Can you make money with open source?

Sometimes I talk to engineers who aren’t in the startup space and talk about what I do. When I mention that I work with venture-funded startups building a business around open source projects, I often get some blank stares.

“Um, open source is free. No money.”

This is true. You will not make money directly from the open source project. But there are many successful companies built around an open source project. Some open source business models include:

  • Support plans

  • A managed service version of the open source poject

  • A SaaS version of the open source project

  • An open core model

There are pros and cons to each model — and unique positioning challenges in each model. But yes, there are plenty of people willing to pay real money to make an open source project easier to consume, to ensure they have a support SLA or to get priority features.

Emily Omier