How can self-hosted software make money without hurting the ecosystem?
To be clear, I’m not looking to make any meaningful money off my own project (which is “just” a dashboard).
But if we want self-hosted software to become a real alternative to commercial services, we need people, especially developers, to care enough to build and maintain it.
Sure, AI is changing things. It’s easier than ever to build your own software, but even with AI, I wouldn’t be able to replace all the online services I use. And I doubt most people would either. Building something is one thing, maintaining it over the years is another. It’s still a serious amount of free time to dedicate to something.
What actually got me thinking about this was Heaper, a self-hosted cloud alternative that uses CRDTs. I’d really like to see it succeed because it’s doing something genuinely different from what’s already out there.
And I think those are exactly the kinds of projects we should be supporting. Software that offers real value in everyday use and gives people a reason to move away from commercial services.
But relying on donations clearly isn’t enough to sustain development for most projects. Providing a hosted version does conflict with the main idea of a service being self-hosted.
Then there are apps like Plex, which keep raising their subscription prices. At some point, you have to wonder what the financial benefit of self-hosting even is if every service comes with another subscription.
I’m not saying self-hosting always needs to be cheaper. I’m fine with paying for good software, especially if it supports the people developing it. But part of the appeal of self-hosting is having control over your own services without having to worry about a growing list of recurring bills.
Larger open-source projects can sometimes fund development through business licenses or public funding, but that doesn’t necessarily work for smaller projects.
I don’t really have a solution here. I just think we need better ways to financially support the developers building software we actually want to use, without turning self-hosting into another collection of subscriptions.
What do you think would be a reasonable way to fund these projects?
