The Business of Open Source

In the second episode that I recorded on-site at KubeCon EU in Paris, I spoke with Alex Olivier, CPO and co-founder of Cerbos. This was not a general discussion: It was focused on the process that Cerbos went through to figure out pricing. 

Here’s what we talked about:

  • The first step of figuring out your pricing is not the number, but rather what you’re charging for. Is it API calls, or amount of data you’re processing, or monthly active users, or monthly active principles… that last one is what Cerbos is charging for
  • Why it’s important to have a pricing system that allows potential users to be able to roughly estimate for themselves how much using your software is going to cost them
  • You also want to avoid pricing models that encourage people to look for ways to hack around to find ways to lower their monthly costs
  • Why your pricing model should be about the value you’re providing, not about how much it costs you to run your system
  • Discovering what your price anchors are / what your customers are comparing you to

Check out the full episode for more details! 

And join us at Open Source Founders Summit for more discussions about the specifics of pricing for open source companies. 


What is The Business of Open Source?

Whether you're a founder of an open source startup, an open source maintainer or just an open source enthusiast, join host Emily Omier as she talks to the people who work at the intersection of open source and business, from startup founders to leaders of open source giants and all the people who help open source startups grow.