Software Patreons
A curated list of awesome programmers and open-source software projects you can support via sponsorship.
What is Software Patreons?
Awesome Software Patreons is a curated directory listing open-source software projects and individual programmers who accept financial sponsorship. It helps users discover and support the development of their favorite tools and libraries through platforms like Patreon, GitHub Sponsors, and Open Collective. The project addresses the challenge of sustainable funding in open-source by providing a centralized resource for backers.
Developers, tech enthusiasts, and organizations who use open-source software and want to financially support its creators. It's also valuable for project maintainers seeking visibility and potential sponsors.
It aggregates hundreds of support opportunities into a single, well-organized list, saving users time from searching across multiple platforms. Unlike generic donation pages, it provides direct links to specific funding pages for projects and individuals across diverse categories.
Overview
A curated list of awesome programmers and software projects you can support!
Use Cases
Best For
- Finding open-source projects to sponsor via Patreon or GitHub Sponsors
- Discovering independent developers creating libraries or tools you use
- Supporting open-source games, emulators, or creative software
- Funding operating system distributions like Linux or BSD variants
- Backing educational content creators (tutorials, articles, podcasts)
- Contributing to hardware-related open-source projects and drivers
Not Ideal For
- Organizations seeking verified sponsorship opportunities with impact metrics or vetting
- Users needing interactive features like search, filtering, or sorting by project activity
- Projects requiring real-time updates on funding status or automated link validation
- Individuals looking for a curated list focused exclusively on one funding platform (e.g., only GitHub Sponsors)
Pros & Cons
Pros
Organizes entries into intuitive sections like Libraries, Operating Systems, Games, and People Doing Open Source Work, making it easy to browse specific domains of open-source projects for funding.
Lists support links for Patreon, GitHub Sponsors, Open Collective, Liberapay, and more per entry, as seen with projects like Mastodon having multiple options, providing diverse contribution methods.
Actively maintained with clear contribution guidelines and a GitHub contributors list, ensuring the directory stays current through user submissions and updates.
Includes hundreds of projects and individuals across software, games, art, hardware, and educational content, offering a wide range of support opportunities in one place.
Cons
The list is a simple GitHub README markdown file with no built-in search, filtering, or interactive features, making navigation cumbersome for specific queries.
Entries do not include information on project activity, funding goals, impact, or popularity, requiring users to research each option independently to assess value.
Relies on manual community updates; without automated checks, some links or projects may become inactive or outdated, as noted in the reliance on contributions.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Found a gem we're missing?
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