AlbumentationsX: AGPL and Commercial Licensing
AlbumentationsX became the maintained successor to the legacy MIT-licensed albumentations package in June 2025.
The legacy package remained available for anyone who wanted to use it, fork it, or maintain a compatible line.
What Changed in 2025
- 2025-05-27:
albumentations2.0.8was released under MIT. It became the last release of the legacy package. - 2025-06-19: the AlbumentationsX repository began with its initial import and the new licensing model.
- 2025-06-25: this announcement introduced the maintained package to users.
- July 2025: the legacy repository was archived. Its MIT source and PyPI releases remained available.
AlbumentationsX uses the same Python import namespace, so most migrations start with a package change:
pip uninstall albumentations
pip install albumentationsx
import albumentations as A
API compatibility was a migration goal, not a guarantee that every environment behaves identically. Run your tests against the maintained package before changing a deployed pipeline.
Why the New Repository Uses Two License Paths
Maintaining compatibility, fixing bugs, answering reports, and adding features requires ongoing work. Donations did not fund that work at a sustainable level. The new repository therefore offers two permission paths:
- A commercial license with agreed rights for proprietary applications and services, covering named teams, products, and deployments.
- AGPL-3.0-only, available at no charge subject to its terms.
Commercial organizations can use AGPL software when they follow its applicable conditions. Commercial license purchases provide agreed alternative rights and help support AlbumentationsX development.
The Legacy MIT Package Is Still an Option
If albumentations==2.0.8 already meets your needs, the MIT license continues to apply to that release. You may keep
using it or fork it under those terms.
The tradeoff is maintenance. The archived package receives no new bug fixes, security response, compatibility work, or transforms. Teams should choose that tradeoff deliberately rather than treating the legacy package as unavailable.
Analyze Actions, Not Labels
The GNU AGPL version 3 distinguishes running, making private copies, conveying copies, conveying modified works, and remote interaction with a modified version. It does not contain a rule that says every proprietary, internal, or production use automatically requires a commercial license.
| Situation | Start with these facts |
|---|---|
| Unmodified use inside one legal entity | Section 2 expressly permits running the unmodified Program. Check whether any copy leaves the entity. |
| Private modifications | Section 2 addresses covered works that are not conveyed. Also check whether users interact remotely with the modified version. |
| Proprietary Python code imports the library | Determine whether anything is conveyed and whether the components form a covered or combined work. A Python import alone is not a complete legal analysis. |
| Web or API use | Section 13 specifically addresses remote interaction with a modified version. Do not turn that into a claim about every unmodified library behind every web service. |
| Product, SDK, container, appliance, or on-premises delivery | Giving another party a copy brings the conveyance provisions into the analysis. Packaging and work boundaries matter. |
| Training that produces weights or predictions | Output is not automatically covered. Section 2 asks whether the output itself constitutes a covered work. Check separately whether code or a runtime is also delivered. |
| Contractors, affiliates, or subsidiaries | Check legal-entity boundaries, direction and control, contract terms, and where copies are kept. "Internal group" is not a defined AGPL category. |
| Evaluation | The AGPL has no separate evaluation exception. Apply the same analysis to what happens during the test. |
Terms such as "covered work," "work based on the Program," "Corresponding Source," "convey," and "aggregate" have specific jobs in the license. Replacing them with "your entire application" hides the boundary question rather than answering it.
For a longer scenario-by-scenario explanation, see the License Guide.
What Commercial Terms Can Cover
A commercial agreement with Albumentations LLC can grant rights to use, modify, integrate, host, or distribute AlbumentationsX without AGPL source-sharing requirements for the use covered by that agreement. The offer identifies:
- the legal entities and any covered contractors or affiliates;
- the product, project, or model family;
- internal, SaaS, customer-facing, SDK, appliance, or on-premises use;
- modification and distribution rights;
- term, renewal, and any deployment limits;
- support or SLA terms, if included.
The agreement covers the entities, products, and deployments it names. Third-party licenses and notices continue to apply; support and other services are included only when expressly agreed.
How to Choose
- For a commercial agreement, request a quote or email [email protected] with a short description of your team or product and the coverage you need.
- For the public version, use the License Guide to understand the AGPL conditions that apply to your software.
- The legacy MIT package remains an option if the frozen
2.0.8line meets your technical and maintenance needs.