Now information security is saying that it's impossible for the company to use IntelliJ because AGPL requires code to be open-sourced. I haven't been able to find anything on the internet saying that IntelliJ actually does have this dependency, or that it's not OK to use commercially, so now I'm confused. This is a gross misunderstanding of how licenses work. All IDEs have some license attached to them. This doesn't mean that code that is created using the IDE inherits that license. That's just wrong and I wouldn't trust cyber to know this as this isn't a cyber issue. It's a legal one. However, there is still no legal issue here. The only time that would matter is if you are consuming the libraring with the AGPL license. If you aren't consuming it then you're in the clear with regards to that specific library. For instance, I create all my code with IntelliJ Ultimate. That doesn't change my licensing on my software that I create unless I specifically use an IntelliJ library in my packaged jar. Is the security scan wrong? Does the AGPL license not matter? Can I somehow prove to my company that IntelliJ Community is OK to use for commercial use? I appreciate any comments/advice. Yes. Straight from JetBrains. https://sales.jetbrains.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360021922640-Can-I-use-Community-Editions-of-JetBrains-IDEs-for-developing-commercial-proprietary-software- Important part, as I mentioned previously, Yes, both IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition and PyCharm Community Edition IDEs (Community IDEs) can be used for developing proprietary and commercial software. The only exceptions are related to creating derivative products or commercializing the Community IDEs. Answer from Just_Another_Scott on reddit.com
JetBrains
sales.jetbrains.com › hc › en-gb › articles › 360021922640-Can-I-use-IntelliJ-IDEA-Community-Edition-for-developing-commercial-proprietary-software
Can I use IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition for developing commercial proprietary software? – Licensing and Purchasing FAQ
October 16, 2025 - Yes, you can use IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition to build proprietary and commercial software. The codebase and most bundled plugins are open source under the Apache-2.0 license. For details, see t...
Reddit
reddit.com › r/intellijidea › intellij community unusable at company?
r/IntelliJIDEA on Reddit: IntelliJ Community Unusable At Company?
May 11, 2022 -
Hello Reddit, I recently joined a large company that only uses Eclipse. So of course I downloaded IntelliJ instead. The tech lead on my team told me that I needed to get approval from information security to use it. I thought that would be no problem since IntelliJ Community just has an Apache Version 2.0 License, which is fine for commercial use.
So I go through the bureaucracy and upload the IntelliJ Community zip file to our Nexus IQ server for security scanning. The report generated from the analysis of the zip file said there was a dependency on this obscure repo, which has an AGPL license.
Now information security is saying that it's impossible for the company to use IntelliJ because AGPL requires code to be open-sourced. I haven't been able to find anything on the internet saying that IntelliJ actually does have this dependency, or that it's not OK to use commercially, so now I'm confused.
Is the security scan wrong? Does the AGPL license not matter? Can I somehow prove to my company that IntelliJ Community is OK to use for commercial use? I appreciate any comments/advice.
Top answer 1 of 7
28
Lol. Sounds like a great place to work.
2 of 7
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Now information security is saying that it's impossible for the company to use IntelliJ because AGPL requires code to be open-sourced. I haven't been able to find anything on the internet saying that IntelliJ actually does have this dependency, or that it's not OK to use commercially, so now I'm confused. This is a gross misunderstanding of how licenses work. All IDEs have some license attached to them. This doesn't mean that code that is created using the IDE inherits that license. That's just wrong and I wouldn't trust cyber to know this as this isn't a cyber issue. It's a legal one. However, there is still no legal issue here. The only time that would matter is if you are consuming the libraring with the AGPL license. If you aren't consuming it then you're in the clear with regards to that specific library. For instance, I create all my code with IntelliJ Ultimate. That doesn't change my licensing on my software that I create unless I specifically use an IntelliJ library in my packaged jar. Is the security scan wrong? Does the AGPL license not matter? Can I somehow prove to my company that IntelliJ Community is OK to use for commercial use? I appreciate any comments/advice. Yes. Straight from JetBrains. https://sales.jetbrains.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360021922640-Can-I-use-Community-Editions-of-JetBrains-IDEs-for-developing-commercial-proprietary-software- Important part, as I mentioned previously, Yes, both IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition and PyCharm Community Edition IDEs (Community IDEs) can be used for developing proprietary and commercial software. The only exceptions are related to creating derivative products or commercializing the Community IDEs.
