Beginnings
Opensource.Builders began in 2020 as a way to explore open source alternatives to popular proprietary applications. At that time there were many new projects gaining attention. Five years later, open source adoption is even stronger. Almost every proprietary application has at least one open source counterpart. The challenge is that deciding what counts as a true alternative is still highly subjective.
A New Approach
Describing one application as an alternative to another often oversimplifies the reality. Consider Ghost, an open source blogging platform. You might call it an alternative to Shopify since both support blogging, yet Shopify also provides payment systems, product management, and storefronts that Ghost does not.
To solve this, we focus on tracking features rather than vague comparisons. When you look at applications through the lens of features, you can see exactly where they overlap and where they differ. This perspective also shows how multiple open source projects can replace a single proprietary product. Proprietary tools often accumulate more features over time, but many of those additions are incomplete and fail to meet user expectations. By understanding features clearly, you can assemble a combination of open source projects that give you exactly what you need, while maintaining flexibility. If one project drops a feature, you can replace just that piece instead of being forced into an entirely new system.
Reinventing the Wheel
In the past, rewriting or refactoring software was often viewed as wasted effort. With the rise of AI, the cost of these tasks has fallen dramatically. Developers who understand a codebase well can now reimplement or improve entire sections more quickly and with greater confidence.
Opensource.Builders supports this by doing more than simply listing which applications offer certain features. We also track where in the code those features live. You select the features you want from existing projects, and we generate a skill - a guide with specific code references that your AI coding agent can use to build those features in your project.
Personal Software
AI is not only changing the way software is built but also how people choose what software to use. Most users today still adapt themselves to whatever application they adopt. If they need a customization or a fix for an edge case, they must learn the application's API or extension system, which often creates deeper lock-in.
AI is giving people the equivalent of a home kitchen. Instead of being stuck with takeout, you can now make something personal, tailored to your needs. We see Opensource.Builders as a cookbook. The recipes are open source projects, and our work is helping you understand and adapt them. Even if the results are not perfect, you have control over the process and can keep improving the outcome.
Openship & opensource.builders
At Openship, we are creating open source software-as-a-service platforms for every vertical, from hotels to grocery stores to barbershops. Together, these vertical platforms form the foundation of a decentralized marketplace, where businesses fully own their storefronts and customer relationships.
Opensource.Builders is the companion to that vision. Each Openfront we build can stand on its own, but with our feature tracking and Skill Builder, businesses can go further. For example, if you run a barbershop and also want to sell merchandise, you can take e-commerce features from the retail Openfront and add them to the barbershop Openfront. The result is a personal platform that reflects your business exactly as you need it.
Instead of being limited by a single provider, you have the freedom to combine, customize, and evolve your own Openfront, building an alternative that truly belongs to you.