Awesome list of open-source startup alternatives to established SaaS products. Maintained by folks at
Also checkout our ROSS index: fastest-growing open-source startups, every quarter.
Open-source company is added to the list if:
- Its product is strongly based on an open-source repo
- It has a well-known closed-source competitor, solving a similar business problem
- It is a private for-profit company, founded in the last 10 years
- Its repo has 100+ stars on GitHub
Things change really fast in the startup world, so this list can neither be fully complete, nor 100% up to date.
Don't hesitate to contribute and add new startups. Let's build the most comprehensive list together.
Any questions or suggestions? Feel free to DM project maintainer @garrrikkotua
All startups in the list are sorted by categories and sorted in alphabetical order. If you click on the stars badge you will get to the product's repo. Have a good search!
Category | Company | Description | GitHub Stars | Alternative to |
---|---|---|---|---|
API Gateway | Apache APISIX | Cloud Native API Gateway under the Apache Software Foundation | apigee | |
API Platform | Fusio | API management platform | Postman | |
API Platform | Hoppscotch | API development ecosystem | Postman | |
Auth & SSO | BoxyHQ | Enterprise Readiness made simple | Auth0 | |
Auth & SSO | Cerbos | Granular access control | Okta, Auth0 | |
Auth & SSO | FusionAuth | User authentication and session management framework | Okta, Auth0 | |
Auth & SSO | Hanko | Passkey-first authentication framework | Okta, Auth0 | |
Auth & SSO | Keycloak | User authentication and session management framework | Okta, Auth0 | |
Auth & SSO | OPAL (Permit.io) | Authorization administration framework (Open Policy) | Okta, Auth0 | |
Auth & SSO | Ory | Identity platform | Okta, Auth0 | |
Auth & SSO | Oso | Authorization building framework | Okta, Auth0 | |
Auth & SSO | Supertokens | User authentication and session management framework | Okta, Auth0 | |
Auth & SSO | Zitadel | User authentication and session management framework | Okta, Auth0 | |
Backend as a service | Amplication | Backend server with REST and GraphQL APIs to manage core backend needs | Firebase | |
Backend as a service | Appwrite | Backend server with REST APIs to manage core backend needs | Firebase | |
Backend as a service | Encore | Backend Development Engine for cloud-based apps, APIs, and distributed systems | Firebase | |
Backend as a service | Kuzzle | Backend server with REST APIs to manage core backend needs | Firebase | |
Backend as a service | Nhost | Backend server with GraphQL | Firebase | |
Backend as a service | Supabase | Backend server with REST APIs to manage core backend needs | Firebase | |
Business Intelligence | Preset | Modern BI platform powered by Apache Superset | PowerBI, Tableau, Mode Analytics | |
Business intelligence | Metabase | Business intelligence software | Tableau, Power BI, DataStudio | |
CMS | Builder | Drag and drop page builder and CMS | Contentful | |
CMS | Concrete | CMS for teams | Contentful | |
CMS | Directus | Data platform which wraps any database with an intuitive app | Contentful | |
CMS | Netlify CMS | Git-based CMS for static site generators | Contentful | |
CMS | Plasmic | The headless page builder for singe-page frameworks | Contentful | |
CMS | Strapi | Node.js Headless CMS to build customisable APIs | Contentful | |
CMS | Sulu | Modern Symfony based CMS | Contentful | |
CMS | Tina | Visual editor for React websites | Contentful | |
CMS | Webiny | Enterprise serverless CMS | Contentful | |
Cloud Data Warehouse | Databend | Elastic and Workload-Aware Modern Cloud Data Warehouse | Snowflake | |
Cloud Development Environment | Gitpod | Automated provisioning of cloud development environments with multiple git providers & IDEs | Codespaces | |
Cloud Storage | Minio | S3 compatible object storage | Amazon S3 | |
Cloud Storage | Storj | Decentralized cloud storage | Amazon S3 | |
Communication | Fonoster | APIs for SMS, voice and video | Twilio | |
Communication | Novu | Components and APIs for email, sms, direct and push | Courier, MagicBell, Knock | |
