CUPS is the free, open-source Common Unix Printing System used by Linux, macOS, and Unix. Learn its history, architecture, licensing, and how it works.
CUPS (Common Unix Printing System) is a free, open-source printing system that provides the standard printing architecture for Linux, macOS, and other Unix-like operating systems. Development began in 1997, led by Michael Sweet of Easy Software Products, with public betas arriving in 1999, and the project moved to using the Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) instead of the older Line Printer Daemon protocol.
Apple adopted CUPS as the printing system for Mac OS X 10.2 in March 2002 and later hired Michael Sweet and acquired the CUPS source code in February 2007. Since Sweet's departure from Apple in December 2019, upstream development has been stewarded by OpenPrinting.
CUPS uses the Internet Printing Protocol as its core transport, giving it richer printer discovery and better vendor compatibility than older LPD-based printing systems, while still supporting legacy lp and lpr commands for backward compatibility.
The system is modular, combining a scheduler daemon, document-conversion filters, device backends, and a web-based administrative interface, and is complemented by newer OpenPrinting components like libcups and PAPPL for building modern IPP printer applications.
CUPS is free and open source, licensed under Apache License 2.0 with a GPLv2 linking exception, and is bundled by default with virtually every major Linux distribution and macOS at no cost.
Because it is infrastructure software rather than a commercial SaaS product, there is no paid tier, subscription, or enterprise pricing plan; ongoing development is sustained by the OpenPrinting community rather than a commercial licensing model.
CUPS originally stood for the Common UNIX Printing System, though the name was shortened to just CUPS starting with version 1.4 due to trademark concerns over the term UNIX.
CUPS was created by Michael Sweet, who began development in 1997 through his company Easy Software Products, with the first public betas released in 1999.
Apple acquired the CUPS source code and hired its chief developer, Michael Sweet, in February 2007, and used CUPS as macOS's printing system. Since Sweet left Apple in 2019, upstream development has been led by the OpenPrinting organization, though CUPS remains open source.
Yes. CUPS is free and open-source software licensed under Apache License 2.0 with a GPLv2 linking exception, and it comes bundled by default with most Linux distributions and macOS.
CUPS uses the Internet Printing Protocol (IPP), an HTTP-based standard, rather than the older Line Printer Daemon (LPD) protocol used by earlier Unix printing systems.
Since 2020, upstream development of CUPS has been maintained by OpenPrinting, a community and industry organization focused on Linux and Unix printing standards.