Customers make an open-source business financially stable, not donations.
We tried to fund Plausible through donations.
In 6 months, we got 6 donations. $5 each. $30 total.
In the same 6 months: paid subscriptions grew from $400 to $8,500 MRR.
People didn't pay because they believed in the project. They paid because it solved their problem.
Open source needs a business model, not a tip jar.
- Customers make an open-source business financially stable, not donations. We tried to fund Plausible through donations. In 6 months, we got 6 donations. $5 each. $30 total. In the same 6 months: paid subscriptions grew from $400 to $8,500 MRR. People didn't pay because they believed in the project. They paid because it solved their problem. Open source needs a business model, not a tip jar.
Exactly the same thing with our nonprofit edtech (not open-sourced due to local requirements). Literally tens of thousands of students and educators, five universities, < $25 in donations this summer. We'll offer basic stuff for free as our social mission, and we'll have paidВчора таки не заплатив за VPS-ки #Unisched, бо не вистачало коштів. Сьогодні сервери заблокувалися, і... одразу купа звернень у підтримку: «Чому застосунок не працює?» 🙆🏻♂️, тож усім надсилаємо лінк на донат. Скільки зібрано? Правильно, нуль. А потім люди скаржаться на купу
