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<code>TODO_1</code>: Your website URL (if nothing's public: the domain name where your app's client runs).
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<br/>
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<code>TODO_2</code>: Explain why{why}.
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{addendum}
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</p>
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}
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The gift program ensures everyone can use Vike.
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There are two programs:
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- Free forever
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- Extended free trial
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## Who's eligible?
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Your team is eligible if it has limited resources and purchasing a license key would be too expensive.
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> A good rule of thumb is the number of employees. For example, we consider an organization eligible if it has **fewer than 10 paid employees**. The threshold is **higher in countries with lower revenue**.
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If you expect more resources in the future, apply for an extended free trial.
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> Eligible examples:
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> - Startup
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> - Open Source (without much revenue)
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> - Amateur sports club
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You can also apply for an extended free trial for other reasons (e.g. pending clearance from your company's finance department).
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We tend to be generous, so don't hesitate to apply — it's easy and quick.
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## How to apply?
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Contact us to apply.
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<Tabs>
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<TabList>
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<Tab>Free forever</Tab>
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<Tab>Extended free trial</Tab>
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</TabList>
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<TabPanel>
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<span>Email (pre-filled subject & body): </span>
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<a
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href={
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"mailto:vike-gift@brillout.com"+
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"?subject="+encodeURIComponent("Free forever") +
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"&body="+encodeURIComponent(
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"== Website\n\nTODO_1\n\n== Reason\n\nTODO_2"
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)
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}
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>
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{'vike-gift@brillout.com'}
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</a>
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Subject:
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```
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Free forever
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```
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Body:
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```
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== Website
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TODO_1
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== Reason
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TODO_2
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```
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{<TODO_APPLYwhy=" your organization has limited resources" />}
<code>Extend period</code>: can be modified. For example, you can set it to the duration after which you expect to easily afford a license key. You can apply again after the extended period ends.
Questions welcome at [#1932](https://github.com/vikejs/vike/discussions/1932).
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The Open Source Pricing isn't implemented yet (companies can use it for free in the meantime). Questions welcome at [#1932](https://github.com/vikejs/vike/discussions/1932).
The *Open Source Pricing* is a novel business model with three key principles:
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<QuoteTeamstyle={{marginTop: 60, marginBottom: 45}}>Paying for Open Source isn't a bug, it's a feature — it's the guarantee Vike's interests are aligned with yours.</QuoteTeam>
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- ✅ **Fully open source**: 100% MIT License
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- ✅ **Fully accessible**: everyone can use Vike (gratis if limited resources)
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- ✅ **Fully transparent**: financial incentives aligned with users' interests
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Vike will soon introduce what we call an *Open Source Pricing*: a new kind of business model that keeps Vike open source, as well as accessible (so that everyone, regardless of financial resources, can use Vike).
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- The entire code **stays 100% open source** (MIT License).
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- Everything **stays 100% gratis for engineers**. You don't need any license key and you can use Vike without any restrictions, just like any other open source tool.
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-**For companies:**
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-**Pay what you can**. Companies choose the amount they want to pay while we trust them to make a fair choice. (If too many pay too little, we may switch to a fixed pricing.)
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-**Free for small apps**. For new and small Vike apps, Vike is 100% gratis and you don't need any license key: everything works just like any other open source tool.
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-**Apply for a free license key**. For larger apps, you can apply for a free license key if your team cannot afford one or didn't incorporate a company yet. Write two or three sentences explaining your situation and we will give you a free license key.
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## Pricing
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The Open Source Pricing is a major milestone for Vike's growth. It preserves what makes open source special while aligning Vike's priorities with user interests, fostering a transparent and sustainable relationship.
As a small team, you can use Vike just like any other open-source tool: 100% gratis and without any license key.
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<RecommendedAmountTable />
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As a large team, you will see a pesky toaster `Get your license key at ...` in development (it's never shown in production). You can remove it by purchasing a license key and adding it to `+config.js` or by setting the `VIKE_KEY` environment variable.
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<br/>
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#### 100% Open Source
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<Linkhref="#free-tier" /><br/>
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<Linkhref="#recommendation" /><br/>
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The npm package `vike` will adopt a proprietary license requiring companies to get a license key when they see the pesky toaster. Vike's Git repository stays 100% MIT-licensed.
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<divstyle={{ marginTop: -15 }} />
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In theory, since Vike is 100% open source, you could fork it, remove the pesky toaster, and publish your own npm package. But maintaining a fork requires non-negligible effort — you might as well just <Linkhref="/gift">apply for a free license key</Link> instead.
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###Free tier
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#### 100% offline
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Vike's free tier cut-off is determined by what we call the *double-three-threshold*:
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The implementation is 100% offline (no server requests):
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- Uses asymmetric encryption to validate license keys.
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- Reads your Vike configuration (e.g. number of `+Page.js` files) and Git history (e.g. number of Git commits) to distinguish small apps from larger apps.
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-**`>=3` regular committers for the past `>=3` months**
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**Your privacy is fully preserved**: no telemetry, no server requests. The only information Vike collects about you is when you purchase a license — just like a SaaS.
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Consequently, Vike is free for:
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- Small projects. (Maintained by `<=2` regular committers.)
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- Large projects in their infancy. (With a 3-month free trial from the moment the project starts having `>=3` regular committers.)
