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How to generate revenue from Open Source

#opensource #revenu #programming

generate revenue from Open Source
Imagine this: you’re sipping tea at your desk, scanning issues on GitHub, and — instead of the usual “good first issue” chase — you open an issue that literally deposits money into your account. That’s not fantasy. Open source today is a real economy: sponsors, grants, bounties, paid issues, contract work, bug-bounty programs and ecosystem funds pay contributors every day. This guide walks you through how it works, where the money comes from, exact tools to use, and — because you asked — a curated list of 100 open-source projects/repos that actually pay contributors, with notes on how they typically pay and what to work on.

I researched active funding platforms and project pages (Gitcoin, Open Collective, GitHub Sponsors, Bountysource, Tidelift, and direct program pages) and combined that with community-curated lists of paid projects. Sources below; read on and use the list as a copy-paste-ready reference. (gitcoin.co)

Quick overview — how open source pays (the money map)

  1. Sponsorships / recurring donations — people and companies sponsor projects on GitHub Sponsors, Open Collective, and Patreon. Payments are recurring and steady; projects use them to pay maintainers or fund bounties. Example: many libraries list their Open Collective sponsors and payouts. (opencollective.com)
  2. Bounties & paid issues — platforms like Gitcoin, Bountysource, Issue-bounty integrations let teams attach money to issues. You pick a bounty, solve it, get paid (range: $50 → $10k+ depending on scope). (gitcoin.co)
  3. Grants & matching rounds — Gitcoin Grants (quadratic funding), foundation grants (e.g., Ethereum Foundation, Solana Foundation) fund projects and pay maintainers/contractors. Grants can be $5k → $100k+. (gitcoin.co)
  4. Tidelift / commercial sponsorship — paid maintenance contracts for libraries (companies pay maintainers to secure/maintain packages). Typical deals vary widely.
  5. Contracted work & feature bounties — organizations hire maintainers for roadmap work, paid via straightforward contracting (SOW/hourly/fixed).
  6. Bug bounties / security programs — big companies and platform owners pay for security reports (sometimes $100s → $10k+ depending on severity). (See vendor programs and LLM/AI VRPs emerging.) (The Verge)

Best platforms & tools to find paying work

  • Gitcoin — bounties, grants, hackathons, retro rounds; great for web3 and OSS funding rounds. (gitcoin.co)
  • Open Collective — sponsor-funded projects; view donation flows and projects that payout maintainers. Use it to find well-funded collectives. (opencollective.com)
  • GitHub Sponsors (via Open Source Collective integration) — recurring sponsorship tied to GitHub profile/repo. (opencollective.com)
  • Bountysource / Bountysource GitHub — classic paid issues marketplace. (Tracxn)
  • Algora / new bounty integrators — platforms integrating bounties directly into GitHub workflow to reduce friction. (Algora)
  • Foundation/Program pages — Ethereum Foundation, Solana, etc., run grants; search their grants pages. (Onchain)

How to maximize earnings (practical steps)

  1. Track paying issues: filter issues for labels like bounty, $, paid, help-wanted on GitHub + Gitcoin/Opencollective pages.
  2. Start small, ship fast: take small bounties first; build reputation and on-chain/on-platform proof of delivery.
  3. Write crystal-clear PRs: include test coverage, docs, and a demo — makes it easy to approve.
  4. Pitch paid work: offer to implement a feature in exchange for a fixed fee; propose it in the issue with a short plan and ETA.
  5. Leverage sponsors: maintainers sometimes accept direct funding for features — politely ask maintainers or backers.
  6. Participate in grants/hackathons: prepare a proposal and apply; many rounds have predictable schedules (Gitcoin Grants, ecosystem foundation grant windows). (gitcoin.co)

Payment expectations & typical amounts (realistic ranges)

  • Micro-bounties / small fixes: $20–$200.
  • Feature–level tasks / integrations: $200–$2,500.
  • Major features / architecture changes: $2,500–$25,000.
  • Grants / foundation funding: $5,000–$100,000+.
  • Security/critical bugs (vendor bug-bounty): $100–$30,000+ (depends on vendor program and severity). (The Verge)

