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// Copyright (C) 2026 The Qt Company Ltd.
// SPDX-License-Identifier: LicenseRef-Qt-Commercial OR GFDL-1.3-no-invariants-only
/*!
\page qt-framework-product-information.html
\title Product Information
\brief Overview of Qt as a product, including licensing and versions.
\section1 Functionality
At its core, the Qt Framework (also "Qt" on this page) provides a cross-platform
API for application and device development. You can install Qt as a framework
for development on a host machine, or build it from source code and install it
as a runtime on embedded devices. Qt includes technical documentation and a set
of essential tools to support efficient development.
This page gives an overview of Qt as a product. If you are new to Qt, see
\l{Introduction to Qt} in the Qt documentation.
\section1 Functional Composition
Qt consists of modules that provide specific functionality, organized into a
composite structure. The \l{Qt Essentials} modules form the foundation and are
always present. \l{Qt Add-Ons} provide additional, more specialized
functionality. In practice, most users install all add-ons regardless of whether
they use them later.
Some add-ons are \l{Qt Extension Modules}. These modules provide isolated,
specific functionality built on top of larger third-party components. As a
result, they have their own release cadence, which may differ from the Qt
releases.
Qt is generally available as source code and as installable prebuilt binaries
for selected target and host platforms.
\section1 Manufacturer
The Qt Company Oy, a subsidiary of Qt Group Oyj, is the official manufacturer
of Qt in its commercial offering.
\list
\li Postal address: The Qt Company Oy, Miestentie 7, FI-02150 Espoo, Finland
\li Email: \l{mailto:info@qt.io}{info@qt.io}
\endlist
Qt and the Qt logo are registered trademarks of The Qt Company Ltd or its
subsidiaries. For more information, see \l{Trademarks}.
\section1 Development
Qt is developed as an open-source project in \l{The Qt Project}, with Qt Group as
the main contributor.
\section1 Licensing
Qt is dual-licensed. The Community Edition is available under Open-Source
Software (OSS) licenses. Qt Group also offers Qt under a commercial license
as a selection of commercial product packages, which can include commercial-only
functionality.
Licensing also covers the downstream licensing of third-party components used in
Qt. For more details about third-party licensing and Qt licensing in general,
see the \l{Qt Licensing} page in the Qt documentation.
Qt Group defines the terms and conditions of commercial licensing on the
\l{Qt Frame Agreement} page.
Qt is widely used in education. \l{Qt for Education} defines the licensing of Qt
in this field.
\section1 Versions
Qt has two minor releases per year. Every fourth minor release is a long-term
support (LTS) release with a longer support period, such as Qt 6.8 and Qt 6.12.
Each release has a series of maintenance (patch) releases during its life cycle.
Maintenance releases focus on bug and vulnerability fixes and make no changes to
the core functionality. Minor releases, including LTS releases, make only minor
changes to it; only a major release can change it significantly. For more
details, see the \l{Qt Releases}{Releases} page in the Qt documentation.
Qt has strict, controlled governance over the evolution of its functionality,
including a defined \l{Versioning} scheme and \l{Compatibility promises}. The
\l{Qt Releases}{Releases} page in the Qt documentation outlines both for each
release, but they can change only in a major release.
\section1 Maturity and Validity of the Scope
Qt modules have a defined life cycle.
Qt modules and functionality in Technology Preview status (see
\l{QUIP 14: Entering Technology Preview} and section 2.5 of the
\l{Qt Support Terms and Conditions}) are not part of the commercial Qt product
offering, even though Qt provides them for preview purposes. The same applies to
deprecated modules.
Qt Group generally provides conformity with global and regional regulations
for the Qt Framework under a commercial license. All vulnerability fixes still
apply to the dual-licensed code base and are available regardless of the
licenses under which you use Qt.
Git tags on the corresponding Git branches track the release scope of a given Qt
release for each Qt module and other repositories. The date of a Git tag is the
release date. The release team has ultimate control over these tags.
\section1 Configurations
Qt is a cross-platform framework. You can configure and compile it for many
target and host platforms.
Every \l{Supported Platforms}{supported platform} has a defined set of supported
configurations outlined in the Qt documentation. The Qt installation folder for
a given Qt version contains files that list the configuration options used and a
configuration summary for each Qt module.
Qt testing and verification use these configurations.
Other configurations, as well as builds of Qt with proprietary patches applied,
are outside Qt Group's conformity commitments.
\section1 Documentation and Information Structure
The following list outlines the information sources about Qt and orders them by
authority from highest to lowest.
\list 1
\li Qt technical documentation
\list
\li Qt technical documentation is part of the Qt source code.
\li The same systems host, develop, and deploy the documentation and the Qt
source code.
\li Errors in the documentation count as bugs in Qt.
\li Qt Group publishes the documentation online at
\l{Qt Documentation}{doc.qt.io} and ships it in compiled form as offline
help in Qt Creator.
\li Qt Group publishes documentation snapshots at
\l{Qt Documentation Snapshots}{doc-snapshots.qt.io}. The information in
a snapshot becomes valid only when Qt Group releases the given version.
\li Each minor release carries its own version of the documentation.
\li The documentation covers functionality according to the license of the
related code.
\endlist
\li Qt Group commercial product documentation
\list
\li The commercial product documentation includes the Qt technical
documentation and extends it with technical documentation about
commercial-only functionality.
\li Qt Group publishes its terms and conditions, including the support terms
for Qt, at \l{Qt Support Terms and Conditions}{qt.io/terms-conditions}.
\li \l{Qt Framework Licensing} explains its licensing.
\endlist
\li Qt Group company website
\list
\li Qt Group lists Qt in its Development product range.
\li \l{Qt Development Products}{qt.io/development} and other linked pages
cover Qt.
\li The website content focuses on the value of Qt for users and builds on
technical and commercial product information.
\li Qt Group staff members and, occasionally, partners or community members
use the \l{Qt Blog} to announce and describe selected highlights and new
features in Qt.
\endlist
\li Qt Project sites
\list
\li \l{The Qt Project}{qt-project.org} covers the governance of Qt as an
open-source project.
\li \l{Qt Wiki}{wiki.qt.io} covers the development of Qt in open source and
holds relevant technical documentation.
\endlist
\li Qt Forum
\list
\li \l{Qt Forum}{forum.qt.io} hosts technical discussions for all Qt users.
\li A forum topic does not describe Qt functionality unless the Qt technical
documentation covers it, even if the topic is technically correct.
\endlist
\endlist
*/