Awesome open-source alternatives to SaaS

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.

Criteria

Open-source company is added to the list if:

1. Its product is strongly based on an open-source repo
2. It has a well-known closed-source competitor, solving a similar business problem
3. It is a private for-profit company, founded in the last 10 years
4. 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

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Startup List

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	Firecamp	DX first open-source API devtool		Postman
API Platform	Fusio	API management platform		Postman
API Platform	Hoppscotch	API development ecosystem		Postman
API Platform	Keploy	e2e Testing and Data Mocking		Smartbear, Newman
API Platform	Step CI	API Testing and Monitoring		Checkly, 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	Warrant	Authorization and access control as a service		Okta, Auth0
Auth & SSO	Zitadel	User authentication and session management framework		Okta, Auth0
Backend as a service	AceBase	Backend server with REST APIs to manage core backend needs		Firebase
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	CASE	Lightweight Backend-as-a-Service with essential features		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	PocketBase	Backend server with REST APIs to manage core backend needs		Firebase
Backend as a service	Supabase	Backend server with REST APIs to manage core backend needs		Firebase
Business Intelligence	Metabase	Business intelligence software		Tableau, Power BI, DataStudio
Business Intelligence	Preset	Modern BI platform powered by Apache Superset		PowerBI, Tableau, Mode Analytics
CMS	Builder	Drag and drop page builder and CMS		Contentful
CMS	Concrete	CMS for teams		Contentful
CMS	Decap CMS	Git-based CMS for static site generators		Contentful
CMS	Directus	Data platform which wraps any database with an intuitive app		Contentful
CMS	Ghost	Headless Node.js publishing platform		Medium, Substack
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
Cloud-Native Application Protection Platform	Deepfence ThreatMapper	Apache v2, powerful runtime vulnerability and compliance scanner for kubernetes, virtual machines, cloud and serverless.		Palo Alto Prisma
Communication	Fonoster	APIs for SMS, voice and video		Twilio
Communication	Novu	Components and APIs for email, sms, direct and push		Courier, MagicBell, Knock
Community Platform	crowd.dev	Suite of community and data tools built to unlock community-led growth for your organization		Orbit, Common Room, Commsor
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 Data Platform	Tracardi	Customer Data Platform with Consumer Journey automation engine		Segment, Zapier
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	Faraday	Open Source Vulnerability Management and Orchestration Platform		Plextrac, Vulcan
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	Matano	Open source cloud-native security lake platform (SIEM alternative) for threat hunting, detection & response, and cybersecurity analytics at petabyte scale on AWS		Splunk, Elastic Cloud
Cybersecurity	NetBird	Zero Configuration Mesh VPN for Business		Tailscale, OpenVPN
Cybersecurity	Nuclei	Vulnerability scanner based on simple YAML based DSL		Tenable Nessus
Design	21st.dev	The NPM for Design Engineers		Landingfolio
Design	Modulz	Code-based tool for designing and prototyping		Figma
Design	Penpot	Design & prototyping platform		Figma
Digital Signature	DocuSeal	Digital Signing Infrastructure		DocuSign
Digital Signature	Documenso	Digital Signing Infrastructure		DocuSign
Digital Signature	LibreSign	Digital document signer		DocuSign
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	Benthos	Data streaming processor with yaml-driven pipeline configuration		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
ELT / ETL	Selefra	An open-source policy-as-code software that provides analytics for multi-cloud and SaaS.		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	Manticore Search	Easy to use open source fast database for search		Elastic Cloud
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	Lago	Open Source Billing API		Stripe Billing, Chargebee
Financial Service	OpenBB Terminal	Investment research for everyone		Bloomberg
Form Building	FormKit	A software to help build attractive forms		Vueform,Typeform
Form Building	Formbricks	Build forms and receive & manage submission data in one platform		Typeform, Google Forms, React Hook Form
Form Building	Formio	A Form and Data Management Platform for Progressive Web Applications		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	ILLA Cloud	Low-code platform for developers to build internal tools in minutes.		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
Localization (i18n)	Tolgee	Developer & translator friendly web-based localization platform		Lokalise, Transifex, Crowdin, POEditor
Localization (i18n)	inlang	Developer-first localization infrastructure built on git		Lokalise, Transifex, Crowdin, POEditor
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	Metarank	AutoML style personalized ranking		AWS Personalize, Tecton
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
Marketing SaaS	Dub	Open-source Bitly Alternative with built-in analytics		Bitly
Messaging	Element	Enterprise communication platform		Slack
Messaging	Mattermost	Enterprise communication platform for developers		Slack
Messaging	Rocket.chat	Enterprise communication platform		Slack
Messaging	Tinode	General instant messaging		WhatsApp, Telegram
Messaging	Zulip	Team chat		Slack
Metrics store	Cube.js	Headless business intelligence suite		Looker
Metrics store	Evidence	Lightweight BI using SQL and markdown		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	Notesnook	A fully open source & end-to-end encrypted note taking alternative to Evernote.		Evernote, OneNote
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	Dokku	An open source PAAS alternative to Heroku		Heroku
Platform as a service	Otomi	Self-hosted PaaS for Kubernetes		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 service	dyrector.io	Simplify container delivery without vendor lock		Heroku
Product Analytics	Objectiv	Product analytics infrastructure		Google Analytics, Amplitude, Mixpanel
Product Analytics	PostHog	Product analytics platform		Amplitude, MixPanel
Product Analytics	Trench	Open source analytics infrastructure		Segment, Google Analytics, Amplitude
Project Management	Focalboard	Alternative to Trello, Notion, and Asana		Trello, Notion, Asana
Project Management	OpenProject	Project management software		Asana, Trello
Project Management	Plane	Alternative to Linear, JIRA, Trello and Height		Linear, JIRA, Trello, Height
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
Social Media	Postiz	Self-hosted social media scheduling tool		Buffer, Hootsuite
Streaming	Glimesh	Live streaming platform		Twitch
Surveys	LimeSurvey	Online survey platform		SurveyMonkey, Qualtrics
Timeseries database	CrateDB	Distributed SQL database for real-time analytics of time series data		Kdb+
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+
Tunnelling	Tunnelmole	Get a Public URL for your local development enviornment		Ngrok
VPN as a Service	OmniEdge	No-code P2P layer-2 mesh VPN for enterprise with zero config		OpenVPN, Ngrok, Oray, AWS VPC
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
Webhooks	Svix	Webhooks as a Service		Pusher
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	Swetrix	Google Analytics alternative		Google Analytics
Website analytics	Umami	Google Analytics alternative		Google Analytics
Workflow automation	Activepieces	No-code business automation tool		Zapier, Tray
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

Useful Links

• Great article on open-source challengers by Rajko Radovanovic