ChipMonkeys Off Grid

Commercial License

Want to make and sell kits based on our designs? Great — we want you to. Here's the deal.

Personal Use — Always Free

Build it for yourself. Build it for your neighbor. Teach a class. Use it on your homestead. Modify the designs. Fork the repo. Go nuts. That's the whole point of open source. No license needed.

Commercial Use — 10% Royalty

If you sell kits, components, assembled cells, or any product based on ChipMonkeys Off Grid designs — you need a commercial license. It's free to sign up. The cost is 10% of revenue from products that use our designs.

Document your orders. Keep a log of every sale — date, customer, amount. Simple spreadsheet is fine.
Pay 10% of revenue quarterly. Not profit — revenue. Self-reported. All royalties go directly toward furthering the project.
Manage it yourself. You'll get a dashboard to log orders and track payments. Honor system.
Credit the project. Include "Based on ChipMonkeys Off Grid designs" in your product listing or documentation.

No License? Don't Sell.

This is an honor system. We trust you. But if you profit from these designs without the 10% royalty — if you take what we built, make money from it, and cut out the project that made it possible — we will find out, and we will come after you.

ChipMonkeys Inc. will pursue unauthorized commercial use to the fullest extent of the law. This includes recovery of all profits, statutory damages, and legal fees. The designs are copyrighted and the license terms are legally binding. Don't test us on this — just sign up and pay the 10%. It's fair, it's easy, and it funds the project that made your business possible.

Common Questions

What counts as "commercial use"?

Selling anything based on our designs for money. Kits, pre-made membranes, assembled cells, modified versions, courses that use our build guides as primary content. If money changes hands and our designs are the product — that's commercial use.

What about teaching a workshop?

Free workshops and classes — go for it, no license needed. If you charge for the workshop and the primary content is building our designs, that's commercial use and the 10% applies.

Is 10% of revenue fair?

We think so. You're getting years of R&D, tested designs, parametric CAD files, build documentation, and a growing YouTube audience funneling interest your way. The 10% goes right back into making the designs better, which makes your products better. Rising tide.

Can I modify the designs?

Absolutely. Modify, improve, remix. If you sell products based on modified versions of our designs, the 10% royalty still applies. If you invent something completely new that doesn't use our designs — it's all yours.

How do I pay the royalty?

Quarterly. Log your orders in your dashboard, calculate 10% of total revenue from licensed products, and pay via the link in your dashboard. We'll send a reminder email.

Apply for a Commercial License

Free to apply. Takes 2 minutes. Brandon reviews every application personally.

Questions? brandon@chipmonkeysinc.com