License

Functional Source License, Version 1.1, MIT Future License

Varve is licensed under the Functional Source License, Version 1.1, MIT Future License (FSL-1.1-MIT). This is a source-available license that balances open access with the ability to sustain continued development, using fixed, predictable terms rather than a custom grant.

What FSL-1.1-MIT Means

You may use, copy, modify, create derivative works, publicly perform, publicly display, and redistribute Varve for any Permitted Purpose — which is any purpose other than a Competing Use. A Competing Use means making Varve available to others in a commercial product or service that substitutes for Varve, substitutes for another product or service we offer using Varve, or offers substantially similar functionality. Permitted Purposes specifically include:

  • Use Varve for any purpose — personal, commercial, or educational
  • Modify the source code
  • Share copies of the software with others
  • Study how the software works
  • Develop plugins and extensions
  • Redistribute your modifications, provided you keep the license notices intact

Competing uses — offering Varve (or a substitute for it) as a commercial product or hosted service to others — require a separate commercial license.

Two-Year Conversion to MIT

Each release of Varve automatically converts to the MIT license on the second anniversary of its first public availability. This means:

  • All code eventually becomes fully open-source under the permissive MIT license
  • If development stops, previously released versions become MIT-licensed over time
  • The community can freely fork and continue development on MIT-licensed code

User Rights Summary

Summary of permitted and restricted uses under FSL-1.1-MIT
Use for personal projects Allowed
Use for commercial work (client designs) Allowed
Use within your organisation Allowed
Modify source code Allowed
Distribute official binaries Allowed
Distribute modified source code Allowed
Develop and sell plugins Allowed
Competing use (substitute product or service) Requires license
Offering as a competing hosted service Requires license
Removing Varve branding Requires license

Contributions

Contributions to Varve are accepted under FSL-1.1-MIT (and subsequently the MIT change license after two years). Contributors retain copyright to their work. See the contribution guidelines for the project's current status on external contributions.

Third-Party Components

Varve includes third-party software under its own license terms. Full attribution is provided in the THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES file in the repository. Key components:

  • Lucide icons — ISC License
  • Phosphor icons — MIT License
  • Geist font — SIL Open Font License 1.1
  • IBM Plex Sans font — SIL Open Font License 1.1
  • ONNX Runtime — MIT License
  • ONNX AI models (u2netp, Real-ESRGAN) — MIT and BSD-3-Clause

Copyright

Copyright 2024-2026 K-Arthur (Varve Founder).

"Varve" is a trademark of K-Arthur. See the Trademark Policy for usage guidelines.

View the LICENSE File on GitHub Official FSL-1.1-MIT Text