A field guide to getting open-source projects paid — sponsors, ad networks, affiliate deals, and the outreach that actually closes.
Curated platforms · verified pricing anchors · copy-paste templates · real case studies · a 7-day cold-start plan.
🌐 Languages: English · 中文 · Español · 日本語 · Français · Deutsch
Sponsorship is a sales channel, not a star-count reward. Stars are a popularity proxy — the real pricing drivers are unique monthly visitors (GitHub Traffic), package downloads (npm / PyPI / Docker Hub), and audience-to-sponsor fit. This repo is the playbook for running that sales channel professionally: which platforms, which slots, what price, who to message, and what to send.
Everything here is copy-pasteable and grounded in verified public sources (official docs, OpenCollective pages, maintainer blogs, ad-network pricing pages). All prices are estimates / reference only — never a quote, never a promise. See the disclaimer.
- Telegram OpenClaw 中文社区 — the Chinese-language OpenClaw community on Telegram, for support and discussion.
- Linux.do — Chinese-language developer & tech community (Discourse) whose members and feedback shaped the China-distribution guidance in this guide.
- Who this is for
- Quick start (5 minutes)
- If you only have 1,000 stars
- Platform comparison
- Pricing reference (estimate)
- Affiliate programs that actually pay
- How to find sponsors
- The 7-day cold-start plan
- Templates & tools
- Documentation
- Real case-study anchors
- Contributing
- Star History
- Disclaimer
| You are | Start here |
|---|---|
| 100-star maintainer (early CLI/SDK) | GitHub Sponsors (0% fee) + .github/FUNDING.yml. Focus on momentum, not money. → 100-star example |
| 1,000-star maintainer (the sweet spot) | GitHub Sponsors + Open Collective + a rate card. Run the first-50-DMs plan. → 1000-star playbook · example |
| 10,000-star maintainer | Tiered program + standalone sponsor page + EthicalAds on docs. → 10000-star example |
| Indie / solo dev | GitHub Sponsors (recurring) + Buy Me a Coffee (one-off tips). Skip the fiscal host. |
| Devtool / CLI / SDK maintainer | GitHub Sponsors + thanks.dev (dependency-tree inbound) + affiliate hybrid. |
| Newsletter-running mainter | GitHub Sponsors + Paved (newsletter ads — highest $/impression). |
| Maintainer shipping a paid SaaS/AI product | Polar (Merchant-of-Record) — not for sponsorship. |
- Pick a platform. Solo → GitHub Sponsors (0% personal fee). Multiple contributors/vendors → Open Collective (fiscal host + public ledger).
- Add
.github/FUNDING.yml. Wires the "Sponsor" button. Copy the annotated template (12 current keys;otechie/givebutter/lfx_crowdfundingare not supported). - Set tiers. GitHub Sponsors: up to 10 one-time + 10 monthly, max $12,000/mo; price is immutable once published (retire + recreate to change). Anchor to real ladders — Vite
$5/$15/$50/$150/$500, Astro$10/$100/$200/$250/$1,000/$10,000— but label yours estimate / reference only. - List your inventory. You sell exposure, not stars. Slot taxonomy in
data/sponsor-types.yml: README top banner, README bottom logo grid (the dominant pattern — dynamic SVG, never edit the README), docs-site ad, release-note, newsletter. - Start outreach. Build a one-page rate card anchored to your traffic, then send the cold-email template to companies in your dependency tree or your Popular Referrers. Price at the low end until you close 3 deals.
The 5-minute path is detailed in docs/getting-started.md.
1,000 stars is the sweet spot: real users, real downloads, real procurement conversations — but still close enough to the metal that you can sell it yourself. The full strategy is the 1000-star playbook; the essentials:
- It is commercially valuable — but only if you sell. komorebi (~10k stars) made only ~$155/mo with no sales; Caleb Porzio hit ~$112,680/yr by actively selling on a bigger footprint.
- Price at the low end of the estimate grid; raise after 3 closed deals.
- Run a 50-prospect pipeline, scored with the Sponsor Fit Score, on a 3-touch-then-close cadence — see the first-50-DMs plan.
- Offer a first-month test at 50% off (or free) to remove risk for a founding sponsor.
