Open source companies, defined as those that make significant use of open source software in their operations, are part of what is an expanding programme category as adoption grows.
ZipDo statistics show that 78% of companies use open source software, and this upward trend, as well as the overwhelming embracing of open-source technology, serves as a testament to its growing significance.
This list compiles 10 notable companies operating in the open source software sphere.
10. Google
One of tech’s ‘big five’, Google believes open source solves real-world problems for everyone. And, for this reason, Google's Open Source Programs Office supports open source innovation, collaboration,and sustainability through its programs and services. One of the most significant contributors to the open source community, it was the original developer of Kubernetes before the CNCF took over and is responsible for Android, the world’s most popular mobile operating system, which is also open source. Chromium — the technology that powers Google Chrome — is also open-source.
9. Docker
Docker is an open source platform with a variety of components to assist in container management and additional subscription options for larger teams, simplifying application development and deployment by containerising software. The service collaborates with the open source ecosystem through an array of projects. Docker provides components and tooling that helps developers build and ship their applications, with millions of people worldwide having downloaded its container components. Its software delivery enhances scalability, efficiency and ease of deployment.
8. Cloud Native Computing Foundation
With more than 170 projects and 219,000 contributors to its name, CNCF’s open source projects make up a large portion of the wider industry’s output. The non-profit fosters the development and adoption of cloud-native technologies and serves as a home for a variety of open-source projects in building and deploying scalable, containerised applications in cloud environments. CNCF, part of the Linux Foundation, has seen 14.8m contributions across 190 countries. Notable projects include providing support, oversight and direction for fast-growing, cloud native projects like Kubernetes, Envoy, and Prometheus.
7. Box
A newer player in the open source game, Box is an open source producer and cloud services company that specialises in security and workflow efficiency. One of its most popular programmes is Spout, a contribution which provides a simple and unified API to read or create spreadsheets quickly and at scale, supporting multiple spreadsheet programmes.
Among Box’s high-profile clients are the US Air Force and American multinational investment bank Morgan Stanley.
6. Builder.io
Another relatively new player in the open source community, Builder.io open sources most of its output, such as the data format for Builder, all SDKs, plugins, examples and code generations, as well as some related projects like its Figma plugin, Vscode plugin, Partytown, which relocates resource-intensive scripts to improve performance and Qwik, a framework for building instant-on apps.
5. AWS
Built on the belief that open source benefits everyone and continues to be a beacon of commitment in bringing the value of open source to its customers, AWS shares its operational excellence to open source communities to build and run open source software in the cloud. Some of AWS’ most popular open source developer tools, platforms, databases and services are based on leading open source projects. Of of technology’s ‘big five’, notable AWS open source projects include Bottlerocket, Firecracker and AWS Cloud Development Kit.
4. OpenAI
With ChatGPT the most notable open source software in OpenAI’s portfolio, the AI developer — also behind Dall-E — has several open source technologies in its arsenal.
OpenAI was named as such, according to Co-Founder and previous stakeholder Elon Musk, as it was created as an open source, non-profit company to serve as a counterweight to the globe’s largest tech companies. OpenAI has other open source models including Point-E, Whisper, Jukebox, and CLIP.
3. VMware
Despite not traditionally being considered an open source software company, VMware does have a significant presence in the open source community through its involvement in various open source projects and initiatives. The cloud computing giant is also a member of and regular contributor to the Linux Foundation, the CNCF, and OpenSFF in addition to developing its open source projects.
Among VMware’s most used open source products is Spring, and it is now one of the most popular Java frameworks in the world.
2. The Apache Software Foundation
The world’s largest open source foundation, ASF is a non-profit organisation comprised of includes around 1,000 members which is responsible for more than 350 open-source projects.
One of ASF’s most popular releases, Apache Spark, is a multi-language engine for executing data engineering, data science and machine learning on single-node machines or clusters and is used by the likes of NASA and eBay. Other ASF projects include Apache Abdera, Continuum, Hadoop, Qpid, and Tuscany.
1. Red Hat
A leader in the open source software space and one of the largest open source software companies in the world, all of Red Hat All products are open-source. A subsidiary of IBM, it specialises in cloud computing tools, and also boasts a variety of Linux and Kubernetes technologies. Actively championing collaboration, the software giant contributes to key projects, and offers extensive support, helping position them as one of the main driving forces in the open source community.
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