Real‑world examples of hosting open source SaaS in 2025

The strongest real examples of hosting open source SaaS

Before talking strategy, let’s start with concrete examples of hosting open source SaaS that are already making money. These companies prove that “open source + hosted service” is not a theory; it’s a business pattern you can plug into your own plan.

GitLab: Open source DevOps, hosted for enterprises

GitLab started as an open source Git repository manager and evolved into a full DevOps platform. The examples include:

• Self‑managed edition: Organizations can host GitLab on their own infrastructure for free (Community Edition) or with paid tiers.
• GitLab.com SaaS: A fully hosted service where GitLab runs, scales, and secures the platform for you.

From a business‑plan perspective, GitLab is a textbook example of how to:

• Keep the core open source while selling convenience, SLAs, and advanced features.
• Offer both SaaS and self‑hosted options to capture different segments.

GitLab’s public filings and investor materials show that large enterprise revenue is heavily driven by customers that start on SaaS and later mix in self‑managed deployments for compliance or data residency.

You can see their open source roots and pricing model here: https://about.gitlab.com

Mattermost: Slack‑style chat with open source and SaaS

Mattermost is an open source team messaging platform that competes with Slack and Microsoft Teams. Their examples of hosting open source SaaS pattern looks like this:

• Open source server: Anyone can install the Mattermost server on‑premises or in a private cloud.
• Mattermost Cloud: A hosted SaaS offering where customers pay per user for a fully managed instance.

This split lets security‑sensitive teams host it themselves while smaller teams and startups choose the hosted version. It’s a strong example of how open source SaaS can win in regulated industries (finance, defense, healthcare) that often require self‑hosting options.

More details: https://mattermost.com

Ghost: Open source publishing with a hosted business

Ghost is an open source publishing platform used for blogs, newsletters, and media sites. It’s one of the cleanest examples of hosting open source SaaS because the business is almost entirely the hosted service.

• Ghost (core): MIT‑licensed open source software you can host anywhere.
• Ghost(Pro): A hosted SaaS where Ghost handles infrastructure, updates, backups, and performance.

Ghost uses a non‑profit structure (the Ghost Foundation), publishes annual transparency reports, and is open about how hosting revenue funds development. It’s one of the best examples for a business plan when you want to argue that hosting can sustainably fund open source.

You can see their structure and pricing here: https://ghost.org

Sentry: From open source error tracking to major SaaS

Sentry began as an open source error tracking tool. Developers could self‑host it for free. Over time, Sentry turned into a widely adopted SaaS platform while keeping the core project open.

Their model shows how examples of hosting open source SaaS can evolve:

• Self‑hosted Sentry: For teams with strict data or cost requirements.
• Sentry.io SaaS: Fully managed, with advanced analytics, integrations, and usage‑based pricing.

Sentry’s growth is a reminder that if your hosted version delivers better performance, integrations, and ease of use than a DIY install, many companies will gladly pay instead of running their own stack.

Learn more: https://sentry.io

Odoo: Open source ERP with cloud hosting

Odoo is an open source ERP and business app suite (CRM, accounting, inventory, HR, and more). It’s a powerful example of using hosting to monetize a very broad open source codebase.

• Odoo Community: Free, open source, self‑hosted.
• Odoo Online (SaaS): Hosted by Odoo with subscription pricing per user and per app.

This is one of the best examples for founders building complex B2B tools. The software is modular and open, but most small and mid‑sized businesses don’t want to manage ERP servers. They pay for the hosted service because downtime or misconfiguration is far more expensive than the subscription.

Product overview: https://www.odoo.com

Nextcloud: File sync and collaboration with hosted partners

Nextcloud offers open source file sync, collaboration, and groupware. It’s widely used by organizations that want a Dropbox‑like experience without giving data to a third‑party cloud.

Nextcloud’s examples of hosting open source SaaS are a bit different:

• Self‑hosted Nextcloud: The core model; organizations run their own servers.
• Nextcloud Enterprise & partners: Paid support plus hosting through certified providers.

While Nextcloud itself emphasizes self‑hosting, its partner ecosystem shows another pattern: you can build a business as a hosting provider around a popular open source app, even if the original maintainers don’t run a big SaaS.

More info: https://nextcloud.com

Open edX: Open source learning platform with SaaS providers

Open edX, originally from edX and MIT/Harvard, is an open source platform for online courses and learning management. The software is free to run, but there’s a serious operational burden.

This creates space for multiple examples of hosting open source SaaS in the education space:

• Universities and companies self‑host Open edX when they have strong IT teams.
• Specialized vendors offer fully managed Open edX SaaS: hosting, upgrades, theming, and integrations.

For an education‑focused business plan, Open edX vendors are real examples of how you can take a complex open source platform and turn it into a recurring‑revenue hosting business.

Background on the project: https://openedx.org

For broader context on online learning adoption and digital education trends, the U.S. Department of Education maintains research and reports at https://www.ed.gov

WordPress and the hosting ecosystem

WordPress is the most famous open source CMS on the planet. While WordPress.com (from Automattic) is not fully open source SaaS in the strictest licensing sense, it’s still one of the most recognizable examples of hosting open source SaaS as a business model:

• WordPress.org: Download and self‑host the open source software.
• WordPress.com and managed WordPress hosts: Pay to have someone else run and optimize it.

On top of Automattic’s offerings, there’s an entire industry of managed WordPress hosts that build services purely around hosting and managing this open source app. Your business plan can borrow heavily from this pattern: focus on performance, security, backups, and support, and price it as a premium managed service.

Learn about the open source project: https://wordpress.org

Hosting patterns that show up across these examples

Across all these real examples of hosting open source SaaS, a few patterns keep repeating. These are worth calling out explicitly because investors and stakeholders will look for them in your product or service description.

