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PHP 9.0 will ship under the 3-clause BSD license, replacing the dual PHP License v3.01 and Zend Engine License v2.0. The Zend Engine License was never OSI-recognized, meaning a significant portion of PHP's source code was technically not open source by OSI standards. The 3-clause BSD license is permissive, OSI- and FSF-recognized, GPL-compatible, and handles name-restriction concerns in well-understood legal language. The post also compares this to PostgreSQL's custom permissive license, which has worked fine but only because it was always coherent. The broader takeaway: as many projects move toward source-available licenses, PHP's move in the opposite direction is a reminder that custom licenses create unnecessary friction, and projects still on bespoke licenses should consider adopting a standard equivalent.

PHP Goes BSD

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PHP 9.0 switch to BSD licence

PHP 9.0 switch to BSD licence

So basically this is about simplifying PHP’s licensing into a standard BSD-style open source license, which makes usage and redistribution clearer and more permissive compared to the previous mixed licensing setup.

Strong move, standardizing on a widely recognized license removes ambiguity and friction. Licensing shouldn’t be a barrier; this makes PHP easier to trust, adopt, and integrate.