The Lsos is a small tool to add pricing to an open source project.

• Accessible — only larger companies pay a fee.
• MIT License — code stays open source.
• Funded — financial sustainability and independence.

Free for most, accessible to everyone

We believe price should never stop anyone from building; we ensure that all Lsos projects are free for individuals, small projects, and nonprofits, and that fees are low enough to be accessible for the larger companies who pay.

Users have confidence that they will always be able to use Lsos projects, no matter how much money at disposal.

Open Source

Unlike other financial models, everything stays open source and permissive: source code stays MIT licensed.

No compromise on what makes open source special.

How it works

Instead of leveraging copyright law, Lsos projects include the Lsos library which verifies whether larger companies have a valid activation key. Lsos projects can choose between trust mode and enforce mode.

Enforce mode — larger companies can only use the Lsos project if they purchase an activation key. We use a novel technique that prevents larger companies from circumventing the Lsos library.

Trust mode — larger companies can use the Lsos project without purchasing an activation key. Those who didn't purchase an activation key are regularly asked, with a pesky popup à la Sublime Text, to purchase an activation key.