2026 COSS Survey

Welcome to the 2026 Commercial Open Source Software Survey!

GOALS:
Building on our previous research into the financial viability of open source, this survey investigates how commercial open source software (COSS) companies successfully capture economic value at scale. We are seeking insights from founders and enterprise leaders to characterize their COSS experience. Survey respondents will be asked questions about the nature of their COSS company and project, strategic approach (business model, defensibility, licensing), and challenges specific to building a successful company around an open source project. If your company has more than one commercial open source project, please answer the questions for the project that you consider to be the most important.

The survey should take about 15 minutes to complete. We appreciate the time you take to share your perspective. Note that you can change the survey’s language at the top right corner of the page.

VISIBILITY:
We will summarize the survey data and findings in a report that will be published on the Linux Foundation website. The dataset for this survey and instructions for its use will be posted and made publicly available in the Linux Foundation's section of Data.World.

BONUS:
As a thank you for participating in this research, once you have completed the survey, a discount code will be displayed on the confirmation page which can be used for any Linux Foundation e-learning training course or certification exam, as long as you register for a course before September 30th, 2026. This discount code is not valid for any other combination of FinOps or instructor-led training courses or certifications. You can find the complete catalog of training and certifications at https://training.linuxfoundation.org/full-catalog/

ADDED BONUS:
Every complete response helps support the Linux Foundation’s Travel Fund. The Travel Fund enables open source developers and community members to attend events that they would otherwise be unable to attend due to a lack of funding. Your participation in this survey will help others in our community!

PRIVACY:
Survey respondents are not asked for any personal identifying information or information that could identify the company they work for. Data collection in this survey is subject to the Linux Foundation’s Privacy Policy, available at https://linuxfoundation.org/privacy