Non-dilutive funding for open-source projects in 2026: grants and funds that take no equity
Short answer: open-source projects can get real money without selling equity or taking a loan. The biggest public funders are Germany's Prototype Fund (up to €158,000 per team for new public-interest software) and Sovereign Tech Fund (from €50,000 to maintain infrastructure others depend on), the Open Technology Fund ($10,000 to $900,000 for internet-freedom tools) and NLnet in the Netherlands (€5,000 to €50,000 grants, with a deadline every two months). Maintainers of widely used projects can also apply to the GitHub Secure Open Source Fund ($10,000 per project) and FLOSS/fund ($10,000 to $100,000 a year). For open AI work, Hugging Face and Google's TPU Research Cloud give free compute.
This guide lists grants, stipends and free resources only: nothing here is a loan or takes equity. Programs linked to a Grant Index page are checked against their official pages (the date is on each page and in the "Verified" column). Programs without a page here (NLnet, GitHub, FLOSS/fund, Google Summer of Code) were checked against their official pages on 30 October 2026 and are linked directly.
1. Public funds for open-source software
These are the largest pots, paid from public budgets. They expect a clear work plan, and they all require the results to be published under an open-source licence.
| Program | What you get | Who qualifies | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prototype FundFederal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) / OKF DE | Up to €158,000 (~$171k) per team or ~€79,000 per individual (6-month funding phase + 4-month Second Stage), plus coaching | Individuals resident and taxed in Germany, or teams of up to four with a German GbR; companies and associations cannot apply. Class 03 closes 30 Nov 2026, 15:00 CET; funding starts 1 June 2027. | 2026-10-30 |
| Sovereign Tech FundSovereign Tech Agency (Germany) | Funds maintenance and development work on open-source infrastructure; minimum project size €50,000 (no maximum published) | Maintainers of open-source infrastructure (libraries, protocols, developer tools) anywhere in the world; minimum €50,000; OSI- or FSF-approved licence; not for user-facing apps. | 2026-10-30 |
| OTF Internet Freedom FundOpen Technology Fund | $10,000–$900,000 for up to 24 months (ideal ask $50,000–$200,000 for 6–12 months) | Individuals 18+ or organisations of any nationality, for tools that counter censorship or surveillance (not in US-sanctioned countries); concept note first, then a full proposal; paid against deliverables. | 2026-10-30 |
NLnet (Netherlands, EU-funded). NLnet gives grants between €5,000 and €50,000, with the option to scale up projects that prove their potential. In principle anyone can apply: individuals, non-profits, research organisations and companies of any size. All software and hardware must be published under a recognised free and open-source licence in its entirety. Calls run back to back, with a deadline on the 3rd of every odd month (the next ones are 3 November 2026 and 3 January 2027). The NGI Zero Commons Fund closed its final call on 1 June 2026; the active funds are now NGI Zero Restack (the open internet stack; AI projects are out of scope with one exception), the Open Social Fund (ActivityPub and the open social web) and the Research and Higher Education Technology Fund. Grantees can also get security and accessibility audits, mentoring and licensing advice.
Timing matters. The Sovereign Tech Fund reviews applications in up to 10 weeks and takes about six months to reach a contract, and it does not fund work that another public body already pays for. The Open Technology Fund takes 6 to 8 weeks per stage, and its ideal project is $50,000 to $200,000 over 6 to 12 months; it does not fund basic connectivity, ICT4D, advocacy or one-off trainings. The Sovereign Tech Agency also runs Sovereign Tech Resilience, which gives critical projects free security audits, help with technical debt and a bug and fix bounty platform instead of cash.
2. Funds run by companies for maintainers
These are aimed at existing projects with real users rather than new ideas.
- GitHub Secure Open Source Fund: $10,000 per project, paid as $6,000 during a three-week security program and $2,000 at each of the 6- and 12-month check-ins, plus $10,000 in Azure credits. Open to current maintainers aged 18+ (teams of up to two) in a region supported by GitHub Sponsors; the project needs a clear licence, community traction and governance. Plan for about 20 hours in total. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis for upcoming sessions.
- FLOSS/fund (Zerodha): up to $1 million a year across projects, with up to $100,000 per project per year. Requests start at $10,000 and go up in multiples of $25,000. You apply by publishing a funding.json file in your repository or on your website and submitting its URL; decisions come at the end of every quarter. Very new projects or projects with minimal usage are not considered for now.
- OpenAI Cybersecurity Grant Program: API credits from a $10 million pool for defensive security work that uses AI, aimed at teams with a track record of fixing vulnerabilities in open-source software or critical infrastructure.
3. Recurring income: sponsorships and Google Summer of Code
Grants end. Two programs help cover ongoing work, and neither takes a share of your project.
