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The Open Source Pricing isn't implemented yet.

Vike will soon introduce what we call an Open Source Pricing: a new kind of business model that keeps Vike open source, as well as accessible (so that everyone, regardless of financial resources, can use Vike).

• The entire code stays 100% open source (MIT License).
• Everything stays 100% gratis for engineers. You don't need any license key and you can use Vike without any restrictions, just like any other open source tool.
• For companies:
  • Pay what you can. Companies choose the amount they want to pay while we trust them to make a fair choice. (If too many pay too little, we may switch to a fixed pricing.)
  • Free for small apps. For new and small Vike apps, Vike is 100% gratis and you don't need any license key: everything works just like any other open source tool.
  • Apply for a free license key. For larger apps, you can apply for a free license key if your team cannot afford one or didn't incorporate a company yet. Write two or three sentences explaining your situation and we will give you a free license key valid for six months (you can apply again after six months).

The Open Source Pricing is a major milestone for Vike's growth. It preserves what makes open source special while ensuring Vike's priorities are aligned with the interests of its users, for a transparent and sustainable relationship.

Pricing

How does it work?
When is an app considered "small" or "large"?
Do sponsors have to pay?

Open Source Pricing

Why zero investors?
Is Vike still Free Software?
Why not another business model?

How does it work?

For new or small projects nothing changes: you can use Vike just like any other open-source tool, 100% gratis and without any license key.

For larger projects, Vike shows a pesky toaster in production Get your license key at ... which you can remove by purchasing a license key and installing it with $ vike add-key 4f7DK1q29X5WJ6G3b9t1.

In theory, since Vike is 100% open source, you can fork Vike and remove the pesky toaster's code. But we will obfuscate the pesky toaster's code so that it's difficult to find — more difficult than applying for a free license key. (We'll also prevent tricks such as .pesky-toaster { display: none }.)

When is an app considered "small" or "large"?

The pesky toaster includes an heuristic to determine whether your app is:

• A small-ish or new project, such as a single-person project or a startup getting started.
• A larger project developed by a team implementing an enterprise-grade app.

If the heuristic considers your app small then the pesky toaster isn't shown and you don't need any license key: you can use Vike just like any other open source tool.

If your app is considered large, the pesky toaster starts to be shown during development and you'll need a license key to remove it: you can then either purchase or apply for a free one.

There isn't a clear-cut definition, and the heuristic is subject to change. You can think of it as a "gracious free-tier heuristic".

The heuristic will be generous when determining whether your app qualifies for the free tier. If you believe it mistakenly classifies your app as a larger project, then please reach out and we will give you a free license key until we fix the heuristic.

Do sponsors have to pay?

No, Vike stays 100% gratis for companies sponsoring Vike (Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum). Reach out and we will give you a free license key.

Why zero investors?

If a project accepts investor funding, it will eventually have to take radical decisions to generate massive amounts of revenue — typically aiming for $100 million annually which is the kind of return investors hope for when they invest.

This is often achieved with aggressive techniques such as vendor lock-in and steep fees. At the end of day, it will inevitably result in users having to pay a very hefty bill in one form or another.

In contrast, the Open Source Pricing introduces a business relationship with users that is transparent, sustainable and stable.

Is Vike still Free Software?

Vike is still free as in "free speech" (not as in free beer), see explanations by the Free Software Foundation and by Wikipedia.

We believe in Libre Software and we invented the Open Source Pricing because other business models contradict Libre Software values.

Code remains not only 100% open source but also 100% accessible: we believe money (and the lack thereof) should never prevent anyone from using code.

Why not another business model?

We believe other business models are flawed in fundamental ways.

The Open Source Pricing means:

• As an enginner, a much better software while everything stays 100% gratis.
• As a company, a transparent and sustainable relationship with a tool that is foundational to your stack.

Compared to other business models:

Values:

• Transparent: anyone can read the code.
• Forkable: anyone can modify the code and publish its own version.
• Accessible: anyone can use the code, no matter how much money at disposal.
• Sustainable: the project's developers are financially supported.
• Independent: the project isn't influenced by outside interests.

Business Models:

• Open Source | Donations: some projects, due to their very high number of users and low developing cost, can sustain solely on donations.
• Open Source | Company Backed: a company open sourcing some of its internal tool.
• Open Source | Open Core: the code is open source but some extensions/features are proprietary.
• Proprietary | Public Source: proprietary but the code is publicly available to be read.
• Proprietary | Closed Source: closed sourced, not forkable, usually expensive.