What is CUPS used for?

CUPS is a standards-based open-source printing system for Linux and other Unix-like systems, supporting IPP, AirPrint and legacy printer drivers. It is a good fit for print servers on Linux and BSD systems, and sharing network printers across a small office.

Yes. CUPS is open source under the Apache-2.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at OpenPrinting/cups and is written mainly in C.

Yes. CUPS is open source, so the software itself is free to use.

Can I self-host CUPS?

Yes. CUPS can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure; there is no official hosted version.

What are some alternatives to CUPS?

Similar open-source tools in the Productivity category include Flameshot, Bottles and auto-cpufreq. SaaS products in the same category include ManicTime, 1% Better and 1 Pixel Workout.

Is CUPS actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to CUPS was on 2 October 2026, and the latest release is v2.4.19, published on 27 April 2026. The project has 1.8k stars on GitHub.

CUPS: open-source productivity

About CUPS

OpenPrinting CUPS is the current development line of CUPS, a standards-based printing system for Linux and other Unix-like operating systems. It is written in C and distributed under the Apache License 2.0, with an exception that allows linking against software licensed under GPL version 2 only. Apple maintains a separate repository for the CUPS version that ships with macOS and iOS.

CUPS can print to AirPrint and IPP Everywhere printers, to network and USB printers through Printer Applications, and to network and USB printers using legacy PPD-based drivers. It provides the System V lp and Berkeley lpr command-line interfaces, a configurable web interface, a C API and the common filters, drivers and backends needed for printing. The related cups-filters project supplies additional filters and drivers.

The repository documents its changes, contribution rules, developer guidelines and build and install instructions in files at the top level. The default branch tracks a future 2.5 feature release, while the 2.4.x branch carries the current stable series. The latest tagged release listed is v2.4.19, and project documentation is published on the OpenPrinting site.

Key features

Print to AirPrint and IPP Everywhere printers
Printer Applications for network and USB printers
Legacy PPD-based driver support
lp and lpr command-line interfaces
Configurable web interface
C API and print filter framework

Good fit for

→Print servers on Linux and BSD systems
→Sharing network printers across a small office

Built with: C
Tags: printing; ipp; airprint; linux; bsd; print-server; openprinting; unix

CUPS: questions and answers

What is CUPS used for?: CUPS is a standards-based open-source printing system for Linux and other Unix-like systems, supporting IPP, AirPrint and legacy printer drivers. It is a good fit for print servers on Linux and BSD systems, and sharing network printers across a small office.
Is CUPS open source?: Yes. CUPS is open source under the Apache-2.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at OpenPrinting/cups and is written mainly in C.
Is CUPS free?: Yes. CUPS is open source, so the software itself is free to use.
Can I self-host CUPS?: Yes. CUPS can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure; there is no official hosted version.
What are some alternatives to CUPS?: Similar open-source tools in the Productivity category include Flameshot, Bottles and auto-cpufreq. SaaS products in the same category include ManicTime, 1% Better and 1 Pixel Workout.
Is CUPS actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to CUPS was on 2 October 2026, and the latest release is v2.4.19, published on 27 April 2026. The project has 1.8k stars on GitHub.