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- Finished projects. (They can be maintained for free by up to two full-time developers.)
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## Is Vike still Free Software?
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If you are within the free tier then **you don't need any license key**: you can use Vike just like any other open source tool. See also <Linkhref="#how-does-it-work" />
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Vike is still free as in "free speech" (not as in "free beer"), see explanations [by the Free Software Foundation](https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.en.html) and [by Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_software).
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> Occasional contributors (bots, designers, technical managers, etc.) are ignored: they aren't counted as "regular committers".
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We believe in Libre Software: we invented the Open Source Pricing precisely because other business models <LinkdoNotInferSectionTitlehref="#why-not-another-business-model" >contradict the value of Libre Software</Link>.
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Code remains not only 100% open source, but also 100% accessible: we believe money (and the lack thereof) should never prevent anyone from using code.
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## Why not another business model?
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### Recommendation
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We believe other business models are flawed in fundamental ways.
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The table above is only a recommendation and you can choose any other amount instead — we trust companies to make a fair choice.
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The Open Source Pricing means:
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- As an engineer, a much better software while everything stays 100% gratis.
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- As a company, a transparent and sustainable relationship with a tool that is foundational to your stack.
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> **Don't hesitate to apply for a free license key** if you have `>=3` regular committers but haven't incorporated yet, just want to experiment, or have a use case you believe should be free.
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>
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>Keeping Vike accessible to everyone is a primary objective of the Open Source Pricing.
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Compared to other business models:
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Size estimations:
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<StateOfTheArt />
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-**Small organization**: 0-20 employees.
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-**Midsize organization**: 20-70 employees.
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-**Large organization**: >70 employees. (Also counting the employees of parent companies.)
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<divstyle={{ marginTop: -15, height: 1 }}/>
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## Why zero-investors?
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-**Hobby use case**: Vike is used for experimenting.
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-**Small use case**: Vike is used for developing a **project that plays only a marginal role** for your company. For example a landing page or a simple internal app.
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-**Midsize use case**: Vike is used for developing a **project that plays only a minor role**. For example a one-shot Vike usage for a significant internal app.
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-**Large use case**: Vike is used for developing a **project that plays a significant role**. For example an app with many users or building your own internal framework.
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If a project accepts investor funding, it will eventually have to take radical decisions to generate massive amounts of revenue — typically aiming for $100 million annually which is the kind of return investors hope for when they invest.
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This is often achieved through aggressive techniques, such as hidden vendor lock-in and steep fee increases, which inevitably leave you, the user, paying a hefty bill in one form or another.
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In contrast, the Open Source Pricing introduces a business relationship with users that is transparent, sustainable and stable.
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## Do sponsors have to pay?
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No, Vike stays 100% gratis for companies sponsoring Vike. Reach out and we will give you a free license key.
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No, Vike stays gratis for companies sponsoring Vike — reach out to get your free license key.
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## How does it apply to monorepos?
@@ -113,60 +102,3 @@ For example, in the following, it applies only to `my-app/` and `my-other-app/`.
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```
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> See also: <Linkhref="/build-your-own-framework" />.
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## How does it work?
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#### The idea
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For small (or new) projects, you can use Vike just like any other open-source tool: 100% gratis and without any license key.
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For larger projects, Vike shows a pesky toaster `Get your license key at ...` in development (it's never shown in production). You can remove it by purchasing a license key and adding it to `+config.js` or by setting the `VIKE_KEY` environment variable.
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#### 100% Open Source
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The npm package `vike` will adopt a proprietary license requiring companies to get a license key when they see the pesky toaster (see above). Vike's Git repository stays 100% MIT-licensed.
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In theory, since Vike is 100% open source, you could fork it, remove the pesky toaster, and publish your own npm package. But maintaining a fork requires non-negligible effort — you might as well just apply for a free license key instead.
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#### 100% offline
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The implementation is 100% offline:
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- Uses asymmetric encryption to validate license keys
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- Reads your Vike configuration (e.g. number of `+Page.js` files) and Git history (e.g. number of Git committers) to distinguish small apps from larger apps
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No telemetry, zero server requests.
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Your privacy is fully respected. The only information Vike has about your company is when you purchase a license — just like a SaaS.
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## Why zero-investors?
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If a project accepts investor funding, it will eventually have to take radical decisions to generate massive amounts of revenue — typically aiming for $100 million annually which is the kind of return investors hope for when they invest.
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This is often achieved with aggressive techniques such as vendor lock-in and steep fees. At the end of day, it will inevitably result in users having to pay a hefty bill in one form or another.
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In contrast, the Open Source Pricing introduces a business relationship with users that is transparent, sustainable and stable.
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## Is Vike still Free Software?
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Vike is still free as in "free speech" (not as in free beer), see explanations [by the Free Software Foundation](https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.en.html) and [by Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_software).
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We believe in Libre Software and we invented the Open Source Pricing because <LinkdoNotInferSectionTitlehref="#why-not-another-business-model" >other business models contradict Libre Software values</Link>.
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Code remains not only 100% open source but also 100% accessible: we believe money (and the lack thereof) should never prevent anyone from using code.
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## Why not another business model?
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We believe other business models are flawed in fundamental ways.
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The Open Source Pricing means:
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- As an engineer, a much better software while everything stays 100% gratis.
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- As a company, a transparent and sustainable relationship with a tool that is foundational to your stack.
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