Customer Data Platform | Jitsu | Fully-scriptable data ingestion engine for modern data teams | Segment | |
Customer Data Platform | Rudderstack | Customer data platform for developers | Segment | |
Customer Engagement | Chaskiq | Live chat widget | Intercom, Zendesk | |
Customer Engagement | Chatwoot | Live chat widget | Intercom, Zendesk | |
Customer Engagement | Papercups | Live chat widget | Intercom, Zendesk | |
Cybersecurity | CloudQuery | Assess, audit, and evaluate the configurations of your cloud assets. | AWS Config, GCP Cloud Asset Inventory, AWS GuardDuty | |
Cybersecurity | CrowdSec | Collaborative IPS able to analyze visitor behavior and to provide an adapted response to all kinds of attacks. | GreyNoise | |
Cybersecurity | Firezone | VPN Server & Firewall for teams | OpenVPN Access Server | |
Cybersecurity | Gravitl | WireGuard virtual networking platform (VPN) | Tailscale, OpenVPN | |
Cybersecurity | LunaTrace | Dependency Vulnerability Scanner and SBOM Inventory | GitHub Dependabot, Snyk.io, SonaType Nexus | |
Cybersecurity | Nuclei | Vulnerability scanner based on simple YAML based DSL | Tenable Nessus | |
Design | Modulz | Code-based tool for designing and prototyping | Figma | |
Design | Penpot | Design & prototyping platform | Figma | |
E-commerce | Bagisto | Headless e-commerce platform | Shopify, Ecwid | |
E-commerce | Medusa | Headless e-commerce platform | Shopify, Ecwid | |
E-commerce | Saleor | Headless e-commerce platform | Shopify, Ecwid | |
E-commerce | Shuup | Headless e-commerce platform | Shopify, Ecwid | |
E-commerce | Sylius | Headless e-commerce platform | Shopify, Ecwid | |
E-commerce | Vendure | Headless e-commerce platform | Shopify, Ecwid | |
E-commerce | Vue Storefront | Frontend for e-commerce platform | Shogun | |
ELT / ETL | Airbyte | Data integration platform | Fivetran | |
ELT / ETL | Dagster | Orchestration platform for data assets | Fivetran | |
ELT / ETL | Kestra | orchestration and scheduling platform | Fivetran | |
ELT / ETL | Orchest | No-code data pipelines builder | Fivetran | |
ELT / ETL | Prefect | Data orchestration platform for a modern data stack | Fivetran | |
ERP | DoliCloud | Business management suite (ERP and CRM) | Oracle Fusion ERP Cloud,Odoo,Microsoft Dynamics | |
ERP | ERPNext | Agile, modern, module based Business management suite | SAP Business One, Odoo | |
Email marketing | Keila | Email newsletter tool | Mailchimp, Sendinblue | |
Enterprise Search | AppBase | Search UI components for React and Vue | Algolia | |
Enterprise Search | Jina.ai | Neural search framework for 𝙖𝙣𝙮 kind of data (including images) | Algolia | |
Enterprise Search | Meilisearch | Typo tolerant search engine | Algolia | |
Enterprise Search | Qdrant | Vector similarity search engine with extended filtering support | Google Vertex AI, Algolia | |
Enterprise Search | SeMI's Weaviate | Real-time vector search engine | Google Vertex AI, Algolia | |
Enterprise Search | TypeSense | Typo tolerant fuzzy search engine | Algolia | |
Enterprise Search | Zilliz's Milvus | Vector database for AI applications | Google Vertex AI | |
Enterprise Search | Zinc Labs's Zinc | Cloud native full text search | Elastic Cloud | |
Enterprise Search | deepset | NLP platform to build enterprise-grade semantic search | AWS Kendra, QnA Maker | |
Feature flag and toggle management | FlagSmith | Feature Flag & Remote Config Service | LaunchDarkly | |
Feature flag and toggle management | GrowthBook | Feature flags and A/B testing | LaunchDarkly | |
Feature flag and toggle management | Unleash | Feature flags platform | LaunchDarkly | |
File Hosting | Filestash | A file manager that let you manage your data anywhere it is located | Dropbox, Google Drive | |
File Hosting | Nextcloud | A personal cloud which runs on your own server | Dropbox, Google Drive | |
File Hosting | Owncloud | A personal cloud which runs on your own server | Dropbox, Google Drive | |
File Hosting | Spacedrive | Cross-platform file manager, powered by a virtual distributed filesystem (VDFS) written in Rust | Dropbox, Google Drive | |
