License Compatibility Question: Using HyperFormula with MIT-Licensed Project

[fangsmile]

Hello HyperFormula team, I'm currently developing an open-source project called vtable-sheet (part of the VisActor/VTable(https://github.com/VisActor/VTable) library) which is released under the MIT license. I'd like to integrate HyperFormula as a dependency to implement spreadsheet formula functionality. I noticed that HyperFormula is using the GPL-v3 license. I have some questions regarding license compatibility: Is there a potential license compatibility issue when using HyperFormula as an npm dependency in an MIT-licensed project? We're not modifying HyperFormula's source code - simply importing and using the library API. Does this use case still fall under GPL's copyleft requirements? Do you offer any alternative licensing options (commercial license, MIT/Apache license, etc.) for projects like ours that may need more permissive licensing? If license compatibility is an issue, what would be your recommended approach for projects like ours? Thank you for your guidance on this matter. Best regards --fangsmile

[sequba]

Hi @fangsmile, thank you for reaching out about license compatibility.

Unfortunately, there is a compatibility issue. GPL-v3 has copyleft requirements that apply even when using HyperFormula as an npm dependency through its API. This means vtable-sheet would need to be licensed under GPL-v3 (not MIT) if it includes HyperFormula.

Your options are:

1. Change vtable-sheet to GPL-v3 license
2. Make HyperFormula an optional peer dependency (users install separately, with clear license warnings)
3. Obtain a commercial license as described here: https://hyperformula.handsontable.com/guide/licensing.html#available-licenses