- Don't hurt the repo. A vetting policy + clean affiliate disclosure + no spam-blasting protects the reputation that makes the repo sponsorable in the first place.
Statuses verified 2026-06-29 against official sites. Fees are reference only.
| Platform | Type | Status | Fee (ref. only) | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub Sponsors | sponsorship | ✅ alive | 0% personal / ≤6% org | solo maintainers; native GitHub button. ⚠ mainland China not supported |
| Open Collective | fiscal host | ✅ alive | $0/$60/$320 plan; or 5% | public ledger; multiple contributors |
| Open Source Collective | fiscal host | ✅ alive | via OC | US 501(c)(6) umbrella, tax-deductible |
| Polar | billing MoR | 🔄 pivoted | 5%+50¢ → 3.40%+30¢ | paid SaaS/AI billing+tax. Not sponsorship |
| Buy Me a Coffee | donation | ✅ alive | 5% + Stripe processing | one-off tips |
| Ko-fi | donation | ⚠ unverified | 0% donations; Gold ~$12/mo (verify) | direct PayPal/Stripe tips |
| Patreon | subscription | ✅ alive | 10% | recurring memberships |
| thanks.dev | donation | ✅ alive | 5% | auto-fund your dependency tree |
| StackAid | donation | ✅ alive | subs from $15/mo | fund direct + transitive deps |
| Tidelift | subscription | ❌ acquired | — | historical; acquired by Sonar (Dec 2024) |
| IssueHunt | bounty | ⚠ stale | n/d | bounty-on-issue — use oss.issuehunt.io, verify liveness |
| Algora | recruiting | 🔄 pivoted | n/d | OSS hiring + bounty sidebar |
| EthicalAds | ads (CPM) | ✅ alive | 70% revshare, ~$2.50 CPM | dev docs sites (50k+ pageviews) |
| Carbon Ads | ads (CPC) | ✅ alive | sales-assisted | curated dev sites ($5–10k adv. min) |
| BuySellAds | ads (multi) | ✅ alive | managed | email/native/sponsored/podcast |
| Passionfroot | ads/marketplace | 🔄 pivoted→Zest | 2% / 15% | newsletter brand deals |
| Paved | ads (newsletter) | ✅ alive | flat + PPC | newsletters (25k subs / 1M pv) |
Full structured DB: data/platforms.yml.
Estimate / reference only. There is no standardized public market tying $/month to star count. Star count is a popularity proxy, not a pricing metric. Re-derive from your traffic: docs ad ≈
monthly_pageviews / 1000 × ~$2.50(EthicalAds publisher CPM); newsletter ≈subs × open_rate × CTR × target_cpc, anchored to JavaScript Weekly's $3,590/issue at 180k subs. Price at the low end without traffic/conversion data; raise after 3 closed deals.
Monthly USD by star tier × slot (estimate):
| Stars | README top banner | README bottom logo | README bottom text | Docs-site ad | Release note | Newsletter / issue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | $100–300 | $50–150 | $20–75 | $10–40 | $50–150 | $30–100 |
| 500 | $200–500 | $100–300 | $50–150 | $25–80 | $100–300 | $100–250 |
| 1,000 | $400–1,000 | $200–600 | $100–300 | $50–200 | $200–600 | $200–500 |
| 5,000 | $1,000–3,000 | $500–1,500 | $250–750 | $150–600 | $500–1,500 | $500–1,500 |
| 10,000 | $2,000–6,000 | $1,000–3,000 | $500–1,500 | $300–1,500 | $1,000–3,000 | $1,000–2,500 |
| 50,000 | $5,000–15,000 | $3,000–10,000 | $1,500–5,000 | $1,000–5,000 | $2,500–8,000 | $2,500–7,000 |
Deal-model modifiers (est.): one-time 12-month display ≈ 8–10× monthly (15–20% off); annual ≈ 10–12× monthly (15–20% off); pure affiliate = $0 fixed + 10–30% recurring; fixed + affiliate hybrid = lower retainer + commission (the best model). Full grid + RMB domestic band in data/pricing-benchmarks.yml; copy-paste rate card in templates/rate-card.md.
