Our Open Source Commitment

The past years have witnessed a wave of license changes from major open source projects. Traditional OSI-approved licenses have been abandoned in favor of “open core” models that combine free community editions with paid commercial features, or restrictive “source available” licenses that limit how the software can be used:

• Pimcore abandoned its GPL license in April 2025 and introduced a proprietary “Pimcore Open Core License” with a €5 million revenue threshold. Companies above this limit must purchase commercial licenses starting at €8,400 annually.
• Shopware, originally open source since 2012, moved away from its traditional licensing model in favor of a new pricing plan; Rise plans now start at €600/month. The Community Edition remains MIT-licensed but now restricts businesses to €1 million annual gross merchandise volume (GMV).
• Directus moved to a Business Source license in 2023, attempting to keep a fair amount open source, with fair usage grants, while requiring larger and more financially powerful institutions to contribute to the project without compromising their internal security.
• Redis changed to a controlled license in March 2024, introducing the Redis Source Available and Server Side Public licenses that prohibit offering Redis as a managed service without contributing changes back.

Building a sustainable business on open source is genuinely difficult — companies can invest millions in development, offer their work for open use, and see others build on their success without contributing back to the community. Whether they take the Pimcore and Shopware approach of tiered pricing or the Directus and Redis approach to discourage closing the open source door further down the line, we understand why companies are motivated to protect their investments. They’re doing what they believe is right for their businesses, and what will protect the open source foundation of their work.

However, these changes are also creating uncertainty throughout the open source ecosystem. Agencies suddenly find themselves explaining unexpected cost increases to clients. Developers face the complexity of “source available” licenses that look like open source but aren’t quite the same thing. The impact is measurable: Redis has moved back to a traditional open source after the major companies they hoped would contribute simply launched their own open source fork.

And for anyone building on open source tools, the big question has become: Which project will change its license next?

For Sulu, open source is fundamental to what we do. Above all, it’s a philosophy about how software gets built and who it serves. Even in the face of increasing financial struggle, our goal is never to use “open source” as a label while restricting what users can actually do. Real open source is the reverse of this power dynamic: it puts control in the hands of users rather than vendors.

When software is open source, you’re not at the mercy of a company’s changing business priorities or new licensing structures. You can fix bugs yourself or hire someone else to do it. You can be confident your investment in learning the technology won’t become worthless overnight.

Most importantly, you can build your business on a foundation that won’t shift beneath you.

This isn’t just idealism — although it embodies a strong set of ethical beliefs. It also has a straightforward, practical component. Open source brings broad benefits to technology, which compound over time in a virtuous cycle:

• Developers invest more deeply when they know software will remain accessible.
• They contribute improvements, write clearer documentation, and create tools that benefit everyone.
• Better software attracts more users, which attracts more contributors, which brings more software improvements. 

You can’t replicate this with an “open core” model where the best features are locked away — and we won’t be adopting one. When companies break their open source promises, they also lose the community contributions that made their software valuable in the first place.

In the same way, our partner ecosystem works because agencies know we won’t suddenly change the rules or start competing with them. We actively contribute to Symfony and PHP communities because we understand that healthy ecosystems benefit everyone — including us. When we make major decisions, we discuss them openly rather than presenting them as business necessities you’ll just have to accept.

We want our community to see that our success depends on your success, not on extracting maximum value from your vital software. So let’s take a moment for business model transparency. 

Our revenue comes from three main sources, none of which involve restricting the core CMS or changing licenses down the road.

• Our partner program works with agencies that share our values. Partners get training, technical support, and project review services to help them deliver better results for their clients. Agencies can take on more ambitious projects with confidence, while we generate revenue from the expertise that helps our ecosystem thrive: a clear win-win.
• Professional services help organizations get the most out of Sulu while funding our ongoing development. When companies need specialized Sulu expertise — whether for complex implementations, performance optimization, or custom feature development — we can provide it directly through training, consultation, and development that also keep us connected to real-world use cases.
• Our upcoming Sulu.ai platform demonstrates how to add commercial value without locking away core features, offering an alternative approach to financial security. Our open source Sulu AI bundle provides basic AI integration that anyone can use and extend — and a managed service with advanced features like centralized API key management for the convenience of a hosted solution without being forced into additional costs.

This model lets us make long-term commitments with confidence. The MIT license isn’t going anywhere. Our roadmap priorities are funded by customers who want specific improvements, not by investors demanding we find new ways to monetize existing users.

Sulu’s commitment to open source remains constant. We believe that building lasting relationships with our community creates more value than chasing revenue through license restrictions or feature gates.

When you choose Sulu, you’re not just selecting a CMS — you’re partnering with a team that will be here for the long run, contributing to the same open source ecosystem that benefits us all.

Join our community on GitHub and connect with our active developer community through Slack to stay informed about our development roadmap and to share your ideas. We’d love to have you!