Financial Service | OpenBB Terminal | Investment research for everyone | Bloomberg | |
Form Building | FormKit | A software to help build attractive forms | Vueform,Typeform | |
Forum Software | Discourse | A platform for community discussion | Tribe, Circle | |
Forum Software | Vanilla | A platform for community discussion | Tribe, Circle | |
Graph database | ArangoDB | Graph database and document store | TigerGraph, Amazon Neptune | |
Graph database | Memgraph | In-memory graph database | TigerGraph, Amazon Neptune | |
Graph database | Neo4j | Graph database platform | TigerGraph, Amazon Neptune | |
Graph database | TerminusDB | Knowledge graph and document store | TigerGraph, Amazon Neptune | |
Helpdesk Solution | Peppermint | Ticket Management & Helpdesk system | Zendesk | |
Helpdesk Solution | UVDesk | Ticket Management & Helpdesk system | Zendesk | |
Internal Tools | AppSmith | Low-code platform for internal tools | Retool | |
Internal Tools | Budibase | Low-code platform for internal tools | Retool | |
Internal Tools | Lowdefy | YAML-based low-code platform for internal tools | Retool | |
Internal Tools | Tooljet | Low-code framework for internal tools | Retool | |
Internal Tools | Windmill | Company-wide apps and automations from minimal python or typescript scripts | Retool | |
Log Management | Graylog | Log management platform | Splunk | |
Log Management | Quickwit | Cloud-native log management & analytics | Elastic Cloud | |
ML Ops | Cortex | Production infrastructure for machine learning | AWS SageMaker | |
ML Ops | MindsDB | In-database machine learning platform | BigQuery ML | |
ML Ops | Ploomber | YAML-based pipeline builder for ML models | AWS SageMaker | |
ML Ops | Seldon | Deployment & monitoring for machine learning at scale | AWS SageMaker, Google Vertex AI | |
ML Ops | Zilliz's Towhee | Platform for generating embedding vectors | AWS SageMaker | |
Messaging | Element | Enterprise communication platform | Slack | |
Messaging | Mattermost | Enterprise communication platform for developers | Slack | |
Messaging | Rocket.chat | Enterprise communication platform | Slack | |
Messaging | Zulip | Team chat | Slack | |
Metrics store | Cube.js | Headless business intelligence suite | Looker | |
Metrics store | LightDash | Low-code metrics layer, alternative to Looker | Looker | |
Metrics store | MLCraft | Low-code metrics layer, alternative to Looker | Looker | |
Metrics store | MetriQL | Headless business intelligence suite | Looker | |
No-code database | Baserow | No-code database and Airtable alternative | AirTable | |
No-code database | NocoDB | No-code database and Airtable alternative | AirTable | |
No-code database | Rowy | Extendable Airtable-like spreadsheet UI for databases | AirTable | |
No-code database | Totum | Business database for non-programmers | AirTable | |
Notetaking | AppFlowy | Open-source alternative to Notion | Notion | |
Notetaking | Athens Research | Knowledge graph for research and notetaking | Roam Research | |
Notetaking | Bangle.io | A rich note note taking web app that works on top of your locally saved Markdown files | Notion | |
Notetaking | Boost Note | Collaborative workspace for developer teams | Notion | |
Notetaking | Dendron | Knowledge base plugin for VS Code | Roam Research | |
Notetaking | Joplin | Secure, Cross-platform, Open-Source Markdown Note Taking App | Evernote, Onenote, Roam Research | |
Notetaking | Logseq | Knowledge base manager | Roam Research | |
Notetaking | Notabase | Powerful and easy-to-use note-taking app for networked thinking | Notion, Roam Research | |
Notetaking | Outline | Wiki and knowledge base | Notion | |
Notetaking | Trilium.cc | Personal knowledge base | Evernote, Onenote | |
Observability and monitoring | Chaos Genius | ML powered analytics engine for outlier/anomaly detection and root cause analysis | AWS Lookout, Anodot, Sisu Data, Outlier | |
Observability and monitoring | Grafana | Observability and data visualization platform | DataDog, NewRelic | |
Observability and monitoring | Netdata | Application monitoring and observability platform | DataDog, NewRelic | |