How maintainers typically pay contributors

  • Direct payout via Open Collective/GitHub Sponsors (monthly). (opencollective.com)
  • Bounty payouts through Gitcoin/Bountysource (one-time per issue). (gitcoin.co)
  • Contracts/Invoicing for larger work (SOW).
  • Grants that fund sprints and salaries. (Onchain)

Pitch templates you can copy-paste (short & proven)

1) Small bounty / issue proposal

Hi — I’d like to work on this issue. I’ll deliver a PR with tests and updated docs within 3 days. My estimated time: 6 hours. Fee requested: $150 (or “I’ll take the existing Gitcoin bounty of $X”). Payment method: Gitcoin/Bountysource/OpenCollective.
PR will include: summary, tests, changelog entry.

2) Feature / contract proposal

Hi maintainers — I can implement [feature] for $2,000 (deliverables: design spec, implementation, tests, docs, 2-week support). If you prefer milestone payments, I propose 50% on acceptance of design, 50% on merge. I can start on [date] and estimate 3 weeks. Payment via Open Collective / direct invoice / GitHub Sponsors.

Use these, tweak amounts to fit the repo’s size and funders.

Credibility & risk-management

  • Confirm funds before starting: ask which platform will pay and whether funds are reserved.
  • Get agreement in writing: issue comment + maintainer approval counts as agreement.
  • Prefer escrow/known platforms: Gitcoin/Algora/Bountysource reduce risk. (gitcoin.co)

100 open-source repos/projects that actually pay contributors (links + how they typically pay / what they pay for)

NOTE: “Pays” here means the project or its ecosystem has visible funding mechanisms (Open Collective / GitHub Sponsors / Gitcoin/Grants / bounties / corporate-backed paid work or active bounties). Payment types vary by project: sponsorships, bounties, grants, paid issues, or foundation-funded work. Use each project’s funding page (Open Collective / GitHub Sponsors / Gitcoin / Bountysource) to find active paid opportunities. Representative platform pages and examples used to compile this list: Gitcoin grants recaps, Open Collective project pages, curated paid-project lists on GitHub. (gitcoin.co)

Below is a categorized list (web / infra / data / ML / web3 / tools) — each item has the repo name + short note about payment method & typical paid tasks.

Web frameworks & frontend

  1. React — facebook/react — sponsorship & foundation contracts; company-backed paid roles and occasional paid bounties. (Sponsorships / contract work) https://github.com/facebook/react
  2. Vue — vuejs/vue — Open Collective sponsors; occasional bounties & foundation funds. https://github.com/vuejs/vue
  3. Angular — angular/angular — corporate backing (Google) + sponsored work. https://github.com/angular/angular
  4. Svelte — sveltejs/svelte — Open Collective sponsorship + bounties. https://github.com/sveltejs/svelte
  5. Next.js — vercel/next.js — Vercel-funded work, paid issues sometimes. https://github.com/vercel/next.js
  6. Nuxt — nuxt/nuxt — backers, sponsorship and occasional paid features. https://github.com/nuxt/nuxt
  7. Gatsby — gatsbyjs/gatsby — sponsorships, corporate projects. https://github.com/gatsbyjs/gatsby
  8. Remix — remix-run/remix — company-backed contracts and paid issues. https://github.com/remix-run/remix
  9. Tailwind CSS — tailwindlabs/tailwindcss — sponsorship & paid plugin work. https://github.com/tailwindlabs/tailwindcss
  10. Bootstrap — twbs/bootstrap — corporate sponsors & donations. https://github.com/twbs/bootstrap

Tooling, build & bundlers

  1. Webpack — webpack/webpack — sponsor-backed; organizations pay for features/maintenance. https://github.com/webpack/webpack
  2. Vite — vitejs/vite — sponsors; plugin paid work. https://github.com/vitejs/vite
  3. Rollup — rollup/rollup — sponsors & bounties. https://github.com/rollup/rollup
  4. Babel — babel/babel — Open Collective sponsors; paid features/bugfixes. https://github.com/babel/babel
  5. esbuild — evanw/esbuild — corporate contributions / paid work. https://github.com/evanw/esbuild

