The POCL license in Pimcore – more transparency and freedom for business. See what changes after moving away from GPLv3 and what it means for you.
At this year’s Pimcore Inspire 2025 conference in Salzburg, a change was announced that is already echoing widely across the worlds of open source and enterprise software. Pimcore, known for openness and flexibility, is introducing a new license: the Pimcore Open Core License (POCL). It marks the end of the GPLv3 era in Community Edition – and at the same time the start of a new chapter in which openness goes hand in hand with transparency, compliance, and business scalability.
Why was the change necessary?
For many years, the GPLv3 license was the foundation of Pimcore’s openness. However, in today’s corporate reality – where alignment with regulations, security, and licensing clarity are critical – its limitations began to weigh on both users and implementation partners.
GPLv3 brings a number of challenges:
- Legal ambiguities that make it harder for compliance teams to approve.
- Risk of code “contamination” (copyleft), which can force you to share your own solutions.
- Complex audit procedures and constraints when working with enterprise clients.
- New regulations, such as the EU NIS2 directive, only deepen these difficulties. In response, Pimcore chose clarity – hence POCL.
What is the Pimcore Open Core License (POCL)?
POCL is a new hybrid license designed for how modern organizations actually work. Its goal is to reconcile open source ideals with business needs.
What does POCL offer?
- Full access to the Pimcore and Pimcore Studio source code.
- Commercial use and development of extensions without an obligation to share them.
- Protection of intellectual property – your code remains yours.
- No offering Pimcore as SaaS without a commercial OEM license.
- A simple revenue threshold: for companies with turnover below €5 million, POCL remains free of charge.
Openness without compromise – but with clear rules of the game.
Is Pimcore still open source?
Yes – more than ever. The core elements of the Pimcore community remain unchanged:
- Repositories on GitHub stay public.
- You can still report issues, open pull requests, and grow the ecosystem.
- Collaboration under the Contributor License Agreement (CLA) works as before.
- The community-powered model remains the basis for platform development.
Only the legal framework changes – to everyone’s benefit.
What if my project uses GPLv3?
For those who built extensions under the old license, Pimcore has prepared a complete migration path. Importantly:
- You can relicense your code to POCL if you own it.
- You can maintain a dual version – GPLv3 for releases ≤2024.4 and POCL for 2025.1+.
- You must keep separation – GPLv3 code must not be mixed with POCL in a single deployment.
- If you use third-party GPL components, refactoring paths or permission to change the license are available.
For integrators and partners – such as Omega Code – this is a huge relief. No more endless questions from legal, long approval processes, or uncertainty around business models.
What does this mean for clients?
Thanks to POCL, clients gain:
- Legal certainty – clear boundaries, no surprises.
- Faster rollouts – no more projects stalled by compliance.
- Greater flexibility – without fear of mandatory code disclosure.
- Peace of mind as you grow – without risking open source violations.
For companies just starting out, the barrier to entry is low – POCL is free for smaller organizations, and the path to growth and commercial use is clear.
Summary – a future that gives you more
Pimcore’s license change is not the end of openness – it is its professionalization. For technology companies, integrators, and clients, it is a step toward greater transparency, security, and scale. For Omega Code, it is a tool that lets us support our partners even better in digital transformation.
If you are planning a Pimcore deployment, migrating to version 2025.1, or have questions about how POCL affects your IT infrastructure – get in touch. We will help you navigate the changes and make the most of the new opportunities.