IntelliJ Community Edition for work in company - Stack Overflow
I read through the licence of IntelliJ but wasn't able to understand their license terms clearly. Is it right by law to use the Community Edition of IntelliJ when I work in my company? Or is it More on stackoverflow.com
licensing - Intellij IDEA Community Edition - commercial proprietary software developing - Law Stack Exchange
Can I use free Intellij IDEA Community Edition for the developing, if I'm working on the proprietary commercial product? More on law.stackexchange.com
Is it worth buying an IntelliJ license for Spring Boot ?
If your company is paying for it, absolutely. More on reddit.com
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April 5, 2020Is IntelliJ community edition good for working with Spring Boot?
Please ensure that: Your code is properly formatted as code block - see the sidebar (About on mobile) for instructions You include any and all error messages in full - best also formatted as code block You ask clear questions You demonstrate effort in solving your question/problem - plain posting your assignments is forbidden (and such posts will be removed) as is asking for or giving solutions. If any of the above points is not met, your post can and will be removed without further warning. Code is to be formatted as code block (old reddit/markdown editor: empty line before the code, each code line indented by 4 spaces, new reddit: https://imgur.com/a/fgoFFis ) or linked via an external code hoster, like pastebin.com, github gist, github, bitbucket, gitlab, etc. Please, do not use triple backticks (```) as they will only render properly on new reddit, not on old reddit. Code blocks look like this: public class HelloWorld { public static void main(String[] args) { System.out.println("Hello World!"); } } You do not need to repost unless your post has been removed by a moderator. Just use the edit function of reddit to make sure your post complies with the above. If your post has remained in violation of these rules for a prolonged period of time (at least an hour), a moderator may remove it at their discretion. In this case, they will comment with an explanation on why it has been removed, and you will be required to resubmit the entire post following the proper procedures. To potential helpers Please, do not help if any of the above points are not met, rather report the post. We are trying to improve the quality of posts here. In helping people who can't be bothered to comply with the above points, you are doing the community a disservice. I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns. More on reddit.com
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March 13, 2022JetBrains
jetbrains.com › legal › docs › toolbox › user_community
JetBrains Community Edition - Terms
THESE TERMS APPLY TO THE JETBRAINS ... "COMMUNITY EDITION" PRODUCTS) WHICH CONSIST OF 1) OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE SUBJECT TO THE APACHE 2.0 LICENSE (AVAILABLE HERE: https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0), AND 2) JETBRAINS PROPRIETARY ...
Top answer 1 of 2
66
Yes, you can use it anywhere for anything.
https://stackoverflow.com/a/1584020/685796
2 of 2
7
According to the FAQ, yes you can.
Can I build a commercial product on top of the IntelliJ Platform?
Yes, you can, according to the terms of the Apache 2 license. We encourage developers to build both open source and commercial products on top of the platform.
JetBrains
jetbrains.com › products › compare
Compare IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate vs. undefined
Find the right tool · Whichever technologies you use, there's a JetBrains tool to match
JetBrains
intellij-support.jetbrains.com › hc › en-us › community › posts › 12286980340754-The-company-can-t-use-IntelliJ-Community
The company can't use IntelliJ Community? – IDEs Support (IntelliJ Platform) | JetBrains
July 3, 2023 - ... According to a "hover over" on this comparison page (toward the bottom under the License section, hover over the "i"), "Community Edition is free to use for personal and commercial development.
Top answer 1 of 3
1
Yes.
Intellij IDEA Community Edition is (almost) entirely licensed under the Apache 2.0 license (http://www.jetbrains.org/display/IJOS/License+Information).
