The license that powers Zsh is both simple and misunderstood.

Zsh, the powerful shell used by millions, is released under the MIT License. That means it’s free software in the truest sense: you can use, copy, modify, and distribute it with almost no restrictions. For teams choosing a shell or embedding it into a product, this matters. There are no viral clauses, no hidden obligations, and no vendor lock-in.

The MIT License is short—only a few paragraphs—but it shapes how Zsh is adopted across industries. It’s a permissive license. You can use Zsh in proprietary applications. You can fork it. You can strip it down to its core for an embedded device or extend it for cloud automation workflows. You only need to keep the original copyright notice and license terms in your source or documentation.

This freedom is why Zsh has grown far beyond a niche shell for power users. It’s now the default on macOS, a staple in CI systems, and embedded into thousands of developer tools. The license encourages innovation without forcing every derivative to share source code. That makes Zsh an easy choice for both open source and commercial environments.

From a compliance perspective, the MIT License avoids complexity. Legal review is quick, onboarding new engineers is frictionless, and integrating Zsh into production environments requires no special agreements. This reduces risk and keeps release pipelines moving fast.

Because Zsh is stable, widely supported, and licensed for maximum flexibility, it sits at a rare intersection of technical strength and legal simplicity. Teams that adopt it are not just picking a tool—they are selecting an asset that won’t constrain future decisions.

If you want to see what’s possible when a permissive license meets powerful automation, check out hoop.dev. You can integrate it with your workflow and see it live in minutes.