https://github.com/usebruno/bruno/discussions/269 Skip to content Toggle navigation Sign up * Product + Actions Automate any workflow + Packages Host and manage packages + Security Find and fix vulnerabilities + Codespaces Instant dev environments + Copilot Write better code with AI + Code review Manage code changes + Issues Plan and track work + Discussions Collaborate outside of code Explore + All features + Documentation + GitHub Skills + Blog * Solutions For + Enterprise + Teams + Startups + Education By Solution + CI/CD & Automation + DevOps + DevSecOps Resources + Learning Pathways + White papers, Ebooks, Webinars + Customer Stories + Partners * Open Source + GitHub Sponsors Fund open source developers + The ReadME Project GitHub community articles Repositories + Topics + Trending + Collections * Pricing Search or jump to... Search code, repositories, users, issues, pull requests... Search [ ] Clear Search syntax tips Provide feedback We read every piece of feedback, and take your input very seriously. [ ] [ ] Include my email address so I can be contacted Cancel Submit feedback Saved searches Use saved searches to filter your results more quickly Name [ ] Query [ ] To see all available qualifiers, see our documentation. Cancel Create saved search Sign in Sign up You signed in with another tab or window. Reload to refresh your session. You signed out in another tab or window. Reload to refresh your session. You switched accounts on another tab or window. Reload to refresh your session. Dismiss alert {{ message }} usebruno / bruno Public * Notifications * Fork 62 * Star 1.2k * Code * Issues 87 * Pull requests 5 * Discussions * Actions * Security * Insights More * Code * Issues * Pull requests * Discussions * Actions * Security * Insights Bruno - Opensource, Sustainability, Privacy, Freedom and Incentives # 269 helloanoop announced in Announcements Bruno - Opensource, Sustainability, Privacy, Freedom and Incentives # 269 @helloanoop helloanoop Oct 1, 2023 * 3 comments Return to top Discussion options * {{title}} Something went wrong. Quote reply edited * {{editor}}'s edit {{actor}} deleted this content . {{editor}}'s edit Something went wrong. [935] helloanoop Oct 1, 2023 Maintainer - Overview Lately, we've seen an influx of users migrating from other API clients, all of whom have embraced Bruno with enthusiasm. However, there is a prevalent sense of concern among them regarding Bruno's future. And I am writing this to address the concerns. This is also an attempt to chart a vision for Bruno that ensures the projects long-term sustainibility and growth, and also to ensure that the project remains true to its core values of privacy and freedom. Early Days In 2021, work began on Bruno as a side project. After almost a year of development, a functional product emerged, not just a prototype. In October 2022, Bruno was open-sourced on GitHub under the MIT license and launched on platforms like HackerNews, Reddit, and Dev.to . Unfortunately, it didn't gain any attention at first, but that didn't deter me. The strong conviction that developers would appreciate a fully offline, Git-friendly API client without cloud sync gave me the motivation to continue working on it. Having a mere 80 followers on twitter, 24 subscribers on youtube I had very little reach. No prominent influencers promoted the product or created content about it. Many months went by without any traction. Yet, I continued to chip away at it gradually. A small community started forming. The Rise After nearly two years of dedicated effort, the project has finally begun to gain momentum. Folks who discover Bruno adore it and share it with their friends. And the community is growing. They love the fully-offline, git-friendly, no-cloud-sync aspect of Bruno. State of the GUI API Clients Ecosystem Here are some stats on the most popular GUI API clients. Cloud Offline App VC Funding Opensource Pricing Sync Only Option Postman $434M, $5.6B No Free + Yes No Valuation Paid Insomnia (acq by $155M, $1.4B Only GUI Free + Yes No Kong) valuation Paid Paw (acq by $272.5M, $1B No Free Yes No RapidAPI) valuation Hoppscotch $3M seed Yes Free Yes No round Httpie $6.5M seed Only CLI Free Yes No round Thunder Client No Funding No Free + No Yes (VSCode Extension) Paid Bruno No Funding Yes Free No Yes The need for a sustainable opensource Open-source software development has thrived on the principles of community collaboration and the free exchange of ideas and code. However, as projects grow in popularity and complexity, the question of sustainability and incentives becomes increasingly relevant. VC funding is a path taken by many projects. While it can offer resources but may lead to a loss of control for the project's original author. They might become accountable to investors and a board, potentially steering the project toward a more closed and proprietary direction over time. Finding the right balance between sustainability and control is key when contemplating monetization avenues. Can we do better We don't