When we think of open Source software, we often imagine generous and enthusiastic developers who spend their nights and days grading software available to us for free.
In fact, for many years, the phrase ‘open source software’ and ‘free software’ were synonymous.
Back then, developing software with an open-source meant you would not make profits. Thankfully, there are many ways to generate income by building open Source software.
What are Open Source Projects?
Open source projects are century projects that have their Source Code open to the public, allowing anyone and everyone to participate. Participation can include any major changes, fixing bugs, or making major improvements to the software.
The vast majority of commercial products do not fall under the category of open source since the code is only available to the company that is developing it.
When a software company or developer is writing a program for money, they will usually keep the Source Code a secret, and only release the executable files so that no one is able to alter the source code.
This is usually done to prevent any counterfeit and security issues. Simply releasing the code of the program is not enough to consider it open-source - The public must be able to make their own changes to the code for it to be considered an open-source program.
Software as a Service
One of the easiest ways to monetize your Open Source Project is to use the software as a service business model. This is the option that makes the most sense if you already have a fully thought-out and developed application that is capable of creating demand.
The software-as-a-service model is one of the most popular ways to license software since it is very flexible, and office decreased costs and rapid deployment. It is also extremely appealing since the software is stored on a cloud. And users only need a web browser to be able to access the application.
SaaS Solutions that have free codebase are able to reduce the costs of development and eliminate the need to create functionality that is entirely redundant. In addition to that, the open-source software community is vibrant and will enthusiastically promote open source products and projects that are quality.
Learn more about software as a service here.
Grants and Sponsorships
Although there are only a handful of people who make their living this way, they do still exist. These people rely on donations from the community like Patreon, and some even used Kickstarter to raise funds to work on open-source projects.
Unfortunately, open-source grants and sponsorships don’t go very far.
Even though some folks might live in places where the cost of living is relatively low, and they can make ends meet using money from sponsorships, it’s very rare that you will actually be able to make a living funding your open source projects using grants and sponsorships.
Consulting
Open source projects are also great to be used as a personal marketing tool.
If you have a company that is reliant on your project and they run into an issue that they can’t fix themselves, then it is natural for them to want to hire the author of the program to help them resolve the issue.
Customer Satisfaction
The sales cycle for open source projects is incredibly different from enterprise software. It can be difficult to convince customers to use regular Enterprise technology, and on top of that, they’ll have to pay for it.
With open-source projects, the decision process happens in two separate steps. Convincing people to use your software is usually a lot easier since the program will usually be free at first - but you will then have to convince them to pay later.
This can be a confusing shift for folks who are used to the traditional software that requires an upfront payment to use. Visit this link for a more detailed look into the money-making process of open-source projects.
Summary
There is clearly money to be made from open source projects. You will just need to be dedicated enough to find new ways to fund your projects!
