Open Core Business Examples

We wanted to provide a short list of others that have followed in this open core concept within other industries and areas. While we are still figuring out our exact business model, some of ours might follow similar paths to these as they have shown large scale success and acceptance by many. 

GitLab

Website: gitlab.com

Open Model: Community Edition (MIT license)

Monetization: Enterprise tiers and GitLab.com SaaS plans

GitLab’s open base is free for developers to use and extend, but advanced tools (like compliance and collaboration features) are reserved for premium users. 

Jenkins & CloudBees

Website: jenkins.io

Open Model: Fully open source under MIT

Monetization: Proprietary enterprise plugins and team support from CloudBees

Jenkins is a foundational open CI/CD tool. CloudBees adds scalable extensions and support on top. 

HashiCorp Vault

Website: vaultproject.io

Open Model: Core engine open (MPL license)

Monetization: Enterprise subscriptions and managed Vault SaaS

Vault uses a modular open engine with enterprise enhancements for policy, compliance, and UI features. 

Elastic (ELK Stack)

Website: elastic.co

Open Model: Source-available license (Elastic License)

Monetization: Paid monitoring/AI tools and Elastic Cloud hosting

Elastic offers a usable open system, with powerful (paid) add-ons like security controls, alerts, and advanced analytics. 

Confluent & Apache Kafka

Website: confluent.io

Open Model: Kafka under Apache 2.0; proprietary Confluent add-ons

Monetization: Confluent Platform and Cloud usage-based pricing

Kafka is the open stream engine. Confluent adds enterprise connectors, governance, and a cloud billing model. 

Odoo

Website: odoo.com

Open Model: Community Edition (LGPL license)

Monetization: Enterprise Edition and cloud subscriptions

Odoo’s ERP structure is modular, open, and designed for plugins and white-label use. 

Grafana

Website: grafana.com

Open Model: Core dashboards are open (AGPL / Grafana license)

Monetization: Premium plugins, Grafana Cloud, and white-label enterprise plans

Grafana is a great example of a pluggable, visual engine with optional commercial tools. 

Cesium

Website: cesium.com

Open Model: CesiumJS is open (Apache 2.0 license)

Monetization: Pay-per-use 3D tiling and credit-based content via Cesium ion

Cesium charges based on tile-level usage and data access it’s a clear parallel of an open visual engine with usage-based monetization tied to value and scale.

Nextcloud

Website: nextcloud.com

Open Model: AGPL license for core; Enterprise Edition adds hardened features

Monetization: Support contracts, branding, and enterprise features

Nextcloud is an open platform that allows branded instances and enterprise-grade security.

Key Takeaway

The open-core model is proven in DevOps, data, and even ERP. OpenFMIS applies that same model to agriculture and geospatial tools. It gives everyone a usable base, while offering flexibility in how and when to adopt premium tools or services.