What a fair template license looks like

Licensing is where template marketplaces quietly get user-hostile. Here is the model we use, and why.

One project per license

A Regular license covers one end product. Build a site for yourself or one client, charge that client whatever you like, and you are done. Building a second, unrelated project means a second license. That rule is easy to remember and easy to comply with.

Extended is about your end users, not your revenue

The distinction is not "are you making money" — it is "are your end users paying to access the thing you built with this". A marketing site for a paid SaaS is a Regular license: your users pay for the SaaS, not for the site. A template you resell as part of your own product needs Extended.

Free updates forever, or it isn't really yours

If updates expire, you bought a rental. Framework upgrades and bug fixes should stay free for as long as the product exists. Support time is a separate thing, and it is fair to charge for extending it.

Things a license should never do

• Expire, or require reactivation to keep working
• Forbid modification of the source you bought
• Claim rights over what you build with it
• Require attribution on your production site

What you can never do with a template

Resell or redistribute the source itself, as-is or lightly reskinned, and don't include it in another template or starter kit. That is the one rule that keeps this business viable — everything else should bend in the buyer's favour.