At Highcharts, we’ve always believed in openness, education, and experimentation. That’s why you can download all our products for free, without registration, and why personal and educational use has always been free.
Over time, though, the line between personal projects and commercial work can become blurred.
So, we’ve updated our EULA to refine those definitions so everyone understands what free use means and which license applies to their project. Let’s see what’s changed.
Why the change?
Our previous EULA focused largely on how Highcharts was delivered (e.g. via CDN) rather than why it was being used. That made it harder to tell whether something was a personal project or the early stage of a commercial product.
To add to the confusion, our Fair Use Policy described free usage through guidelines that were open to interpretation. This was especially true for internal testing, proofs of concept, and experiments that might eventually become commercial.
Without explicit rules around fair use, and without clear definitions of “personal” and “commercial” use, enforcing the EULA became difficult and, at times, unfair. We wanted to fix that.
What changed
The updated EULA replaces broad “fair use” guidance with clear definitions and examples. It now explicitly defines what counts as use, including embedding Highcharts and causing it to load for end users.
Personal and educational use are still free, but they’re now more clearly scoped, with concrete examples of what’s allowed and what isn’t. We’ve also clarified that internal business use — such as prototyping, R&D, and internal tools — requires a commercial license.
On the infrastructure side, we’ve published clear CDN usage rules and limits, along with predictable, automated enforcement. This helps protect performance and ensures fair treatment for everyone.
What didn’t change
Let’s be clear about this part:
- Personal use is still free
- Educational use is still free
- The spirit of learning and experimentation remains
- Existing commercial customers continue under their current agreements
More clarity, less confusion
With more clarity up front, the new Highcharts EULA removes ambiguity for users, partners, and support teams. That means fewer surprises later on.
Clear fair-use rules also help protect CDN performance, keeping things fast and reliable for everyone.
This update isn’t about restricting free usage. It’s about explaining it better, with fairness and transparency, so we can keep Highcharts open for learning and experimentation.
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