Maintenance is work. Fund it in public.
Your project runs in production at companies you’ve never heard of. A wall shows who helps fund it — and pays you directly.
“We ship your library in production. This is the least we can do.”
Gold9 moEvery maintainer knows the math: thousands of companies use the project, a handful pay for it. Usually the problem isn’t goodwill — it’s that there’s no public answer to “who funds this?”, so nobody feels the gap. A wall changes that. When the companies that fund you get a named plaque, everyone else shipping your code for free can see the empty space next to it.
Where to put your wall link
Top of the README
The badge updates itself as backers join, so the repo always shows current support.
FUNDING.yml & the Sponsor button
Point GitHub’s built-in affordance at your wall.
Release announcements
Every release post is read by exactly the people whose businesses depend on the next one.
Your docs & project site
A “backed by” strip in the footer turns sponsors into social proof on every page.
Who backs open source maintainers
The best open source backers are companies — and companies need something to show for the money. A plaque with their name on a project they depend on is easy to justify: it’s public proof they support the tools they profit from. Engineers back the projects that saved them a week, and their monthly streaks show new users the project is alive and supported.
How SponsoredBy works
Money goes straight to you
One-time or monthly backings, paid directly into your own Stripe account — we never hold your money. Fees: 10% on Free, 5% on Pro, 3% on Max.
Everyone signs in
You verify a handle or domain before you can take payouts, and every backer signs in to a real account before they can back you.
Support becomes plaques
Backers appear on your public wall with a tier, a name (or anonymous, their choice), and how long they’ve backed you.
Payouts currently require a U.S. Stripe account — more countries are coming. Your wall works everywhere.
Show the world who’s got your back.
Free to join. Your wall is live in minutes, and every backer gets a plaque with their name on it.