CanvasXpress License

Licensing at a glance

CanvasXpress — JavaScript Library. Copyright (c) 2009-2026. Licensed, not sold; all copyrights are exclusively owned by CanvasXpress.

The JavaScript library is free to use anywhere — including in commercial products — as long as the CanvasXpress attribution mark it renders stays visible. A commercial license removes that mark. The CanvasXpress R package is open source under GPL-3 and the Python package under MIT.

The product is licensed, not sold, and all copyrights are exclusively owned by CanvasXpress. The product is provided "AS-IS," without warranty of any kind. Redistributions must retain the copyright notice, the attribution mark, and the disclaimer below.

Commercial license & pricing

A per-developer commercial license issues a key that removes the CanvasXpress attribution mark for an unbranded deployment, and includes one year of updates. Pricing is per developer (Licensee), per year. Free, attributed use never requires a purchase.

Licensing FAQ

Do I have to pay to use CanvasXpress?

No. The JavaScript library is free to use anywhere, including in commercial and for-profit products, as long as the CanvasXpress attribution mark it renders stays visible. You only pay if you want to remove that mark — that is what a commercial license does. The R package is free under GPL-3 and the Python package under MIT.

Is an internal Shiny app (or internal dashboard) at a company "commercial use"?

You may run CanvasXpress inside your organization — an internal R/Shiny app, a Jupyter notebook, an internal dashboard — for free. If you use the R package (GPL-3) or the Python package (MIT) it is unbranded. If you use the JavaScript library, it is free under the Community License with the attribution mark visible; buy a commercial license only if you want that mark removed. If you are unsure which applies, contact us and we will confirm in writing.

What exactly does a commercial license remove?

It issues a license key that suppresses the CanvasXpress attribution mark drawn on the rendered output. Without a key, the mark is shown; with a valid key, it is not. Nothing else about how you use the library changes.

Which license identifier do I put in my dependency manifest?

For the R package, use GPL-3; for the Python package, MIT. The JavaScript package is source-available under the CanvasXpress Community License (a custom, non-SPDX license — LicenseRef-CanvasXpress-Community if your tooling needs a reference form). If you hold a commercial license, its terms govern your use instead.

Can CanvasXpress become part of another open-source library?

The R package can, provided the combining library is compatible with GPL-3, and the Python package, provided it is compatible with MIT. The JavaScript library is source-available (not OSI open source), so it may be included and redistributed under the Community License as long as the attribution mark and notices are preserved.

Does CanvasXpress "phone home" or enforce licensing at runtime?

The JavaScript library renders the attribution mark unless a valid license key is present; a commercial deployment may associate its key with an authorized domain token so the mark is suppressed only where licensed. This does not transmit your data. The terms on this page are authoritative — any technical check exists to match them, not to add obligations beyond them.

CanvasXpress Community License (JavaScript)

These terms govern free use of the CanvasXpress JavaScript library. The R package is licensed separately under GPL-3 and the Python package under MIT; neither is subject to these terms. The verbatim license file shipped with the library is available at /LICENSE.txt.

1. CanvasXpress (the "Product") is licensed, not sold. All copyrights are exclusively owned by CanvasXpress.
2. You may use, copy, modify, and distribute the Product and works built with it, for any purpose including commercial purposes, at no charge, subject to the conditions below.
3. The CanvasXpress attribution mark that the Product renders on its output must remain visible and unaltered. You may not remove, hide, obscure, reposition off-canvas, recolor into invisibility, disable, or otherwise defeat the mark — in source, at build time, or at runtime — unless you hold a current commercial license.
4. The license-key check and the mark-rendering code together are a technological protection measure that controls access to the un-marked form of the Product. You may not disable, bypass, circumvent, spoof, or defeat it — in source, at build time, or at runtime — and you may not make or distribute anything primarily designed to do so. Circumvention is protected against by anti-circumvention law, including 17 U.S.C. § 1201 (DMCA) and Article 6 of Directive 2001/29/EC (EU), and gives rise to statutory remedies in addition to breach of this license. Forging or sharing a license key is a material breach and an act of circumvention.
5. You must retain this notice, the copyright notice, and the disclaimer in all copies or substantial portions of the Product, and must not misrepresent the origin of the Product.
6. The right to suppress the attribution mark is granted only under a separate commercial license. A valid commercial license key that suppresses the mark is a permitted exercise of that license, not a breach.
7. You must not reverse assemble, reverse compile, or reverse engineer the Product, or cause a third party to do so, for the purpose of defeating the technological protection measure or removing the attribution mark. This does not restrict reverse engineering that applicable non-waivable law permits — including decompilation for interoperability under Article 6 of Directive 2009/24/EC (EU Software Directive) — so long as it is not used to circumvent the measure or remove the mark.
8. If you breach the attribution or anti-circumvention conditions, the rights granted here terminate automatically; they are reinstated if you cure the breach within 30 days of becoming aware of it.
9. LIMITED WARRANTY.

   Although CanvasXpress has tested this Product and reviewed the documentation, CanvasXpress makes no warranty or representation, express or implied, with respect to this Product, its quality, performance, merchantability, or fitness for a particular purpose. The Product is licensed AS-IS, and the Licensee assumes the entire risk as to its quality and performance. CanvasXpress shall not be liable for any claim or damages, including but not limited to loss of profit, data, or use, or special, incidental, or consequential damages, even if advised of the possibility of such damages.