The SSPL was created by MongoDB specifically to address "cloud free-riders"—companies that take the open-source code, wrap it in a service (like a managed database-as-a-service), and sell it without contributing back to the project. Can You Use It for Your Business? For 99% of businesses, the answer is a resounding .
Under the SSPL, if you distribute MongoDB as part of your commercial software, you must make the entire source code of your software available under the SSPL (or a compatible license). Unless you want to open source your $5,000/month backup tool, you cannot embed MongoDB Community Edition inside a commercial product you ship to customers. is mongodb community edition free for commercial use
Monitoring and Automation. Running MongoDB Community at scale is doable, but you have to build your own monitoring dashboards (Prometheus/Grafana) and your own backup scripts. MongoDB Enterprise gives you Ops Manager, which is a massive time-saver. The SSPL was created by MongoDB specifically to
You can safely use MongoDB Community Edition for your commercial website, mobile app, or backend service without paying licensing fees. You only run into legal trouble if your business model is "selling MongoDB" to other developers. Under the SSPL, if you distribute MongoDB as