The Apache 2.0 license allows for commercial use (http://choosealicense.com/licenses/apache-2.0/).
This is not legal advice.
2 of 3
0
The following is my understanding of the problem:
You are not restricted to what kind of software you develop unless you are developing a product that is derived from Intellij IDEA, for example, if you are developing your own IDE that is derived from IDEA.
That being said, you can even use the commercial version of Intellij IDEA to develop a commercial product that is not an IDE itseft and doesn't use Intellij IDEA's source code.
This is not legal advice.
JetBrains
jetbrains.com › help › idea › installation-guide.html
Install IntelliJ IDEA | IntelliJ IDEA Documentation
1 month ago - Starting with IntelliJ IDEA 2025.3, we're combining these two editions into a single, unified product: IntelliJ IDEA. This change allows all users to access essential functionality without needing to decide between editions. The core functionality of IntelliJ IDEA remains free and now comes with even more features compared to the former Community Edition.
JetBrains
jetbrains.com › help › idea › register.html
Register IntelliJ IDEA | IntelliJ IDEA Documentation
3 weeks ago - Log in to your JetBrains Account and get licenses that you have purchased. If you don't have a JetBrains Account yet, click Register. IntelliJ IDEA automatically shows the list of your licenses and their details like expiration date and identifier.
JetBrains
jetbrains.com › community › opensource
Licenses for Open Source Development
JetBrains supports development of non-commercial open-source projects by providing core project contributors with a set of best-in-class developer tools.
GitHub
github.com › JetBrains › intellij-community
GitHub - JetBrains/intellij-community: IntelliJ IDEA & IntelliJ Platform
IntelliJ IDEA & IntelliJ Platform. Contribute to JetBrains/intellij-community development by creating an account on GitHub.
Starred by 19.3K users
Forked by 5.6K users
Languages Java 53.1% | Kotlin 34.4% | Python 9.3% | HTML 1.5% | Starlark 0.8% | JavaScript 0.2%
JetBrains
jetbrains.com › idea › download
Download IntelliJ IDEA
June 1, 2021 - Download the latest version of IntelliJ IDEA, the leading IDE for professional development in Java and Kotlin. Available for Windows, macOS, and Linux.
GitHub
github.com › JetBrains › intellij-community › blob › master › LICENSE.txt
intellij-community/LICENSE.txt at master · JetBrains/intellij-community
Object form, made available under the License, as indicated by a · copyright notice that is included in or attached to the work · (an example is provided in the Appendix below). · "Derivative Works" shall mean any work, whether in Source or Object · form, that is based on (or derived from) the Work and for which the · editorial revisions, annotations, elaborations, or other modifications ·
Author JetBrains
Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › IntelliJ_IDEA
IntelliJ IDEA - Wikipedia
3 weeks ago - It is developed by JetBrains (formerly known as IntelliJ) and is available as an Apache 2 Licensed community edition with proprietary license for some bundled plugins, and in a proprietary commercial edition.
JetBrains
intellij-support.jetbrains.com › hc › en-us › community › posts › 115000698770-Commercial-use-IntelliJ-IDEA-Community-Edition
Commercial use IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition – IDEs Support (IntelliJ Platform) | JetBrains
November 12, 2017 - Hello, can I use intelliJ IDEA Community for commercial use within a company of any size? When I need a paid version of the intelliJ IDEA? ... Yes, you can. Please see differences in supported features here: https://www.jetbrains.com/idea/features/editions_comparison_matrix.html
JetBrains
jetbrains.com › idea › buy
Buy IntelliJ IDEA
June 1, 2021 - Buy IntelliJ IDEA and take your professional Java and Kotlin development experience to the next level!
Reddit
reddit.com › r/java › is it worth buying an intellij license for spring boot ?
r/java on Reddit: Is it worth buying an IntelliJ license for Spring Boot ?
April 5, 2020 -
I actually work pretty fine with IntelliJ Community Edition 2019.3 but I was thinking about asking my company to provide me a licence for the full version. What good features are there when working with Spring Boot?