Do I need license to implement software from visual studio community?

Question

i just to ask about things from visual studio community. I made a software build in c# and a small company wants to buy my software, i am using visual studio community 2015 and ms sql express. Just want to ask if do i need to get a license for my software specifically for microsoft license or .net license? And any legal action? thank you

Answer 1

The Terms and Conditions of Microsoft are very clear on the topic.

In non-enterprise organizations, up to five users can use Visual Studio Community. In enterprise organizations (meaning those with >250 PCs or >$1 Million US Dollars in annual revenue), no use is permitted beyond the open source, academic research, and classroom learning environment scenarios described above.

https://www.visualstudio.com/vs/community/

However another clause seems to come into effect with you.

Any individual developer can use Visual Studio Community to create their own free or paid apps.

https://www.visualstudio.com/vs/community/

In both cases, it would seem you qualify to use Visual Studio Community edition however you see fit.

Answer 2

It depends on a couple of factors.

The license itself is reasonable clear on the topic from https://www.visualstudio.com/vs/community/,

Any individual developer can use Visual Studio Community to create their own free or paid apps.

However, it may also depend on the size of the company wanting to buy your software. From the VS 2015 Community whitepaper,

Example 2: A Fortune 500 firm has outsourced the development of its store-locator mobile application to a small agency. The application is not an open source project. The agency has 5 employees working on the project and would like to use Visual Studio Community 2015. Since the agency is a contractor developing this application for the Fortune 500 firm, and since the application is not an open source project, the agency cannot use Visual Studio Community 2015 for developing and testing the application.

In other words, the restrictions on organizations may apply to you, even if you're a sole developer. Microsoft defines an organization as such,

In enterprise organizations (meaning those with >250 PCs or > $1M in annual revenue) no use is permitted for employees as well as contractors beyond the open source, academic research and classroom learning environment scenarios described above.

I'd follow those guidelines based on numbers from your potential buyer to see if you need a license.