JavaScript & TypeScript ecosystem

  1. TypeScript — microsoft/TypeScript — Microsoft-funded contributors & paid roles. https://github.com/microsoft/TypeScript
  2. ESLint — eslint/eslint — sponsorships & bounties. https://github.com/eslint/eslint
  3. Prettier — prettier/prettier — sponsors & paid plugin work. https://github.com/prettier/prettier
  4. Storybook — storybookjs/storybook — corporate sponsorship & paid plugins. https://github.com/storybookjs/storybook
  5. Jest — facebook/jest — corporate-funded maintainers & bounties. https://github.com/facebook/jest

Backend, APIs & frameworks

  1. Node.js — nodejs/node — foundation-funded work (OpenJS), grants, paid roles. https://github.com/nodejs/node
  2. Deno — denoland/deno — sponsors & company-funded tasks. https://github.com/denoland/deno
  3. Express — expressjs/express — sponsorships & paid maintenance tasks. https://github.com/expressjs/express
  4. FastAPI — tiangolo/fastapi — sponsorships; companies hire maintainers. https://github.com/tiangolo/fastapi
  5. NestJS — nestjs/nest — corporate work & sponsorship. https://github.com/nestjs/nest

Databases & infra

  1. PostgreSQL — postgres/postgres — foundation & grants; paid CVEs and contract patches. https://github.com/postgres/postgres
  2. Redis — redis/redis — company-funded/security bounties. https://github.com/redis/redis
  3. MongoDB Community Tools — various repos; company-supported work. https://github.com/mongodb
  4. MySQL-related projects — many paid roles via companies. https://github.com/mysql
  5. SQLite — sqlite-org/sqlite — foundation & paid security fixes. https://github.com/sqlite/sqlite

DevOps / cloud / infra tooling

  1. Kubernetes — kubernetes/kubernetes — foundation-funded roles; paid contributor programs and grants. https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes
  2. Docker — docker/cli, moby/moby — company-funded maintenance & bug bounties. https://github.com/moby/moby
  3. Terraform — hashicorp/terraform — HashiCorp-sponsored development and ecosystem bounties. https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform
  4. Ansible — ansible/ansible — Red Hat/backer-funded work. https://github.com/ansible/ansible
  5. Prometheus — prometheus/prometheus — CNCF / grants / sponsorships. https://github.com/prometheus/prometheus

Monitoring, logging & observability

  1. Grafana — grafana/grafana — sponsor-funded; paid plugin work. https://github.com/grafana/grafana
  2. OpenTelemetry — open-telemetry/opentelemetry-* — foundation & grant-funded. https://github.com/open-telemetry
  3. Loki — grafana/loki — sponsors & paid development. https://github.com/grafana/loki
  4. Fluentd / Fluent Bit — company-backed maintainers and contracts. https://github.com/fluent
  5. Elastic OSS projects — payments via Elastic and partners (note licensed parts). https://github.com/elastic

Data science & machine learning

  1. TensorFlow — tensorflow/tensorflow — foundation & Google-funded work, grants. https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorflow
  2. PyTorch — pytorch/pytorch — foundation & corporate funding (Meta). https://github.com/pytorch/pytorch
  3. Hugging Face Transformers — huggingface/transformers — corporate & grant-funded projects, paid integrations. https://github.com/huggingface/transformers
  4. scikit-learn — scikit-learn/scikit-learn — foundation support & sponsorships. https://github.com/scikit-learn/scikit-learn
  5. Jupyter — jupyterlab/jupyterlab & core projects — community grants / sponsors. https://github.com/jupyterlab/jupyterlab

Web3, blockchain & crypto (big grant/bounty scene)

  1. go-ethereum — ethereum/go-ethereum — foundation grants & bug bounties. https://github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum
  2. substrate — paritytech/substrate — Parity grants & ecosystem funding. https://github.com/paritytech/substrate
  3. Solana — solana-labs/solana — foundation grants & paid contribution programs. https://github.com/solana-labs/solana
  4. Hardhat — nomiclabs/hardhat — sponsorship & paid plugin work. https://github.com/nomiclabs/hardhat
  5. OpenZeppelin — OpenZeppelin/openzeppelin-contracts — corporate consulting & paid audits. https://github.com/OpenZeppelin/openzeppelin-contracts

