Ask HN: If we make it open source, how do we monetize it?

This page summarizes the projects mentioned and recommended in the original post on news.ycombinator.com

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  • SurveyJS - Open-Source JSON Form Builder to Create Dynamic Forms Right in Your App
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  • WorkOS - The modern identity platform for B2B SaaS
  • PostHog

    🦔 PostHog provides open-source product analytics, session recording, feature flagging and A/B testing that you can self-host.

  • You can earn by offering a hosted version and releasing an open-source version under the GPL license, similar to Plausible [1]. This approach can help reduce competition with the hosted version.

    Alternatively, you can release the software under the MIT license and keep certain parts of the code under an enterprise license, following the PostHog model [2]. This allows you to offer an enterprise version and charge for it.

    Ultimately, the decision should be based on your target users. Small businesses may prefer the hosted version as it relieves them of hosting and maintenance responsibilities.

    1. https://plausible.io/blog/open-source-licenses

    2. https://github.com/PostHog/posthog/blob/master/LICENSE

  • awesome-oss-monetization

    🏆 A curated list of monetization approaches for open-source software. Feedback welcome!

  • There are many ways to make a project open-source and still monetize on it. I've collected several approaches here: https://github.com/PayDevs/awesome-oss-monetization

    Your case sounds like you could apply an Open SaaS with an AGPL License or create an OpenCore and service special functionality in your SaaS.

    If the only concern of your customers is that you could have to close the company and they don't have the code/system anymore, you could create a special (Dual-)License that is GPL as long as your company exists but becomes MIT if you close your company.

  • SurveyJS

    Open-Source JSON Form Builder to Create Dynamic Forms Right in Your App. With SurveyJS form UI libraries, you can build and style forms in a fully-integrated drag & drop form builder, render them in your JS app, and store form submission data in any backend, inc. PHP, ASP.NET Core, and Node.js.

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NOTE: The number of mentions on this list indicates mentions on common posts plus user suggested alternatives. Hence, a higher number means a more popular project.

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