Why Open Source?

We’re excited to announce that Circuit Parts (opens in a new tab) is now an open source project. The code for Circuit Parts is available under MIT License (opens in a new tab). You can find all of the code in our GitHub repository (opens in a new tab).

So the question is, why are we doing this? Well let me try and explain it to you.

In case you don’t know what Circuit Parts is, then we suggest you to read about it first. It will give you an idea about the problem and how we’re trying to solve it. If you’re already familiar with our platform, you can continue reading.

As you might know, we started Circuit Parts to build a comprehensive platform for electronic manufacturing needs. We've always envisioned Circuit Parts as more than just a platform; it's a community.

Most importantly, we believe going open source allows anyone to see how Circuit Parts works, contribute improvements, and suggest new features. There's a lot we want to achieve, and we'll need all the help we can get.

This collaborative approach will drive fresh thinking and contribute to the platform's growth, ultimately benefiting everyone in the hardware industry. We're not just proud of the product we've created, but also the journey that led us here. By opening the source code, we're inviting you to experience the inner workings of our creation and contribute to its evolution.

On a personal level, we believe building software is more than just writing code, it’s about connecting with a community of people who can help us craft this platform that benefits the hardware community.

But what about the revenue? How are you going to be a sustainable business?

That's an excellent question. We generate revenue when users purchase components or order PCB fabrication or assembly services through our platform.

We also plan to develop tools and services, as outlined in our roadmap, that seamlessly integrate with the platform and enhance the productivity of you and your team. These additional tools and services will be free to use for everyone, now and in the future.

We believe that by developing these additional tools and services, we will attract a larger user base, ultimately driving product sales on our platform and generating revenue.

Today, we're open sourcing 100% of the code we've written so far. In the future, however, we may still offer proprietary products targeting commercial and enterprise use cases, though we always intend for proprietary code to be a tiny fraction compared to the code we open source.

So what's next? We've put together a public roadmap based on user feedback, so make sure to check them out. That said, we're going to figure this out as we go, and we welcome anyone who is excited to contribute and learn. If you'd like to get involved, check out our contribute guide and come say hello on our Discord channel (opens in a new tab) if you have the time.

See you there!