Most devtool companies have no public affiliate program (OpenAI, Anthropic, GitHub, Supabase, Cloudflare, AWS — all confirmed absent). The ones that do, verified 2026-06-29:
| Program | Commission (ref.) | Cookie | Payout | Fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Railway | 15% recurring, 12 mo | n/d | GitHub Sponsors / BMC | ★★★ cash via Sponsors |
| Neon | $20 cash / referral | n/d | GitHub Sponsors | ★★★ OSS-program |
| ElevenLabs | 22% recurring, 12 mo | n/d | PartnerStack, $5 | ★★★ AI voice |
| Apify | 20%→30%, cap $2,500/customer | 45 d | PayPal/bank, $100 | ★★★ scraping |
| Bright Data | 50% up to $2,500 + 15% 2nd-tier | 90 d | PartnerStack | ★★★ proxies |
| ScrapingBee | 25% recurring lifetime | n/d | PayPal, $50 | ★★★ scraping |
| Browserless | 20–30% tiered, 12 mo | 90 d | PayPal/bank, $50 | ★★★ headless browser |
| n8n | 30% recurring, 12 mo (Cloud) | n/d | PayPal, €100 | ★★★ automation |
| Make | 35% recurring, 12 mo | 30 d | Wise, $100 | ★★ automation |
| Raycast | 30% recurring (Pro) | n/d | Wise, £50 | ★★ macOS |
| Pluralsight | $1/trial + 30%/10%/5% one-time | 7 d | CJ | ★★ dev learning |
| DigitalOcean | 10% recurring, 12 mo | n/d | Awin/CJ | ★★ hosting |
| Netlify | 20% recurring, 12–24 mo | n/d | PartnerStack | ★★ Jamstack |
| Vercel / v0 | 30% recurring, 6 mo + $5/lead | n/d | Dub | ★★ frontend |
Closed/dead: Hetzner (sunset 2026-06-15), Notion (closed to new), ShareASale (defunct→Awin), Heroku (dead).
Networks to join as a publisher: PartnerStack (best devtool density, $5 min) and Impact (broad, $10 min). Full DB + the "no program found" de-bunk list in data/affiliate-programs.yml and docs/affiliate-programs.md.
Don't spray-and-pray. Build a scored 50-prospect list. Priority sources (full method in docs/outreach.md):
- Companies in your dependency tree — who ships software that uses your project? Their DevRel/growth teams are the best fit.
- Stargazers/forkers that are companies — GitHub orgs starring/forking you; find the DevRel/founder/growth contact via LinkedIn/X.
- Adjacent vendors — products that deploy with yours (hosting, ORM, observability, CI).
- In-kind sponsors — hosting/CI/secrets/monitoring vendors trading credits for a logo (Homebrew pattern: MacStadium, 1Password).
- Power-user issue reporters — ask them to intro their employer.
Score every prospect with the Sponsor Fit Score (0–100). Pursue 61–100; skip 0–30. Send the cold-email / DM templates on a 3-touch-then-close cadence. Track everything in the outreach checklist.
A week to go from "no sponsor program" to "first pitches out + repo launched." Each day is a checklist in docs/launch-plan.md and docs/1000-stars-playbook.md.
| Day | Do this | Output |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pick platform; add .github/FUNDING.yml; set 3–5 tiers (low end) |
Live Sponsor button + tier ladder |
| 2 | List inventory slots; build a one-page rate card | Rate card (internal anchor) |
| 3 | Pull GitHub Traffic + npm/PyPI/Docker downloads; build a one-page sponsor kit | Kit with self-reported-traffic caveat |
| 4 | Build a 50-prospect list (dep tree, stargazer-orgs, adjacent vendors); score with Sponsor Fit Score | Scored prospect list |
| 5 | Send wave 1 (10 prospects) via cold-email / DM | 10 outbound, tracked |
| 6 | Send wave 2 (10); draft launch posts (HN / Reddit / V2EX / X) | Launch assets ready |
| 7 | Launch + publish a standalone sponsor page; log all in outreach checklist | Repo live, pipeline running |
After day 7: keep the rolling 50-prospect pipeline, run 3-touch cadences, and sustain updates for organic star growth (see docs/launch-plan.md §12).
