GNU License

Free Software Foundation, Boston, Massachusetts, United States

The GNU General Public Licenses are a family of free, copyleft software licenses created to guarantee users the freedom to run, study, share, and modify software while ensuring those freedoms are preserved when the software is distributed.

They require that anyone who distributes GPL-licensed software or derivative works also provide access to the corresponding source code under the same GPL terms, prohibit adding further restrictions beyond the license, and permit commercial use without extra fees.

According to our data, GNU is the second most popular open-source license on the web.
It has 9.5% of the license market share and is detected on 0.04% of all websites.

📊 Rankings and Market Share

🏆 GNU License Awards

⚡ Sites Using GNU License

We have data on 1,346 websites that use the GNU license. Here is a list of some of the top ranked ones.

The highest rated site using GNU is adblockplus.org.

#WebsiteRankCountryLanguage
1 adblockplus.org #1,214 English
2 framaforms.org #12,632 France French
3 joedolson.com #14,328 United States American English
4 hyphanet.org #16,412 English
5 darktable.org #19,071 United States English
6 near-place.com #19,337 Israel English
7 sarna.net #25,998 United States English
8 opencamera.org.uk #32,937 United Kingdom English
9 yugioh-wiki.net #41,140 United States
10 pandoc.org #43,320 English
11 wireshark.org #49,922 English
12 cgsecurity.org #51,912 France English
13 fsf.org #52,282 United States English
14 mamedev.org #53,364 France English
15 invidious.io #57,310 Saint Kitts and Nevis American English
16 dandwiki.com #59,500 English
17 inkscape.org #66,156 United States English
18 irowiki.org #66,881 English
19 pdfsam.org #67,629 English
20 dwarffortresswiki.org #71,343 United States English

📈 Usage Statistics

Most of the sites that use GNU:

Most of the sites using GNU License are from Germany, the United States, and France.

  • Germany 15.4%
  • United States 15.1%
  • France 7.6%
  • Japan 5.2%
  • Italy 5%
  • United Kingdom 4.6%
  • Spain 4.4%
  • Netherlands 3.2%
  • Russia 3%
  • Other 36.5%

Most GNU License users speak English, German, or Spanish.

  • English 49.1%
  • German 10.2%
  • Spanish 6.3%
  • French 4.7%
  • Japanese 4.1%
  • Italian 3.5%
  • Russian 3.4%
  • Portuguese 2.1%
  • Thai 2%
  • Other 14.6%

The GNU license is especially popular on .com, .org, and .de top-level domains.

  • .com 24.7%
  • .org 21.9%
  • .de 8.4%
  • .net 5.9%
  • .it 2.9%
  • .ru 2.2%
  • .fr 1.6%
  • .cz 1.6%
  • .info 1.5%
  • Other 29.3%

The primary market segments for websites utilizing GNU License include software and hardware, blogs and wiki, and Internet services.

  • Software/Hardware 20.2%
  • Blogs/Wiki 10.7%
  • Internet Services 9.4%
  • Education/Reference 8.8%
  • Business 7.8%
  • Marketing/Merchandising 5.9%
  • Technical Information 5.2%
  • Games 4.6%
  • Technical/Business Forums 4.2%
  • Other 23.2%

🔢 GNU License Versions

The most popular version of GNU License is GPL 2.0, used by 50.6% of sites where versions were detected. In addition, 21.2% of sites use GNU License GPL, and 10.3% use GNU License FDL.

  • GPL 2.0 50.6%
  • GPL 21.2%
  • FDL 10.3%
  • GPL 3.0 7.4%
  • AGPL 3.0 3.9%
  • FDL 1.3 2.2%
  • LGPL 2.1%
  • AGPL 0.9%
  • LGPL 3.0 0.7%
  • Other 0.7%

🕵️ Similar Technologies

These are some of the best GNU License alternatives.

RankName
1
Creative Commons License
Mountain View, California, United States

Creative Commons licenses are a set of standardized copyright licenses that let creators share their works with the public while clearly defining how others may use, remix, or redistribute them under specific conditions.
3
MIT License
Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

A permissive software license that allows reuse, modification, distribution, and commercial use without requiring source code disclosure.
4
Apache License
Wilmington, Delaware, United States

A permissive software license that allows use, modification, distribution, and commercial use without requiring source code disclosure.
5
BSD License
Boulder, Colorado, United States

BSD licenses are a family of permissive free software licenses that allow software to be used, modified, and redistributed with minimal restrictions.
6
MPL License
Mountain View, California, United States

A free and open-source weak copyleft license that is more restrictive than the permissive software BSD-style licenses.

🆚 Compare Alternatives

Compare GNU License to…

💬 Frequently Asked Questions

What is the company behind GNU License?

GNU License is owned by the Free Software Foundation, headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, United States.

Which country uses GNU License the most?

The majority of GNU License users are from Germany.

Who uses GNU License?

According to our data, GNU License is used on over a thousand sites, including such established ones as adblockplus.org, framaforms.org, and joedolson.com.

How does GNU License stack up against the competition?

GNU License is one of the most popular open-source licenses, second only to Creative Commons License.

What are the alternatives to GNU License?

Alternatives and possible competitors to GNU License may include MPL License, Creative Commons License, and MIT License.

👉 See Also

Statistics were last calculated on .
For details, see our methodology and disclaimer.