Why use the AGPLv3 license?
iText 5 and all subsequent versions of iText are dual-licensed, and available under open source (AGPLv3) or commercial license agreements. Since iText is a free/open source software (F/OSS) project, its source code is freely available under the terms of the AGPLv3 license.
Under the AGPLv3 terms, you may use the iText Core (also known as iText Community) PDF library and our open-source add-ons for no cost. If you cannot comply with these terms, we have various commercial licensing options which will release you of these restrictions.
Freely available code
F/OSS does not mean that use of the software is free of obligations; it simply means that the code is freely available.
Open-source
By following the rules of the Affero General Public License (AGPL), you may use iText at no cost.
Need a commercial license? No problem.
If you want to commercialize your F/OSS project, it is mandatory to purchase a commercial license to remove the copyleft restrictions. As of that moment, you are allowed to sell or use your application closed-source.
How to use the AGPLv3 license correctly?
The AGPLv3 license comes with a couple of restrictions you should be well aware of.
Disclose and distribute all source code, including your own
You may not deploy it on a network without disclosing the full source code of your own applications under the AGPL license. You must distribute all source code, including your own product and web-based applications.
Only allowed in AGPL environments
It’s a legal violation to use iText Core/Community and our open source add-ons in a non-AGPL environment.
Modifications made to the source code
You must disclose any modifications made to iText.
Producer line and copyright
When using iText Core/Community under AGPL, you must prominently mention iText and include the iText copyright and AGPL license in output file metadata, and also retain the producer line in every PDF that is created or manipulated using iText.
Community Support
In addition to our internal team for commercial customer support, we have a very active community of developers that voluntarily post answers on forums like StackOverflow, Quora, Reddit, and more. For open-source community support, we recommend trying StackOverflow, and tagging your question with "itext" (for iText 5) or "itext7" (for iText 7 and newer versions).
Note that there is no guaranteed response-time on any posted questions on these channels nor is there any guarantee that the responses will be accurate or come from an iText developer. So please take this into consideration and show the greatest respect towards this wonderful group of volunteers and contributors.
How do I ... ?
Search Stack Overflow’s iText or iText 7 topics first, because somebody else may have already asked the same question. If you can’t find an answer that way, post a new query and tag it with ‘itext’ or ‘itext7’.
Why did I get this error?
Why isn’t my code behaving like it’s supposed to? Post your minimal, complete and verifiable example on Stack Overflow and tag it with ‘itext’ or ‘itext7’.
I have an idea/request/bugfix and I wrote some code for it that I’d like to share.
Nice! Submit your patch on GitHub’s iText or iText 7 pull request pages. Also, read our Contribution Guide.
Start your F/OSS project!
Continue reading the full text of the AGPLv3 to find out more about using iText Core/Community under the AGPLv3 license.