Guide: Packaging and Selling Open-Core JavaScript Components

Many maintainers struggle with the tension between open-source community values and the need for sustainable revenue. Open-core licensing is a common approach: a permissive core under an OSI-approved license and proprietary add-ons or support services behind a commercial agreement. This guide outlines the practical steps to package, sell, and support open-core JavaScript components responsibly.

Why open-core? It enables broad adoption while offering a clear upgrade path for customers who need enterprise features or guarantees. Done right, it can foster community engagement while providing revenue for maintainers to continue improving the core.

Licensing decisions

Choose a permissive license for the core (MIT or BSD) to encourage adoption, or a copyleft license (GPL) if you need reciprocal rights. Keep the commercial features separate and clearly documented. Also ensure compatibility with dependencies—avoid license conflicts that could block enterprise customers.

Packaging artifacts

Provide deterministic, signed artifacts for the commercial features and clear versioning for the core. Use reproducible builds where possible and publish checksums. For client-side components, publish both ESM and UMD builds and indicate the recommended package for each browser target.

Security and audits

Offer vulnerability scans for both the core and the commercial bundles. For enterprise customers, provide an audit report and a responsible disclosure policy. Consider adding a security advisory channel and timeline for patching critical issues; this improves trust and reduces friction during procurement.

Commercial features and packaging model

Design commercial features to be add-ons rather than gated behind closed-source cores that break compatibility. For example, offer advanced server-side aggregators, enterprise connectors (SAML, LDAP), or advanced analytics modules as purchasable plugins or an enterprise package. Ensure the core remains useful without paywalls to keep the community healthy.

Distribution and licensing enforcement

License enforcement should be transparent and reasonable. Prefer negotiated agreements for enterprise customers instead of heavy-handed legal tactics. Use license headers, business-to-business contracts, and optionally license servers for enterprise-only features, but avoid overly intrusive DRM that harms developer experience.

Support and SLAs

Define clear support tiers: community, paid priority support, and enterprise SLA. Offer migration assistance and patch backports as part of higher tiers. A predictable cadence of security patches and minor updates is often more valuable to enterprise customers than feature velocity.

Marketing and community

Balance community contribution with commercial messaging. Host clear contribution guidelines, a roadmap, and a public changelog. Co-market with early commercial customers where appropriate, and invest in documentation and migration guides that reduce onboarding friction.

Operational checklist

• Choose and document licenses for core and commercial pieces.
• Publish signed artifacts and checksums.
• Provide vulnerability scanning and a disclosure policy.
• Offer clear support tiers and SLAs.
• Keep core useful and well-documented to fuel adoption.

Conclusion

Open-core can be sustainable if you treat the core as a healthy ecosystem and design commercial features as additive. Transparency in licensing, clear support promises, and strong security practices build trust with both community users and paying customers.