Skip, a cross-platform mobile development tool designed to let developers build fully native iOS and Android applications from a single Swift and SwiftUI codebase, announced a major shift in direction as it’s now completely free and open source.
In other words, all licensing requirements have been removed, ending the need for subscriptions, license keys, trial periods, or revenue thresholds. The change applies immediately, starting with Skip 1.7.
As part of this transition, Skip has open-sourced its core engine, “skipstone,” which is now available on GitHub under a free and open-source license (AGPL-3.0).
Just for reference, until now, Skip operated under a paid licensing model. While individual developers and small projects with revenue below a certain threshold could use it for free, commercial users were required to subscribe.
According to the Skip team, making it freely available aims to reassure developers that their applications will not be locked to a proprietary tool that could disappear, pivot, or be discontinued. So, even if the original maintainers stepped away, the community could continue developing and supporting the technology.
Devs also say the project remains independently funded and is now leaning on community and corporate sponsorships to support ongoing development, infrastructure, and maintenance.
For existing Skip users, nothing breaks or is taken away. All paid plans are effectively discontinued because Skip is now free and open source. License keys are no longer required. After upgrading to Skip 1.7, existing subscribers keep full access, pay nothing by default, and only remain subscribed if they choose to support the project going forward.
For more information, see the announcement.
