Eiffel Software's Dual Licensing Business Model

Eiffel Software uses a Dual Licensing model for EiffelStudio. Dual Licensing allows software companies to provide their products for either commercial or Open Source development.

What is Dual Licensing?

Dual Licensing is based on the principle of Fair Exchange. For using EiffelStudio to develop applications, Eiffel Software requires its users to choose one of the following options:

• Support the development of EiffelStudio by purchasing commercial licenses.
• Support the Open Source community by releasing their application under an Open Source license.

Why Dual Licensing?

Eiffel Software’s mission is to provide the software development community with the best possible tools for building first class applications. Eiffel's groundbreaking advances in software quality, evidenced by scores of successful projects in operation worldwide, are the best testimony to this dedication. Dual Licensing is the most suitable option to fulfill this goal. Eiffel Software is committed to supporting the needs of the most challenging applications with its cross-platform, seamless, integrated development environment and to help its users with a world class team of technical experts.

By offering EiffelStudio under an Open Source license, Eiffel Software plays an active role in the Open Source community, which today is crucial in helping advance the state of the art in software engineering.

Which license to choose?

You can select the license that best fits your needs:

• If you wish to earn a commercial benefit from your application and not release its source code, you must purchase the number of licenses you need for your development from Eiffel Software. After you purchase licenses, you are free to use and distribute your application the way you want.

• If you select the Open Source license, you must release your development under an Open Source license for the benefit of the community at large.

For further information or questions, please contact us.