It's a bit like open core, except instead of enhancing the core product in a commercial fork, commercial plugins are sold and dynamically loaded by the open-source application. The website includes a store for purchasing these plugins by VCV and third-party developers (who pay a retail commission). VCV plugin sales are significantly higher than third-party plugin sales due to their association with the VCV trademark and logo, so in a way, you can claim that each hour developing the open-source product (VCV Rack) has a direct effect on commercial plugin sales, so I am "funded" to develop open-source software.
With that said, a commercial fork is being worked on this year that works in additional environments (i.e. as a VST/AU/AAX plugin) as the "normal" open-source Rack (i.e. a standalone application for Win/Mac/Lin). If I understand correctly, this is similar to the traditional open core model, although it's not really an enhanced version but a ported version.
With that said, a commercial fork is being worked on this year that works in additional environments (i.e. as a VST/AU/AAX plugin) as the "normal" open-source Rack (i.e. a standalone application for Win/Mac/Lin). If I understand correctly, this is similar to the traditional open core model, although it's not really an enhanced version but a ported version.