This is more of a licencing issue than a code question. I really like the ckeditor editor and would like to use it in my freelance projects which I do for clients. However upon reading the license page it has me in a bit of a confusion. DO I have to buy licences if I intend to use this in cms websites that I build myself and hand over to clients?
If so then what are my alternate options which don't cost anything?
Its should be ok, if you don't change anything of its source, IMHO.
Integrating CKEditor in commercial software, taking care of satisfying the Open Source licenses terms, while not able or interested on supporting CKEditor and its development.
I am not a lawyer, but the dual licensing model would appear to not prevent you from using the open source licensed CKEditor in your cms / client projects, as long as the terms of the chosen license are met.
What you cannot do is sell, give away or otherwise distribute the editor to third parties without providing them with access to the source code and the license attached to the product.