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Licensing confusion

gynx99 test
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Warning: Please note

This thread was started before GSAP 3 was released. Some information, especially the syntax, may be out of date for GSAP 3. Please see the GSAP 3 migration guide and release notes for more information about how to update the code to GSAP 3's syntax. 

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Hello, I want to make sure the detail about GSAP license:

I'm working for local startup which the product is similar to airbnb, booking.com, trip.com, etc. And I want to implement some animation using GSAP (found this very easy to use) do I still need the GSAP business license?

 

Thanks!

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Thanks for asking about this, @gynx99, and for caring enough to honor the terms of use. It says a lot about the kind of developer you are. Exactly the type we love to serve around here! 

 

Yes, the type of usage you described requires the special commercial license that comes with “Business Green” Club GreenSock memberships which you can purchase for as little as $150/year. That also gets you all of the bonus plugins as well which might open up some really fun possibilities in your animations. If you want to try them first for free, see https://greensock.com/try-plugins

 

To be clear, most commercial projects DON'T require the special license - the deciding factor is whether or not MULTIPLE customers are charged a fee for a particular work product. So, for example, if Microsoft hired an agency for $1,000,000 to design a new promotional web site (which doesn't charge users any fees to use), they could use GSAP for free. But since a membership site like Airbnb.com or trip.com does charge multiple customers a fee for using their site (which in this hypothetical example uses GSAP), the special commercial license is required. 

 

Why do we do this? Please read https://greensock.com/why-license. We firmly believe it's ultimately a benefit for our end users because it protects against the frailties of open source. Hopefully our track record proves that (we've been doing this for well over a decade). Over 7,500,000 sites are using GSAP including almost every major brand.

 

We don’t require that you “register" each person or project, nor do we inject “phone home” scripts that report usage or suddenly cause things to stop working if your license expires. We extend respect to our users and trust that it'll be reciprocated. 

 

I’m pretty confident you’ll find that the license pays for itself very quickly when you consider the time it saves you, the added capabilities, performance, reliability, etc. Typically our customers find that it pays for itself literally in a matter of days (or weeks at the most). But if you’re not happy we’ll gladly issue a full refund. We’re passionate about having happy customers around here. 

 

https://greensock.com/club/

 

Let us know if you have any other questions or concerns. Thanks again for asking, and happy tweening!

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So it will be the same if e-commerce site ex: aliexpress.com use GSAP on their site then they need "Business Green" license because they charge MULTIPLE customers a fee for a particular work product?

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Not necessarily. The key here is if the thing they're collecting a fee for is using GSAP. So, for example, if the web site is a membership web site or it's a game that uses GSAP, those would require the special commercial license because they use GSAP in part of what's actually being charged for. But if the site is just advertising products which don't use GSAP at all (like candy or clothing), and there's no "members-only" area of the site, then that would NOT require the special license because the thing that involves a fee doesn't use GSAP in any way. Does that make sense? 

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