Free Today, Open Source Tomorrow
Kling is source-available under the Business Source License (BSL 1.1). Self-host freely for your business. Every version becomes Apache 2.0 after 4 years.
Why BSL 1.1?
Unlike proprietary SaaS, you get complete source code. Audit, modify, and customize for your needs.
Run Kling on your own servers for your business at no cost. No license fees, no usage limits.
Every version converts to Apache 2.0 after 4 years. Your investment is protected long-term.
License Comparison
| Feature | BSL 1.1 (Self-Hosted) | Kling Cloud |
|---|---|---|
| Access to source code | ||
| Self-host on your infrastructure | ||
| Modify and customize | ||
| Use for your own business | ||
| Contribute to the project | Join the core team | |
| Offer as hosted service to others | Commercial license required | Commercial license required |
| Managed hosting by Kling | ||
| Automatic updates | ||
| Support SLA |
About the Business Source License
Kling is licensed under the Business Source License 1.1 (BSL 1.1). This is a source-available license that provides most of the freedoms of open source while protecting against competitive cloud hosting.
- Self-Host for Your Business: Deploy Kling on your own servers and use it for your marketing automation needs
- Modify the Code: Customize Kling to fit your specific requirements
- Commercial Use: Use Kling for commercial purposes within your organization
- Contribute Back: Submit improvements and bug fixes to the project
- No Competing Hosted Services: You cannot offer Kling as a hosted or managed service to third parties that competes with Kling Cloud. This protects the sustainability of the project.
If you want to offer Kling as a hosted service to your customers, please contact us for a commercial license.
Every version of Kling automatically becomes available under the Apache License 2.0 four years after its release. This means the code you use today will be fully open source by 2028, with no restrictions on commercial use or hosting.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! You can self-host Kling and use it to run marketing campaigns for your own business, whether you're a small shop or a large enterprise.
Yes, agencies can self-host Kling and use it to manage campaigns for their clients. The restriction only applies to offering Kling itself as a hosted platform service.
BSL is "source-available" rather than "open source" by OSI definition. However, it provides similar freedoms (view, modify, self-host) with one restriction on competitive hosting. After 4 years, it becomes true open source (Apache 2.0).
BSL is used by successful companies including CockroachDB, Sentry, HashiCorp (Terraform), and MariaDB. It's a proven model that balances openness with sustainability.
If you want to offer Kling as a hosted or managed service to third parties, we offer commercial licenses. Commercial licenses include:
- Rights to offer Kling as a hosted service
- White-label and OEM options
- Dedicated support and SLA
- Custom feature development
Full License Text
The complete BSL 1.1 license text is available in our repository:
View LICENSE fileFor questions about licensing, contact legal@kling.to.