We built Rig.dev as an open-source platform from day one, and there's a good reason behind that. If you've ever worked with Kubernetes, Docker, or Git, you know the value of open-source isn't just in the code—it's in the community and transparency that comes with it. In this post we’ll share some of our key reflections, when we chose to build Rig.dev open-source.

A Global Audience From Day One

Going open-source isn't just a philosophical choice; it's a strategic one. By making Rig.dev open-source, we instantly tap into a global network of developers and DevOps teams. This isn't just about broadening our user base—it's about enriching our platform with diverse inputs and expertise.

Traditional commercial models often take time to scale globally, but with open-source, global reach is organically built into the model itself. Having previously worked with various commercial models, we see open-source not just as a community-building tool, but as a key component of our go-to-market (GTM) strategy.

The Power of Community Feedback

A strong community isn't just a vanity metric to show on your website—it's about active collaboration and swift feedback. With Rig.dev, we've experienced firsthand the power of community-driven insights. This isn't just about validation; it's about rapid iteration.

The immediate feedback we receive allows us to refine and enhance our platform at a pace that traditional models can't match. For us, that has been extremely valuable and we feel both grateful and privileged to have such a strong community behind us already.

Building Trust Through Transparency

By having our codebase openly accessible, we're taking a big step towards building trust and transparency with our users and the community. Users and potential customers can review the code independently, which on our end fosters accountability and transparency.

This commitment to openness and scrutiny will hopefully help us build a strong foundation of trust with our community. This is also closely connected to us being able to lower the barrier of adoption and reducing the classical problem of vendor lock-in as much as possible.

Lowering the Barrier to Adoption

One of the biggest challenges for new technology is getting people to try it out. By open-sourcing our platform, we're addressing this head-on. Free access, coupled with comprehensive guides and documentation, allows companies and individual users to test our platform without any upfront costs.

Additionally, users aren't locked into a proprietary solution, ensuring flexibility and encouraging broader adoption within the Kubernetes ecosystem.

Reducing Vendor Lock-in

We're committed to reducing vendor lock-in concerns by only introducing thoughtful and flexible abstraction layers that don’t force unnecessary lock-in on the user. While no solution can eliminate dependency risks completely, this flexibility ensures that users are not tied to us as a vendor.

This approach empowers companies to maintain control over their tech-stack, making our solution a low-risk option within the Kubernetes ecosystem while still providing immense value.

From Small Teams to Enterprise

In the future, we plan to adopt an open-core model, where the foundational core of our product remains open-source and freely accessible. As organizations scale to an enterprise level or obtain specific requirements, they will have the option to access premium features and enhanced capabilities through a paid version. This approach allows us to provide cost-effective solutions for individual users or smaller companies as well as comprehensive support for enterprises seeking advanced functionality.

Wrapping up

Thank you for taking the time to learn about our decision to build Rig.dev open-source. We're excited about the possibilities of the decision, or our own early community, and the broader Kubernetes-community.

We look forward to working with you and hearing your feedback as we continue to evolve and improve Rig.dev.

We'd love your support

We are not done building yet, and we would love your support on Github.

Also, please join our Discord Channel to share feedback, report bugs, suggest features, and stay tuned for future updates.