the browser through CheerpJ | Desktop, per desktop |
| Your company runs an internal Swing application for its employees with CheerpJ Core | Desktop, per desktop |
| Your company uses the Applet Runner or JNLP Runner to reach an internal or vendor application | Desktop, per desktop |
| A startup offers a web edition of its Java product to customers | Application: Small Business or Enterprise |
| An open-source project backed by a company that sells support, hosting or a paid edition | Application: Small Business or Enterprise |
| A software vendor ships CheerpJ inside a product that its customers host themselves | Application: Enterprise, with an OEM licence |
If your case is not listed, the licence finder on cheerpj.com asks a few questions and suggests one, or contact us.
Technical evaluations
Technical evaluation is free for organisations of any size. An application is in technical evaluation while internal or external users do not use it.
This includes:
- An application that is not yet in production
- An application that is not yet available to the public
- Testing compatibility with CheerpJ for a potential project
This does not include:
- An internal application that employees use
Self-hosting
Serving the CheerpJ runtime from anywhere other than the CheerpJ CDN counts as self-hosting, including copying it into your own repository, package or CDN. Self-hosting is:
- Allowed during technical evaluation
- Available as an add-on with Small Business licences
- Included with Enterprise licences, which also provide a self-hosted build that contacts no external server and works on air-gapped networks
See server setup for how to serve CheerpJ.
Licence keys
A licence comes with a key, passed to CheerpJ with the licenseKey option of cheerpjInit. A valid key removes the non-commercial licence message from the CheerpJ display.
System integrators, resellers and OEMs
A licence belongs to the organisation whose users run the application, or to the vendor that ships it. A system integrator’s licence does not cover its clients. To offer CheerpJ as part of your services, or to redistribute it, contact us about partner, reseller and OEM licences.
If you are not sure which licence you need, contact us. Full licensing details are on cheerpj.com/licensing.