Dual model: self‑hosted and SaaS side by side

In almost every example of open source SaaS above, you see the same dual model:

• A self‑hosted edition that is open source and free (or very low cost).
• A hosted SaaS edition that charges for convenience, scale, and support.

This dual approach:

• Lowers adoption friction. Developers can try the open source version locally.
• Creates a natural upgrade path. When teams grow or lack ops capacity, they move to SaaS.
• Helps with procurement. Some enterprises start with self‑hosting for compliance, then add SaaS for non‑critical workloads.

When you describe your product or service, referencing these examples of hosting open source SaaS reassures readers that this dual model is proven, not experimental.

Open core and enterprise features

Several of the best examples (GitLab, Odoo, Sentry) use an “open core” model:

• Core features are open source.
• Enterprise features (advanced security, analytics, compliance tools) are proprietary and often only available in the hosted or paid tiers.

This structure lets you:

• Build community and adoption around the open source project.
• Capture revenue from organizations that need advanced capabilities and guarantees.

For investors, this is familiar territory. It’s similar to models seen in databases, analytics platforms, and developer tools across the industry.

Why customers pay for hosted open source instead of self‑hosting

If the code is free, why do customers pay? The examples of hosting open source SaaS above all answer that question the same way: operating software is hard and time‑consuming.

Teams pay for hosted open source SaaS because they want:

• Lower operational burden: No patching, scaling, or infrastructure firefighting.
• Predictable costs: A monthly or annual subscription instead of uncertain internal labor costs.
• Better security posture: Centralized updates and monitoring by teams that live and breathe the product.
• Support and SLAs: Someone to call when things break.

From a cost perspective, research on IT labor and downtime consistently shows that internal engineering time is expensive. While not specific to open source SaaS, general data on IT and cyber incidents from sources like the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) at https://www.cisa.gov reinforces the idea that misconfigured or unmaintained systems are a real risk. A hosted service reduces that risk.

Trends in 2024–2025: Where new examples are emerging

The next wave of examples of hosting open source SaaS is emerging in a few specific areas.

AI and machine learning platforms

Open source AI tooling is exploding, and hosted versions are following quickly. You see:

• Open source model serving frameworks with managed hosting options.
• Vector database projects offering both self‑hosted and SaaS editions.

The pattern is similar: let technical teams experiment with the open source project locally, then sell a hosted platform when they’re ready for production workloads.

For a neutral overview of AI and data trends, the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) maintains ongoing work on AI and data standards at https://www.nist.gov

Security and observability

Projects in logging, metrics, tracing, and security analytics are turning into hosted platforms at a steady pace. They mimic the Sentry playbook: open source agents and collectors, but a powerful hosted backend that aggregates and analyzes the data.

These real examples of hosting open source SaaS take advantage of the fact that running a highly available, high‑volume data pipeline is not something most companies want to do on their own.

Vertical and regulated industries

SaaS built on open source is also moving deeper into regulated sectors:

• Healthcare: Open source components for EHR integrations, scheduling, and telehealth are being wrapped in HIPAA‑compliant hosted services.
• Education: As seen with Open edX, universities and training providers outsource hosting while keeping control of content and branding.
• Public sector: Governments adopt open source for transparency but rely on vetted vendors for hosting and compliance.

For health‑related platforms, founders often reference guidance from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and resources like https://www.hhs.gov and https://www.healthit.gov when designing compliant hosting architectures.

How to use these examples in your business plan

If you’re writing the product or service description section of a business plan, the examples of hosting open source SaaS above give you language and structure you can adapt.

You can:

• Position your project as “similar to GitLab or Ghost” in model, but applied to your niche.
• Explain that your open source core drives adoption, while your hosted service monetizes reliability and support.
• Show how you’ll offer both self‑hosted and SaaS options, then nudge customers toward SaaS with better performance, integrations, and SLAs.

Investors and stakeholders have seen this movie before. The more clearly you connect your plan to these real examples of hosting open source SaaS, the easier it is for them to understand your revenue story.

FAQ: examples of hosting open source SaaS

Q: What are some well‑known examples of hosting open source SaaS that investors recognize?
A: Common examples of hosting open source SaaS include GitLab (DevOps), Mattermost (team chat), Ghost(Pro) (publishing), Sentry (error tracking), Odoo (ERP), Nextcloud (file sync), and Open edX vendors (online learning platforms). WordPress‑based managed hosting is another widely recognized pattern.

Q: Can you give an example of a business model that mixes open source and SaaS?
A: GitLab is a clear example of this. The core platform is open source and can be self‑hosted. On top of that, GitLab sells GitLab.com as a hosted SaaS with enterprise features, support, and SLAs. Many companies start with the free version and later upgrade to the hosted or enterprise tiers.

Q: Do customers actually pay for hosted versions if they can self‑host for free?
A: Yes. The best examples show that organizations pay for reduced operational burden, stronger security posture, and guaranteed support. Running production‑grade infrastructure in‑house is expensive in terms of staff time and risk. A subscription is often cheaper than hiring additional engineers.

Q: Are there examples of hosting open source SaaS in regulated industries like healthcare or education?
A: Yes. Open edX hosting providers serve universities and training organizations that need reliable, branded learning platforms without managing servers. In healthcare, vendors package open source components into HIPAA‑aware hosted services. These real examples show that open source SaaS can work even where compliance requirements are strict.

Q: How can I position my own startup using these examples of hosting open source SaaS?
A: In your business plan, describe your product as an open source core plus a hosted platform. Reference examples of hosting open source SaaS like Ghost or Sentry to show that the pattern is proven. Outline your self‑hosted option for early adopters and your hosted option for teams that want reliability, security, and support without the infrastructure overhead.