License Identifier
Paste license text to identify it, compare licenses side by side, or generate license files with your details.
About This Tool
The License Identifier is a free browser-based tool that helps you recognize open source licenses from pasted text. Simply paste the contents of a LICENSE or COPYING file, and the tool matches it against 16 well-known open source license templates, showing confidence scores and detailed attributes for each match.
Beyond identification, the tool offers three additional features. The Compare tab lets you select any two licenses and see their permissions, conditions, and limitations in a side-by-side table — useful when deciding between, say, MIT and Apache-2.0. The Generate tab produces a complete license file for any supported license, with your copyright year and author name filled in. The Reference tab provides a quick-glance overview of all supported licenses, showing whether each is permissive or copyleft, whether it includes a patent grant, and other key attributes.
The tool recognizes MIT, Apache-2.0, GPL-3.0, GPL-2.0, BSD-2-Clause, BSD-3-Clause, ISC, MPL-2.0, LGPL-3.0, AGPL-3.0, Unlicense, CC0-1.0, BSL-1.0, 0BSD, Artistic-2.0, and zlib licenses. Each license entry includes its SPDX identifier, which is the standard short-form identifier used by package managers, SBOM tools, and compliance scanners.
If you are building a new project, you might also find the
README Generator useful for creating your project
documentation, or the package.json Generator
for setting the license field correctly. For contributing guidelines, check
out the CONTRIBUTING.md Generator.
All processing runs entirely in your browser. No license text or any other data is ever sent to any server.
How to Use
- Open the Identify tab and paste the full license text into the textarea.
- The tool automatically matches the text against known license templates and displays results with confidence scores.
- Review the permissions, conditions, and limitations for each matched license.
- Switch to the Compare tab to select two licenses and compare them side by side.
- Use the Generate tab to select a license, enter your year and author name, and generate a complete license file.
- Click Copy or press Ctrl+Shift+C to copy results or generated text to your clipboard.
- Check the Reference tab for a quick overview of all supported licenses with their key attributes.
Popular License Examples
FAQ
Which licenses can this tool identify?
The tool recognizes 16 popular open source licenses: MIT, Apache-2.0, GPL-3.0, GPL-2.0, BSD-2-Clause, BSD-3-Clause, ISC, MPL-2.0, LGPL-3.0, AGPL-3.0, Unlicense, CC0-1.0, BSL-1.0, 0BSD, Artistic-2.0, and zlib. These cover the vast majority of open source projects.
How does the confidence score work?
The tool searches for distinctive phrases and keywords unique to each license. The confidence score represents the percentage of known keywords found in your pasted text. A score of 80%+ typically indicates a strong match, while lower scores may indicate a modified or partial license text.
What is an SPDX identifier?
SPDX (Software Package Data Exchange) identifiers are standardized short-form codes for open source licenses. For example, 'MIT' for the MIT License or 'Apache-2.0' for the Apache License 2.0. These identifiers are used in package.json, Cargo.toml, pom.xml, and other package manager configuration files to specify the project license in a machine-readable format.
What is the difference between permissive and copyleft licenses?
Permissive licenses (MIT, BSD, Apache-2.0, ISC) allow you to use, modify, and distribute the software with minimal restrictions — typically just requiring attribution. Copyleft licenses (GPL, AGPL, LGPL, MPL) require that derivative works be distributed under the same or compatible license terms, ensuring the source code remains open.
Can I use the generated license files in my projects?
Yes. The generated text is the standard license text for each license. Simply copy the output and save it as a LICENSE or COPYING file in your project root. Make sure to fill in the correct year and author/organization name.
Is my data safe?
Yes. All processing runs entirely in your browser using JavaScript. No license text, author names, or any other data is ever sent to any server. You can verify this by checking the Network tab in your browser's developer tools while using the tool.
What if the tool does not recognize my license?
If no match is found, the text may be a custom or proprietary license, a less common open source license not in the database, or a heavily modified version of a known license. You can check the SPDX license list at spdx.org/licenses for a comprehensive directory of recognized licenses.
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