Dataviz, analytics, BI

  1. Metabase — metabase/metabase — sponsor-funded and paid feature work. https://github.com/metabase/metabase
  2. Supabase — supabase/supabase — company-funded, bounties and contract roles. https://github.com/supabase/supabase
  3. Hasura — hasura/graphql-engine — corporate-paid features and community bounties. https://github.com/hasura/graphql-engine
  4. Redash — getredash/redash — sponsors / paid integrations. https://github.com/getredash/redash
  5. Apache Superset — apache/superset — foundation-backed grants. https://github.com/apache/superset

CMS, e-commerce & platforms

  1. WordPress — wordpress/wordpress — WordPress Foundation & paid agency/feature work. https://github.com/WordPress/WordPress
  2. Ghost — TryGhost/Ghost — company-funded work & paid themes/plugins. https://github.com/TryGhost/Ghost
  3. Strapi — strapi/strapi — company-backed paid plugins & feature work. https://github.com/strapi/strapi
  4. Magento Open Source — magento/magento2 — vendor-funded contributions. https://github.com/magento/magento2
  5. Shopify (Hydrogen / CLI) — shopify repos often have paid ecosystem opportunities. https://github.com/Shopify

Security & bug bounty-friendly projects

  1. OpenSSL / LibreSSL — critical security projects — sometimes paid security work and funded audits. https://github.com/openssl/openssl
  2. OWASP projects — various OWASP repos offer sponsored audits and funded improvements. https://github.com/OWASP
  3. Metasploit Framework — community & sponsored security work. https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework
  4. Chromium / ChromiumOS — vendor bug-bounty & vendor-funded patches (big programs). https://github.com/chromium/chromium
  5. Linux kernel (various repos) — vendor-funded work and paid patches (kernel maintainers & companies often sponsor). https://github.com/torvalds/linux

Libraries, utilities & quality-of-life tools

  1. Moment / date-fns / dayjs — maintainers accept sponsors & paid work. https://github.com/date-fns/date-fns
  2. Lodash — lodash/lodash — sponsorships and paid integrations. https://github.com/lodash/lodash
  3. axios — axios/axios — sponsors & paid PR bounties occasionally. https://github.com/axios/axios
  4. node-sass / sass — sponsored & corporate-paid tasks. https://github.com/sass/dart-sass
  5. Three.js — mrdoob/three.js — Open Collective sponsors & paid plugins. https://github.com/mrdoob/three.js

Testing, CI & QA

  1. Cypress — cypress-io/cypress — company-funded and paid integrations. https://github.com/cypress-io/cypress
  2. Playwright — microsoft/playwright — Microsoft-funded contributors & paid feature work. https://github.com/microsoft/playwright
  3. Selenium — seleniumhq/selenium — foundation & sponsored work. https://github.com/SeleniumHQ/selenium
  4. CircleCI Orbs / GitHub Actions (popular action repos) — paid integrations & marketplace opportunities. https://github.com/actions
  5. Jenkins — jenkinsci/jenkins — foundation & corporate-funded tasks. https://github.com/jenkinsci/jenkins

Mobile & cross-platform

  1. React Native — facebook/react-native — corporate-funded work and sponsor contributions. https://github.com/facebook/react-native
  2. Flutter — flutter/flutter — Google-funded maintainers & paid work. https://github.com/flutter/flutter
  3. Ionic / Capacitor — ionic-team/capacitor — company-backed bounties and paid plugins. https://github.com/ionic-team/capacitor
  4. Electron — electron/electron — sponsored & paid security/feature work. https://github.com/electron/electron
  5. Expo — expo/expo — sponsored & paid tasks. https://github.com/expo/expo

Misc important OSS & community projects

  1. Homebrew — Homebrew/brew — sponsors & paid maintenance tasks. https://github.com/Homebrew/brew
  2. FFmpeg — FFmpeg/FFmpeg — sponsored work & vendor contracts. https://github.com/FFmpeg/FFmpeg
  3. MediaPipe — google/mediapipe — Google-backed work. https://github.com/google/mediapipe
  4. Electron Forge / electron-builder — plugin paid work & sponsorships. https://github.com/electron-userland/electron-builder
  5. OpenSSL-related tooling & libs — sponsored security improvements. https://github.com/openssl

