The i9 project aims to build a reasonably secure, microkernel-based operating system, with binary compatibility to other OSes, a range of Personalities (environments that behave like other OSes). and a comprehensive set of APIs that give users and developers freedom of choice.

All new code released by the i9 project is Open Source, and is released under the terms of the MIT License. Some older components are dual-licensed under the i9 License, and others are covered under different licenses.