- GitHub Sponsors: lets users and companies pay you one-off or monthly. GitHub charges no fee on sponsorships from personal accounts (100% reaches you) and up to 6% on sponsorships from organisation accounts. You must live in, or your organisation must operate in, one of the supported regions to receive money.
- Google Summer of Code: if your project is an active open-source organisation with at least two mentors and software released under an OSI-approved licence, you can apply as a mentoring organisation. Google pays the contributors a stipend and gives organisations a small stipend per accepted contributor, so you get new contributors and a little money.
4. Free compute for open AI and research projects
If your project trains or serves open models, compute is often a bigger cost than salaries. These programs give it away to work that is shared openly.
| Program | What you get | Who qualifies | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hugging Face Community GPU GrantsHugging Face | Free GPU hardware (typically ZeroGPU) for selected Hugging Face Spaces (no $ value stated) | Free GPU hardware (typically ZeroGPU) for innovative public Hugging Face Spaces (academic, open-source or community demos); granted at Hugging Face's discretion. Request it in your Space's settings. | 2026-10-22 |
| Google TPU Research Cloud (TRC)Google | Free access to a cluster of 1,000+ Cloud TPU devices (no $ value stated) | Free access to a cluster of more than 1,000 Cloud TPU devices for researchers who will share their results openly (publications, open-source code or blog posts) and give Google feedback. | 2026-10-22 |
For more options, see our GPU credits guide and AI credits guide. If you are building a company around an open-source product, startup programs for cloud credits apply to you too: see the cloud credits guide.
5. Which fund fits your project
- A new public-interest tool, built by you or a small team in Germany: the Prototype Fund (individuals or a GbR, not a company).
- A library, protocol or tool that many others depend on: the Sovereign Tech Fund for a larger maintenance project, and the GitHub Secure Open Source Fund or FLOSS/fund for smaller amounts.
- Anything for an open, private or decentralised internet, anywhere: NLnet's open calls.
- Tools against censorship or surveillance: the Open Technology Fund.
- Open models or AI research: Hugging Face Community GPU Grants and the TPU Research Cloud.
- Ongoing maintenance with no grant in sight: GitHub Sponsors and Google Summer of Code.
6. How to write an application that gets funded
- Show who depends on you. Download counts, dependent packages and known users matter more than stars. FLOSS/fund and the GitHub fund both look for existing adoption.
- Fund work, not the project. Public funders pay for defined deliverables (a security audit, a rewrite, documentation, a new release) over a set period. The Open Technology Fund pays only when deliverables are met.
- Check the entity rules. The Prototype Fund refuses companies; NLnet accepts almost anyone; the GitHub fund pays the maintainers directly. You need a bank account and tax documents in every case.
- Do not double-fund. The Sovereign Tech Fund will not pay for work that another public body already funds. Say openly what other support you have.
- Mind the licence. Every program here requires a recognised open-source licence for the funded work. Source-available or "open core" licences for the funded parts usually do not qualify.
Want to see everything you qualify for? The eligibility checker asks for your country, stage and setup once and gives every program a verdict.
FAQ
What is non-dilutive funding for open source?
Money you do not pay back and that does not cost you equity: grants (Prototype Fund, Sovereign Tech Fund, NLnet, Open Technology Fund), maintainer funds run by companies (GitHub Secure Open Source Fund, FLOSS/fund), sponsorships and free compute.
Can an individual developer get a grant for an open-source project?
Yes. NLnet accepts individuals, the Open Technology Fund accepts individuals aged 18 and over of any nationality, and the Prototype Fund funds individuals resident and taxed in Germany. The GitHub Secure Open Source Fund accepts individual maintainers or teams of two.
How much funding can an open-source project get?
NLnet grants run from €5,000 to €50,000, FLOSS/fund gives up to $100,000 per project per year, the Prototype Fund up to €158,000 per team and the Sovereign Tech Fund starts at €50,000. The Open Technology Fund ranges from $10,000 to $900,000 over up to 24 months.
Is there open-source funding outside Germany?
Yes. NLnet, the Sovereign Tech Fund, the Open Technology Fund, the GitHub Secure Open Source Fund and FLOSS/fund all accept projects from many countries; check each one for sanctions or regional limits (GitHub requires a region supported by GitHub Sponsors).
When is the next NLnet deadline?
NLnet has a deadline on the 3rd of every odd month, so the next ones are 3 November 2026 and 3 January 2027. The NGI Zero Commons Fund closed its final call on 1 June 2026; apply to Restack, the Open Social Fund or the general open call instead.
Can a company building open-source software get these grants?
Some of them. NLnet accepts companies of any size and FLOSS/fund accepts organisations, but the Prototype Fund does not accept companies. A company can also use startup cloud and AI credit programs.
Program terms change often. Every program page linked above shows its official source and the date we last verified it; confirm on the provider's page before you apply. Spotted something out of date? Report a correction.
Related guides
Browse the full lists: Cash grants & prizes for startups · Government grants for startups