Open Core Strategy Checklist

The open core model — a free open source core with a proprietary commercial layer — is one of the most effective go-to-market strategies for developer-focused SaaS. This checklist covers every decision required to execute an open core strategy from initial project setup through commercial layer launch.

📋 License and Legal Checklist

• → Select an OSI-approved license for the open source core (MIT, Apache 2.0, or AGPL) — MIT/Apache are permissive and maximize adoption; AGPL requires network-use modifications to be open sourced, which protects against cloud providers offering the product as a managed service
• → If using AGPL, add a commercial license exception for paying customers to clarify that their use of the commercial layer is not subject to AGPL copyleft
• → Document the Contributor License Agreement (CLA) before accepting external contributions — the CLA gives you the right to relicense contributor code if your licensing strategy changes
• → Clearly state on the repository which components are open source and which are commercial — a LICENSE file in the root and a CONTRIBUTING.md that explains the dual-license model
• → Consult a lawyer before selecting AGPL if enterprise buyers are in your ICP — many enterprise procurement teams automatically reject AGPL-licensed dependencies

🌐 Community Foundation Checklist

• → Create a public GitHub organization (not personal account) for the open source project before launch
• → Write a README that installs and runs the core product in under 10 minutes — time-to-first-value is your primary community metric
• → Add a CONTRIBUTING.md with clear contribution guidelines, development setup, and PR process
• → Set up a community communication channel (Discord or Slack) before the first public announcement — early community members need a place to land
• → Create issue templates for bug reports and feature requests so incoming issues are immediately useful
• → Define a roadmap document or GitHub Projects board showing what you are working on and what community contributions are welcome
• → Publish a code of conduct — this signals the community is professionally managed and reduces low-quality interactions

💎 Premium Feature Gating Checklist

• → Define the open/commercial boundary before writing a line of code — which features stay open forever, which are commercial only
• → Gate enterprise features (SSO, SAML, audit logs, advanced RBAC, SLA support) in the commercial layer — these are needed by the buyers who have budget
• → Keep the core workflow that individual users need completely open — if a developer cannot use the product for their own projects for free, community adoption will stall
• → Never move previously open features to commercial tier — this destroys community trust and generates backlash that damages the brand permanently
• → Build the commercial feature gate as a license check at the infrastructure level (not just the UI) — UI-only gating is trivially bypassed and signals an immature commercial layer
• → Document which features are in each tier on a public pricing page — community users should not be surprised by what requires a commercial license

💰 Monetization Structure Checklist

• → Define your primary commercial buyer: self-hosted enterprise (paying for support and advanced features) or cloud-hosted SaaS (paying per seat or usage)
• → If self-hosted commercial: create a license key system that activates commercial features; annual license pricing is standard
• → If cloud SaaS commercial: build the managed cloud offering on top of the open source core; price by seat or usage against the open source self-host alternative
• → Define what is included in commercial support: response time SLA, upgrade support, security patching priority
• → Create a clear upgrade path from self-hosted open source to cloud-hosted commercial — the conversion from self-hosters is a primary enterprise pipeline source

📣 Go-to-Market Checklist

• → Launch on Hacker News (Show HN) — developer communities discover OSS products primarily through HN; a strong Show HN post generates thousands of stars and starts your community
• → Submit to relevant awesome-lists and developer newsletters (TLDR, Changelog, The Pragmatic Engineer)
• → Create a hosted demo or one-command Docker setup so evaluators can try the product without installing anything
• → Publish detailed documentation before the launch post — nothing kills open source adoption faster than a GitHub README that ends at installation
• → Set up GitHub Sponsors or a clear path to commercial license from the README — make it easy for users who want to support the project or upgrade

What to Do Next

Start with the License and Legal checklist before writing public code — license decisions are hard to change after community adoption. If you are launching this week: prioritize the README, the community channel, and the Show HN post. The first 48 hours of a public launch determine whether a project gets community traction or launches into silence. Everything else on this checklist can be done iteratively after you have initial users.