Yes, you can use these on client work.
Two licences, depending on the platform. WordPress themes are GPL v2 or later, the same licence WordPress itself uses. Shopify themes are MIT, because a Shopify theme carries no GPL obligation and MIT is simpler for everyone. Both are open licences and both allow commercial use.
You can
- Use a theme on as many sites as you like, personal or commercial
- Use it on sites you build for paying clients, and charge whatever you charge
- Change anything — templates, styles, functions, the name
- Remove the “Built with …” credit in the footer (it is a checkbox in the Customizer)
- Redistribute it, modified or not, including selling your modified version
- Use it without crediting us anywhere
The one thing you have to do
If you redistribute a theme — give it away, sell it, or ship it inside something else — you have to include the licence text with it. Under the GPL, the version you hand on also has to stay under the GPL. MIT does not require that; you only have to keep the copyright notice.
Building a website or a shop for a client is not redistribution in any sense that creates work for you. Install it, modify it, hand over the site. Nothing else is required.
There is no warranty
The GPL says this in capital letters and it is worth repeating plainly: these themes come with no warranty of any kind. We have tested them and we use them ourselves, but if one breaks something, that is a risk you are taking on. Take a backup before changing themes on a live site — that advice is true for every theme, not only ours.
The bundled images
The zips contain no photographs. The only image inside is the theme's own screenshot, which is a rendering of the theme itself. The placeholder imagery on the demo pages is generated by us and is covered by the same licence. Nothing here carries a stock-photo restriction you could trip over.
Which theme is under which
- Inkwell — WordPress, GPL v2 or later
- Northline — WordPress, GPL v2 or later
- Studioframe — WordPress, GPL v2 or later
- Sagebrush — WordPress, GPL v2 or later
- Liftoff — WordPress, GPL v2 or later
- Tradewind — WordPress, GPL v2 or later
- Ironclad — WordPress, GPL v2 or later
- Overture — WordPress, GPL v2 or later
- Cornerstone — WordPress, GPL v2 or later
- Lantern — WordPress, GPL v2 or later
- Saltbox — Shopify, MIT
- Kiln — Shopify, MIT
The actual text
A copy of the full licence is in every zip, as LICENSE. Both are also published in full:
If something is unclear
Ask. info@thebighead.ca — we would rather answer a licensing question than have someone not use a theme because they were not sure.