[karterk]

This is a topic that I have been thinking a lot on recently. I've been working on a typo-tolerant instant search engine for a couple of years now called Typesense (https://github.com/typesense/typesense).

It has not been wildly popular (mostly because I've not really started marketing it) but it's loved by those who use it.

While exploring how to support its development, there were only 2 options: either to offer a hosted version or premium features which will take some features away from the open source version (essentially open core).

A hosted version is essentially ruled out since it's a lot of work and will eventually be bettered by AWS :) Open core will mean crippling the main product in some ways.

Tricky choice. Eventually I ended up with a middle-ground. Offer a premium version but price it so reasonable (in my case 500 USD / year) that it becomes a no-brainer decision. The only downside to this approach is of course you can't probably run a company off it but it certainly can support 2-3 people comfortably IF it succeeds.