Got my first sale from an open-source tool last week, and it kind of flipped how I think about monetizing software.
Built the thing for myself first. Small problem, small fix. Used it for a while, threw it up publicly without really thinking of it as a "product."
The launch went way better than I expected. Didn't even check the page until the next night, opened it, bunch of notifications. Somehow it had climbed to #5.
Cool, but I still didn't think anyone would actually pay for it. The whole thing is open source. You can clone the repo, set it up yourself, use it for free.
Then a few days later I showed it to another indie maker (he quite famous). He looked at it for maybe a minute and went, "you could sell this."
Felt weird. But fine, let's test it.
I kept the repo open source and packaged a paid version on top: no manual setup, bundled app, auto-updates, easier install. Basically the version you'd want if you didn't want to think about it.
Got my first sale the next day.
The thing that actually surprised me was the second launch. Barely any traction. Like, single-digit upvotes. Someone still paid.
That's the part I keep chewing on. They weren't paying for the code, the code is sitting right there. They were paying so they didn't have to set anything up or deal with updates or babysit it. Convenience.
Open source and paid used to feel like opposites to me. Now it feels more like the repo is the trust layer and the paid thing is the "I don't want to deal with this" layer. Same product, different audience.
Anyway, one sale isn't much. But it definitely changed where my head is at.