Open source or open weights?
An open source license, like Apache 2.0 or MIT, is a standard license that the Open Source Initiative approves. You can use, change, and share the model, even for money.
Open weights means you can download the files, but the maker wrote its own rules. Meta's Llama and Google's Gemma 3 work this way. The Open Source Initiative says Llama is not open source.
Fully open goes one step further. The maker also shares the training data and code.
Each license we found
Apache License 2.0
A standard open source license. You can use, change, and share it, even to make money. Keep the license notice.
Business use: Yes. Business use is allowed. Keep the license and notice files when you share it.
Used by: GPT-OSS 20B, GPT-OSS 120B, Qwen3.5 9B, Qwen3.8 27B, Qwen3 4B 2507, Qwen3 8B, Qwen3 14B, Qwen3 30B-A3B 2507, Qwen3 32B, Qwen3 Coder 30B, Qwen2.5 VL 7B, Gemma 4 12B, Gemma 4 E4B, Mistral 7B v0.3, Mistral Nemo 12B, Mistral Small 3.2, Magistral Small, Devstral Small, Olmo 3 7B, Olmo 3.1 32B, OLMo 2 32B, Granite 3.3 2B, Granite 3.3 8B, Granite 4.0 H Tiny, Granite 4.0 H Small, SmolLM3 3B. Read the license.
CC BY-NC 4.0
A Creative Commons license that bans commercial use. Fine for personal tests and research only.
Business use: No. This license does not allow commercial use.
Used by: Command R7B. Read the license.
Gemma Terms of Use
Google's own terms. You can use it for free, also for work, but you must follow Google's Prohibited Use Policy.
Business use: Yes, with limits. You must follow the Gemma Prohibited Use Policy and pass those rules on if you share it.
Used by: Gemma 3 4B, Gemma 3 12B, Gemma 3 27B, Gemma 3n E4B. Read the license.
LFM Open License v1.0
Liquid AI's own license. It is free for business use only while your company makes under 10 million US dollars a year.
Business use: Only if your company makes under 10 million US dollars a year. Bigger companies need a deal with Liquid AI.
Used by: LFM2 1.2B. Read the license.
Llama Community License
Meta's own license. You can download and use it for free, but Meta sets the rules. The Open Source Initiative says it is not open source.
Business use: Yes for most businesses. If your products had over 700 million monthly users, you need a separate deal with Meta. You must follow Meta's use policy and show "Built with Llama" if you share it.
Used by: Llama 3.1 8B, Llama 3.2 3B, Llama 3.3 70B, Llama 4 Scout, Hermes 3 8B. Read the license.
MIT License
A short, standard open source license. You can do almost anything with it. Keep the copyright notice.
Business use: Yes. Business use is allowed. Keep the copyright notice when you share it.
Used by: DeepSeek R1 Distill 7B, DeepSeek R1 Distill 14B, DeepSeek R1 0528 8B, Phi-4, Phi-4 mini, GLM-4.5 Air. Read the license.
NVIDIA Open Model License
NVIDIA's own license. It says the models are usable for business. You lose your rights if you remove its safety guardrails without a fair replacement.
Business use: Yes, with limits. Do not strip out the safety guardrails without a similar one that fits your use.
Used by: Nemotron Nano 9B v2. Read the license.