If you maintain a software library that companies depend on, you can earn real money from it with Supported Source. Here's how Supported Source works and how to bring your project on board.
1. Is Supported Source right for my project?
Before you begin, are companies getting value from your project? Most projects are creating value for companies, but there are some that are purely for fun or hobby purposes. Those projects might not be the best fit for Supported Source.
The other question to answer is: is my project under a permissive license currently (like Apache or MIT), or a copyleft license (GPL). Permissive licenses work, but if it is GPL, you'll have to use an open core model with Supported Source.
2. Talk with us
Now you're ready to talk to Supported Source. We'll guide you through the process of setting up a public page on supso.org with your pricing and marketing info. Most projects should offer:
- A small self-serve price for small companies.
- Tiered pricing for mid-market.
- A custom enterprise tier we can help close and price accordingly.
Different companies will have different procurement needs, invoicing requirements, and willingness to pay, which is why traditional software companies have sales teams. Supported Source is replicating that for our projects, so that we can help enterprises buy the way they need to.
3. Self-fork your own project
You'll technically do a self-fork of your own project, bumping the version,
and updating your LICENSE file to point to
Supported Source. Existing
installs with old verisons continue to work under the prior license, but new versions
require purchase for commercial use. We'll work with you to ensure this goes smoothly.
As mentioned earlier, GPL licenses won't be able to do the self-fork into Supported Source. If your project was GPL, what you can do instead is an open core model: create a new project with Supported Source who interfaces with your old GPL project via an API boundary. The new project should have features that companies want to pay for. Then companies would use the original project, and pay for the new project to get those bonus features.
4. Get paid
When a company buys a license, we credit your account. We take 15% of license revenue (exclusive of payment-processing fees), which covers the legal scaffolding, invoicing, wire transfers, and sales and procurement support for your enterprise deals. You keep the rest. You can then finally get paid for your contributions! Throughout the whole process, you decide what to do next: features, fixes, hiring, or just stopping working at 6pm.
If your project might fit, get in touch to learn more.
Open source built the world. Supported Source helps the people who build it.