License guide · Source-available
Elastic License 2.0 (ELv2), in plain English
The Elastic License 2.0 is one of the friendliest source-available licenses — but it is still source-available, not open source. It’s short enough to read in two minutes and boils down to three limitations, the important one being: use it, modify it, self-host it, ship products on it — just don’t offer the software itself to others as a managed service.
Updated 26 Jul 2026 · by the depproof team
General information, not legal advice. The controlling text is the license itself. Primary source: the Elastic License 2.0.
Is ELv2 open source? No — but it’s close
ELv2 grants sweeping rights — use, copy, distribute, make available, and create derivative works, royalty-free and worldwide. That’s more permissive than most source-available licenses. But because it forbids one thing the Open Source Definition requires to be allowed (offering it as a managed service), it is not OSI-approved. So for any policy or scanner that asks “is this open source?”, ELv2 is source-available, and the answer is no.
The whole license: three limitations
Unusually, ELv2 fits on a page. Everything is permitted except these three limits:
- No managed service. You may not provide the software to third parties as a hosted or managed service — the SaaS-reseller restriction. This is the one that matters for most teams.
- No defeating license keys. You may not move, change, disable, or circumvent license-key functionality, and you may not remove or obscure features protected by license keys.
- No stripping notices. You may not remove or obscure any licensing, copyright, or other notices.
There’s no Change Date and no copyleft-style source-sharing obligation — just those three limitations on an otherwise very broad grant.
Is ELv2 safe for commercial and SaaS use?
Yes for almost everything except reselling it as a service. At a glance:
| Can you… | Under Elastic License 2.0? |
|---|---|
| Use it inside your company / internally | Yes |
| Self-host it for your own commercial operations | Yes |
| Modify the source and build derivative works | Yes |
| Distribute it / redistribute your changes | Yes (keep notices, don’t defeat license keys) |
| Bundle it as a component of your own distinct product | Yes |
| Offer the software to others as a managed/hosted service | No — needs a separate agreement |
| Remove license-key checks or licensing notices | No |
So the ELv2 commercial-use question is the same shape as BSL’s: build your own product with it (fine), or resell it as a service (not fine).
ELv2 vs BSL vs SSPL
- Elastic 2.0 — flatly forbids offering it as a managed service. No time limit, no source obligation. The simplest.
- BSL-1.1 — restricts a licensor-defined production use, then converts each version to open source on a Change Date.
- SSPL — allows the managed-service case but demands you open-source your entire service stack under SSPL if you do it. The most demanding of the three.
Where ELv2 trips up dependency and license policies
Like other source-available licenses, ELv2 falls between the “open source” and “proprietary” buckets most policies use — so a transitive ELv2 dependency may be flagged as unknown, or pass unnoticed, depending on the tool. If your policy requires OSI-approved licenses, catching it at the pull request beats discovering it in an audit.
- Check your npm dependency licenses — surface ELv2, BSL, and other source-available licenses across the full tree.
- Business Source License 1.1 explained — the other source-available license you’ll meet most.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Elastic License 2.0 open source?
No. ELv2 is “source-available”: the code is public and you have broad rights to use, copy, modify, and distribute it, but it carries a limitation — you may not provide the software to others as a managed/hosted service — that the Open Source Definition does not allow. So it is not an OSI-approved open-source license. It is much more permissive than most source-available licenses, but the “not open source” label still matters for policies and tooling that require OSI approval.
Is ELv2 safe for commercial use?
Yes for the large majority of commercial uses. ELv2 grants a royalty-free, worldwide, non-exclusive right to use, copy, distribute, make available, and prepare derivative works of the software. You can build commercial products on it, self-host it, and modify it. The one commercial use it blocks is offering the software itself to third parties as a hosted or managed service — the SaaS-reseller case. Outside of that, ELv2 is straightforwardly commercial-friendly.
What are the three limitations in the Elastic License 2.0?
ELv2 is unusually short and has exactly three limitations. First, you may not provide the software to others as a managed service (you can’t host it and let third parties use it as a service). Second, you may not circumvent license-key functionality or remove/obscure features protected by license keys. Third, you may not remove or obscure any licensing, copyright, or other notices. Meet those three and everything else — use, modification, distribution — is permitted.
Can I use an Elastic-licensed component in my SaaS?
Generally yes, as long as your service isn’t essentially a hosted version of the ELv2 software offered to others. Using an ELv2 component inside your own distinct product or platform is fine; the limitation specifically targets providing “the software to others as a managed service.” If your product would let third parties use the Elastic-licensed software itself as a service, that is the restricted use and needs a separate agreement with the licensor.
How is ELv2 different from BSL and SSPL?
All three are source-available, but they restrict differently. ELv2 is the simplest: a flat “no offering it as a managed service,” with no time limit and no copyleft-style source obligation. BSL-1.1 restricts a licensor-defined production use and then converts each version to open source on a Change Date. SSPL is the most demanding: it permits offering the software as a service but requires you to release the source of your entire service stack under SSPL if you do. In short: ELv2 forbids the SaaS case, BSL time-limits its restriction, and SSPL taxes the SaaS case with a broad copyleft.
Why does ELv2 matter for my dependency and license policy?
Because tools and policies built around “open source vs proprietary” don’t have a clean bucket for source-available licenses, so an ELv2 dependency may be flagged as unknown or non-compliant, or pass unnoticed. If your policy requires OSI-approved licenses, a transitive ELv2 component can block a release or fail an audit even though your actual use is permitted. Detecting source-available licenses like ELv2 explicitly in your inventory lets you make a deliberate call instead of being surprised.
General information, not legal advice; confirm specific decisions with counsel. “Elastic License” and “Elastic” refer to marks of Elasticsearch B.V. and are used nominatively.