Observability and monitoring | Sentry | Application monitoring with a focus on error reporting | DataDog, NewRelic | |
Observability and monitoring | Signoz | Application monitoring and observability platform | DataDog, NewRelic | |
Observability and monitoring | Uptrace | Application monitoring and observability platform | DataDog, NewRelic | |
Observability and monitoring | VictoriaMetrics | Application monitoring and observability platform | DataDog, NewRelic | |
Password manager | BitWarden | Password manager for teams and individuals | 1Password | |
Password manager | Padloc | Password manager for teams and individuals | 1Password | |
Password manager | Passbolt | Password manager for teams and individuals | 1Password | |
Platform as a service | Coolify | Self-hostable Heroku alternative | Heroku | |
Platform as a service | Porter | Kubernetes powered PaaS that runs in your own cloud | Heroku | |
Platform as a service | Pulumi | Universal Infrastructure as Code | Heroku | |
Platform as a service | Qovery | Kubernetes powered PaaS that runs in your own cloud | Heroku | |
Platform as a service | Space Cloud | Serverless cloud deployment platform | Heroku | |
Platform as a servive | Otomi | Self-hosted PaaS for Kubernetes | Heroku | |
Product Analytics | Objectiv | Product analytics infrastructure | Google Analytics, Amplitude, Mixpanel | |
Product Analytics | PostHog | Product analytics platform | Amplitude, MixPanel | |
Project Management | Focalboard | Alternative to Trello, Notion, and Asana | Trello, Notion, Asana | |
Project Management | OpenProject | Project management software | Asana, Trello | |
Project Management | Taiga | Project management software | Asana, Trello, Jira | |
Project Management | Vikunja | The to-do app to organize your next project. | Todoist, Trello, Asana | |
Relational database | PingCAP | NewSQL database that supports HTAP workloads | Amazon Aurora, Google Cloud Spanner | |
Relational database | Yugabyte | High-performance distributed SQL database | Amazon Aurora, Google Cloud Spanner | |
Remote Desktop Application | RustDesk | Open source virtual / remote desktop infrastructure for everyone | TeamViewer | |
Reverse ETL | Castled | Data synchronization framework focused on external apps | Hightouch, NewRelic | |
Reverse ETL | Grouparoo | Data synchronization framework | Hightouch | |
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) | RoboCorp | Set of tooling that allows to create automation packages | UiPath | |
Scheduling | Cal.com | Scheduling infrastructure, alternative to Calendly | Calendly | |
Session replay software | OpenReplay | Session replay stack for developers | LogRocket, FullStory | |
Streaming | Glimesh | Live streaming platform | Twitch | |
Timeseries database | InfluxDB | Database designed to process time series data | Kdb+ | |
Timeseries database | QuestDB | Database designed to process time series data | Kdb+ | |
Timeseries database | TDengine | Database designed to process time series data | Kdb+ | |
Timeseries database | TimescaleDB | Database designed to process time series data | Kdb+ | |
Video Conferencing | Jitsi | Video conferences platform and SDK | Zoom | |
Video Conferencing | LiveKit | SFU and SDKs for high-performance, scalable WebRTC | Twilio, Agora | |
Video Conferencing | OpenVidu | Platform and SDKs to build on-premises WebRTC video conferences | Twilio | |
Website analytics | GoatCounter | Google Analytics alternative | Google Analytics | |
Website analytics | Matomo | Google Analytics alternative | Google Analytics | |
Website analytics | Plausible | Google Analytics alternative | Google Analytics | |
Website analytics | Umami | Google Analytics alternative | Google Analytics | |
Workflow automation | N8N | Node-based workflow automation tool for developers | Zapier | |
Workflow automation | Pipedream | Workflow automation and API integration platform | Zapier, Integromat | |
Workflow automation | Temporal | Workflows as code platform | Zapier |
- Great article on open-source challengers by Rajko Radovanovic