Community, docs & smaller paid projects (great for entry-level paid work)

  1. Browserslist — actively sponsored via Open Collective (example of projects with recurring sponsors). Great for doc & small-feature bounties. (opencollective.com) https://github.com/browserslist/browserslist
  2. MUI (Material UI) — opencollective page shows corporate sponsors; paid plugin/features. (opencollective.com) https://github.com/mui/material-ui
  3. Electron community repos — many bounty tasks for pragmatic fixes. https://github.com/electron
  4. Metamask / wallet projects — frequent bug bounties & paid integrations. https://github.com/MetaMask
  5. Open-source monitoring stacks (Grafana plugins) — paid plugin dev. https://github.com/grafana

Web3 / niche / paid-lists & curated paid-opps

  1. Gitcoin-focused projects — many GG winners and supported projects take bounties. (Search Gitcoin bounty listings for live paid issues.) (gitcoin.co) https://gitcoin.co
  2. Projects on Bountysource — search the site for paid issues across many repos. (Tracxn) https://www.bountysource.com
  3. Open-source projects on Open Collective — many have budgets and pay for work (see Open Collective lists). (opencollective.com) https://opencollective.com
  4. Paid-open-source-projects (community-curated list) — community repo that tracks paid projects — useful for discoverability. (GitHub) https://github.com/kunovsky/paid-open-source-projects
  5. Algora-enabled repos & orgs — projects integrating bounty/pay flows on GitHub (new ecosystem). (Algora) https://algora.io
  6. Tidelift-backed packages — maintainers who work with Tidelift often get paid for maintenance; search Tidelift-managed packages. https://tidelift.com
  7. Projects on Open Source Collective with active budgets — search high-budget collectives for paid tasks. (All Things Open 2025) https://opencollective.com
  8. Projects featured in Gitcoin Retro / funding rounds — winners often pay for contributors. Example: Gitcoin retro top builders received funding. (gitcoin.co) https://gitcoin.co/blog/top-30-builders-in-gitcoins-retro-round-funding-proven-impact
  9. Foundations’ sponsored projects (CNCF, Apache, OpenJS) — many foundation projects hire contractors / paid patchers. https://cncf.io
  10. Large community projects with active sponsorships — Babel, Webpack, Browserslist, MUI, etc. (refer to Open Collective and Sponsor pages above). (opencollective.com)

How I compiled this list (transparency)

I combined:

  • Platform pages listing funded projects and top grants (Gitcoin Grants recaps). (gitcoin.co)
  • Open Collective pages showing active sponsors for projects (e.g., Browserslist, MUI). (opencollective.com)
  • Community-curated GitHub lists of “paid open source projects.” (GitHub)
  • Bounty marketplaces and company-sponsored open-source program pages (Bountysource, Algora proxies). (Tracxn)

Because funding models vary and change frequently, always check a project’s funding page and open issues labeled bounty/help-wanted before starting work.

Sample real workflows (play-by-play)

  1. Find a bounty: Search Gitcoin for label:frontend or topic:docs. Apply or comment on the issue, stating you’ll deliver. Once accepted, work & submit PR. Get paid through Gitcoin escrow. (gitcoin.co)
  2. Pitch a feature: Identify an Open Collective-backed project with sufficient balance. Open an issue with a proposal and price. Get maintainer approval and payment via collective expense or direct sponsorship. (opencollective.com)
  3. Join a grant round: Prepare a grant application, show roadmap, and secure matching funds (e.g., Gitcoin Grants). Use grant to hire yourself or fund feature work. (gitcoin.co)

A short checklist before you start

  • Is the bounty funded/escrowed? ✅
  • Has the maintainer approved the scope? ✅
  • Do you have pay method (Gitcoin, PayPal, bank, invoice)? ✅
  • Will you provide tests & docs? ✅

Useful links & resources (start here)

Open source can pay — but it pays best for contributors who treat it like a small business: find paying channels, communicate clearly, ship high-quality work, and build trust. Start with small paid bounties, document your wins, and after three or four paid merges, you’ll be able to price bigger features and win contracts.

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