The main goal of MPFR is to provide a library for multiple-precision floating-point computation which is both efficient and has a well-defined semantics. It copies the good ideas from the ANSI/IEEE-754 standard for double-precision floating-point arithmetic (53-bit significand).

MPFR is free. It is distributed under the GNU Lesser General Public License (GNU Lesser GPL), version 3 or later (2.1 or later for MPFR versions until 2.4.x). The library has been registered in France by the Agence de Protection des Programmes under the number IDDN FR 001 120020 00 R P 2000 000 10800, on 15 March 2000. This license guarantees your freedom to share and change MPFR, to make sure MPFR is free for all its users. Unlike the ordinary General Public License, the Lesser GPL enables developers of non-free programs to use MPFR in their programs. If you have written a new function for MPFR or improved an existing one, please share your work!