License
J2Commerce is licensed under GPLv2 or later.
J2Commerce uses the GNU General Public License, version 2 or any later version, the same license as Joomla.
Which version applies
The core component, both libraries, all 25 bundled plugins and all 8 bundled modules are licensed under the GNU General Public License, version 2 or later. That is what the file headers say, what the package manifest says, and what this page says.
The "or later" half matters. It means you may also use the software under the terms of a later GPL version if that suits your situation better. The choice is yours, not ours.
What it gives a merchant
Here is the part of the license that matters most to a merchant, in plain terms.
- No usage caps
No limit on products, variants, orders, customers, staff users, storage or revenue. There is no tier to outgrow, because there are no tiers. - No license audit
Nothing calls home to count your sites or check whether you are allowed to keep running. There is no activation key for the core and no kill switch. - Your data stays on your server
Every order, customer and product lives in your own database, on the hosting you choose, ready to export or connect to another system whenever you decide. - You may change it
Edit the code, or pay any developer to. You do not need our permission and you do not lose the right to updates by doing it. - Nobody can take it back
The license on the copy you hold cannot be revoked. If this company stopped tomorrow, your store keeps running and somebody else could pick up the code.
What it gives a developer
- Read the source. All of it, including the parts that handle money. No obfuscated files, no encoded blobs.
- Fork it. Take the code in a direction we would not. That right is the point of the license.
- Redistribute it. Ship it to a client, bundle it in your own stack or mirror the package, under the same license and with the source.
- Build on it commercially. Sell your own extensions and services.
The obligation that comes with it is the copyleft one: if you distribute a modified version, the recipients get the same freedoms you got, and that includes the source. Keeping a private change on your own server is not distribution and carries no obligation at all. The developer hub covers the extension points so you can usually avoid patching core in the first place.
Warranty and liability
The GPL grants these freedoms and ships the software without warranty, express or implied.
- No warranty of fitness for any particular purpose.
- No liability for lost data, lost orders or lost revenue. Take backups and test a release on staging first.
- No guarantee that a third-party extension you install behaves itself.
- No support obligation in the license itself. Direct support comes with an extension purchase.
Security advisories, the public changelog and ticket support are services on top of the license, not part of it.
Paid extensions
The extensions sold on this site are GPL-licensed too. You pay for the download, updates and support, not for permission to run the code.
That has a consequence worth stating plainly: you keep using an extension after a subscription lapses. What stops is the stream of new builds and the ticket queue. Nothing switches off, nothing locks, and no store goes dark because a renewal date passed.
The name and the logo
The GPL covers the code. It does not hand over the name or the mark. You may fork the software; you may not call your fork J2Commerce or ship it with our logo on it, because that would tell users something untrue about where it came from.
Saying your product works with J2Commerce is fine and encouraged. The brand page has the files and the rules.
Against a hosted platform
Here is how the GPL compares with a hosted platform.
| Question | Hosted platform | J2Commerce, GPLv2+ |
|---|---|---|
| Who can switch it off? | The vendor, on a billing event | Nobody. The license cannot be revoked |
| Can you read the code? | No | All of it, including the money paths |
| Can you change it? | Only where an API allows | Anywhere, with no permission needed |
| Who picks the payment gateway? | The vendor, from its supported list | You, from 100+ payment methods |
| Where the data lives | The vendor's infrastructure | Your server, your database |
| If the vendor folds | You migrate under deadline | Your store keeps running. The code is already yours |
The license text
Everything above is a plain-English summary and has no legal force. The license itself is the authority, and a copy ships inside the package as LICENSE.txt.
- GNU General Public License, version 2: full text at gnu.org
- The official GPLv2 frequently asked questions
Questions
We are not your lawyers and this page is not legal advice. If you need a written statement of the license for a procurement process or a security review, ask and you will get one.
