Sentry has introduced the Open Source Pledge, an initiative aimed at providing direct financial support to maintainers of open-source software. This program, motivated by a long-standing commitment from Sentry’s team to give back to the open-source community, has evolved to deliver meaningful, sustainable funding.

The Open Source Pledge was conceived with two main goals: to provide fair compensation for maintainers’ contributions and to create a support model that grows alongside Sentry. Co-founder David Cramer initially envisioned a donation-matching model, similar to GitHub Sponsors, but noted that engagement challenges required a shift toward direct funding, guided by Sentry’s dependency needs, employee preferences, and insights from engineering leadership.

For the past three years, Sentry has grown this program, increasing its contributions annually to align with the company’s success. This strong support from Sentry’s leadership has pushed funding beyond initial expectations, and now Sentry aims to encourage other companies to adopt the program model to amplify its impact.

Reflecting on the issue of open-source sustainability, Cramer recalls conversations with other founders where the topic frequently arose, yet few took significant action beyond token donations or sponsorships that mainly benefited their own commercial interests. The Open Source Pledge seeks to counter this by offering direct financial aid to maintainers. As Cramer puts it, “It’s not the only solution, but it’s a substantial step in acknowledging the contributions of maintainers.”

Supporting Open-Source Software Maintainers

To participate in the Open Source Pledge, companies are asked to commit to a donation of $2,000 per engineer each year to support their dependencies. With Sentry’s team of roughly 135 engineers, this means an annual commitment of $270,000—small relative to Sentry’s $100 million-plus in recurring revenue, but impactful for maintainers who rely on these contributions.

In addition to directly supporting open-source developers, the program offers branding benefits and increased security through a well-supported supply chain. Companies that contribute to open source signal their support for developers and align with customers who value community-driven innovation.

Cramer highlights that this commitment strengthens brand trust. “You buy from brands that resonate with your values,” he says, and companies that invest in open source stand out to customers who prioritize community impact. While the long-term success of the Open Source Pledge is still unfolding, Cramer expresses gratitude for the support received from community members and team members, especially Chad Whitacre, Michael Selvidge, Vlad-Stefan Harbuz, and Ethan Arrowood.

By investing in the early stages of this program, Sentry hopes to inspire widespread industry adoption, encouraging others with the means to support open-source projects and their maintainers meaningfully.