[AJ007]

By analogy open source is free as in baby while closed source is like a baby in a maximum security prison. At least one you have the option of fixing when it breaks. The other, you hand someone cash and maybe they fix it.

The other problem, especially as software migrates in to pay-to-use cloud services, is that you have no clue what the future $ cost will be.

Software startups that began with free tiers or really competitively priced tiers have morphed in to things that cost six or seven figures a year. String a few of these together and suddenly you have to figure out how to roll those costs back on to your own customers -- and it may turn out you don't have a viable business model. Further down the road, some of those companies won't exist. Some may be purchased by Oracle/IBM/MS and then reallocate funds from upkeep & dev to nightmare salespeople.