Copy-paste, fill in the [brackets], ship.
| File | What it is |
|---|---|
| templates/funding-yml-example.md | Annotated .github/FUNDING.yml — all 12 keys, 3 full examples |
| templates/rate-card.md | One-page rate card (USD + RMB, star-tier × slot grid) |
| templates/cold-email.md | Cold email + follow-ups + yes/no replies (EN + 中文) |
| templates/dm-template.md | LinkedIn / X / Discord / 微信 / V2EX-掘金 DMs |
| templates/sponsor-kit.md | Full sponsor kit (fill-in + worked example) |
| templates/media-kit.md | TLDR-style media kit (all components + example) |
| templates/readme-sponsor-block.md | README top/bottom/logo/text/affiliate snippets |
| templates/affiliate-tracker.csv | CSV to track affiliate deals |
| tools/sponsor-fit-score.md | 0–100 prospect scoring model + worked example |
| tools/outreach-checklist.md | 50-prospect pipeline tracker (markdown + CSV) |
| Doc | Covers |
|---|---|
| docs/getting-started.md | Orientation + the 5-minute path + link map |
| docs/github-sponsors.md | Eligibility, regions (China caveat), setup, tiers, fees, README display |
| docs/open-collective.md | Fiscal hosts, OSC 501(c)(6), public ledger, plans/fees |
| docs/polar.md | The pivot to AI billing / MoR — when it fits vs not |
| docs/ad-networks.md | EthicalAds, Carbon, BuySellAds, Passionfroot, Paved |
| docs/affiliate-programs.md | Verified affiliate programs + the de-bunk list + networks |
| docs/pricing.md | How to price (traffic, not stars) + estimate grid |
| docs/sponsor-kit.md | Building a sponsor kit (guide) + GitHub Traffic facts |
| docs/readme-monetization.md | README + surface monetization (every slot) |
| docs/outreach.md | Finding sponsors proactively |
| docs/1000-stars-playbook.md | The 10-section 1k-star playbook |
| docs/launch-plan.md | Cold-start distribution (HN/Reddit/PH/V2EX/掘金/X) |
| docs/case-studies.md | Verified disclosed numbers (Astro/Vue/Vite/Tailwind/Sentry/…) |
| docs/faq.md | 15+ Q&A |
Data (source of truth): data/platforms.yml · data/pricing-benchmarks.yml · data/sponsor-types.yml · data/affiliate-programs.yml.
🌐 Languages: English · 中文 · Español · 日本語 · Français · Deutsch
Publicly disclosed numbers (cited in docs/case-studies.md). Estimates marked.
| Project | What's disclosed (source) | Takeaway |
|---|---|---|
| Astro | $836k all-time on OC; tiers up to $10,000/mo | Clean ladder + sponsor page + fiscal host = the ceiling |
| Vue.js | $852k all-time on OC | Self-hosted sponsor page + BACKERS.md works |
| Vite | $162k all-time on OC; Bronze $50 → Gold $500 | A simpler ladder also works |
| Homebrew | $486k all-time on OC | In-kind (MacStadium/1Password) + cash mix |
| Tailwind CSS | Partner $5,000/mo (est. ~$200k/mo from ~70 cos) | Sponsorship tiers work at flagship scale; commercial ≠ sponsorship |
| Sentry | $155k→$750k/yr OSS outflow; $2,000/engineer/yr pledge | What a sponsor budgets |
| Caleb Porzio | $112,680/yr on GitHub Sponsors | Active selling on a real footprint |
| komorebi (~10k★) | $1,861/yr (~$155/mo) | 10k stars ≠ sponsorship without sales |
Corrections and new platforms/programs are welcome — with a cited official source. See CONTRIBUTING.md. The one rule: do not publish unverified facts; mark anything uncertain unverified rather than guessing.
All pricing, fees, commission rates, and revenue figures in this repository are estimates / reference only. They are not quotes, not guarantees, and not financial, legal, or tax advice. Real prices depend on vertical, traffic, user quality, conversion rate, audience geography, and sponsor budget. Verify current terms with each platform before relying on them. Platform statuses were checked 2026-06-29 and change frequently. This project does not promise any earnings and is not a "get rich" scheme — it is a field guide for maintainers who want to run sponsorship professionally.
License: CC-BY-4.0 for content; MIT for embedded code snippets. See LICENSE.