# Licensing

BetterDesk is free software under the **GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 (AGPL-3.0)**.

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## AGPL-3.0 (default)

- Use, modify, and deploy BetterDesk for personal or commercial purposes
- If you **modify** BetterDesk and run it as a **network service**, AGPL requires making those modifications available to users who interact with the service
- Full text: [LICENSE](https://github.com/UNITRONIX/BetterDesk/blob/main/LICENSE)

> [!NOTE]
> **v3.4.0** is the first stable release under AGPL-3.0 across the project (server, console, agents, clients, SDKs).

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## Commercial Grant (optional)

Active [GitHub Sponsors](https://github.com/sponsors/UNITRONIX) at **$50/month or above** (Bronze, Silver, Gold) and **Honorary Supporters** may receive an optional **Commercial Grant**:

| Allows | Does not allow |
|--------|----------------|
| Private deployment patches without publishing under AGPL | Reselling BetterDesk as standalone OEM product |
| Internal/client use of modified builds | Replacing upstream open-source obligation for merged features |

Lower tiers ($5–$15) and Buy Me a Coffee do **not** include the grant.

Details: [COMMERCIAL-GRANT.md](https://github.com/UNITRONIX/BetterDesk/blob/main/docs/COMMERCIAL-GRANT.md) and [SPONSORS.md](https://github.com/UNITRONIX/BetterDesk/blob/main/SPONSORS.md).

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## Third-party components

RustDesk clients remain separate software with their own licenses. BetterDesk server is a clean-room compatible implementation — not a fork of RustDesk server source.

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## See also

- [[Privacy]] — self-hosted data, no vendor analytics
- [[FAQ]] — licensing FAQ
- [[Home]] — project overview
- [Contributing](https://github.com/UNITRONIX/BetterDesk/blob/dev/docs/development/CONTRIBUTING.md)