Choosing the Right Business Model for Open Source

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With 60,000 stars on GitHub, 1,000 contributors, and more than 12 million downloads, Strapi’s impact is clear. Our client base includes tech giants like Amazon and Adidas, among others. But today, I want to shift focus from Strapi's achievements to a topic that's vital for many in the open-source world: the business model dilemma we face when building a commercial open-source startup (COSS).

This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://strapi.io/blog/the-business-model-dilemma-of-open-source-startup
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Thanks for sharing your insight on your journey, very interesting!

I would like to make the enterprise sales for the enterprise version easier. I contacted your sales 7 weeks ago and after several interactions I still do not know what will it cost to my client to purchase the enterprise version.
I suggest you to make the enterprise sales easier, friction-less with a published and simple pricing, e-commerce style, for at least the first tiers. And keep the heavy classic enterprise sales for large accounts and those old fashion people that love meetings more than business…

Wish strapi great success!

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Thank you for your feedback to help us improve our process. I contacted our sales team, and they will reach out to you with a follow up.

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How do you feel about receiving monthly donations from your users to keep Strapi as open source as possible? I have a monthly donation to Strapi using Open Collective and my plan is to increase the donation ammount the more successful I’m with Strapi for my clients.

I know this model won’t currently pay the bills, but I think it would be more sustainable in the long run than getting more VC money.

Why not at least mention donations as a possible revenue stream that aligns the community interest to Strapi wellbeing and sustainability as an open source project.

Thank you for creating Strapi!

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Choosing the right business model for open source can be a real game-changer. I remember when I was setting up a project and struggled with this exact question. After a lot of trial and error, I found that partnering with the right people made all the difference. For example, when I collaborated with a monday.com partner through Enable Services, it was a turning point. They helped tailor our tools to fit our needs perfectly, which boosted our efficiency and growth.