want to wait years until the project gains industry adoption and then surprise everyone. We want to be transparent about the plans for the project. Time for a small detour to quote a few lines from the movie A Beautiful Mind Adam smith said the best result comes from everyone in the group doing what's best for himself, right? That's what he said, right ? Incomplete. Incomplete, ok ? Because the best result would come from everyone in the group doing what's best for himself and the group. We hope Bruno can be a shining light of how to do things differently, live long, and sustainably serve the community. This is a long term plan. We don't want to just stick until we get acquired. We want to build a sustainable project that can last for decades. So here is what we dont want to do * We don't want to raise VC funding * We don't want to sell the project (get acquired) * We don't want to add/support cloud sync * We don't want to start a company and hire people * We don't want to sell monthly recurring subscriptions Here is what we want to do * Build a sustainable project that can last for decades * Build a community of users and contributors * As the creator and maintainer of the project, I would like to be able to capture some of the value being created. Here are some avenues we are considering * Corporate Sponsorships * Paid Support and Consulting * Supporter Edition (Paid) - Offering very tiny set of good-to-have features that can be purchased for a one time fee Everything that has been free and opensource will continue to be free and opensource. And will continue to evolve and improve. Core and Advanced features will continue to be built. Bruno is for everyone. The idea is not to limit anything, but to offer some good-to-have features in a paid plan that can support the project and ensure its long term sustainability. Some projects who have done it right Shoutout to Taylor Otwell, the creator of Laravel and Adam Wathan, the creator of Tailwind CSS. They have been a huge inspiration and have shown that you can build a sustainable opensource project without raising VC funding and without selling the project. Conclusion I hope there are some good takeaways from here about aligning incentives and sustainability of opensource projects. Don't take this as a final word. This is just a starting point. I am open to feedback and suggestions. I am open to changing my mind. I am open to new ideas. Please let me know your thoughts and feedback. I hope you are excited about the future of Bruno as I am. Best, Anoop Beta Was this translation helpful? Give feedback. 7 You must be logged in to vote 20 [?] 7 All reactions * 20 * [?] 7 Replies: 3 comments * Oldest * Newest * Top Comment options * {{title}} Something went wrong. Quote reply [857] majkinetor Oct 1, 2023 - Nice. I salute your transparency and hope you and the community will improve the product and everyone will be better for it. I think mkdocs-material insiders model is excelent, along with donations. People/companies vote and pay for the features they want to get developed, and get them in private build first, then after some time it all finishes publically available. That way both the author gets deserved monetary compensation and the community gets it soon enough. I discovered bruno today via HN and while it certainly needs some polishing, its pretty awesome as it is now. Thank you. Beta Was this translation helpful? Give feedback. 4 You must be logged in to vote [?] 1 All reactions * [?] 1 0 replies Comment options * {{title}} Something went wrong. Quote reply [104] mishushakov Oct 1, 2023 - Hey, Here are some thoughts: 1. What you call "momentum" is actually a temporary gain. The type of growth you're experiencing is unsustainable and will plateau at some point. In order to sustain that type of growth over time, you'd need to become an online-marketing guru (no pun intended). Or you will need to hire people to do that for you. 2. VCs aren't universally bad. Early stage VC might take 10-20%, but you will still own 80%. As long as you have most board seats, you're in control and can do whatever you want. There are also cases where the founders bought the company back from VCs at later point (Wistia comes to mind). 3. VCs aren't the only way to get funded. You can find Angel Investors or Institutions (FUTO comes to mind) to bake the project 4. If you want to do this full-time, you will have to turn revenue. Donations are not revenue. There are no incentives to donate and you will not make a considerable income from them (unless you're Wikipedia). Easiest way to turn revenue is to sell something. You can sell Bruno-themed merchandise or like Ardour you could sell downloadable binaries. Or you could sell a proprietary version with more features. If you go the consulting route, you will have less time to work on the project and you will have to deal with clients (and where to find them). Corporate sponsorships almost always come with strings-attached. Laravel and Tailwind CSS are not examples for projects that have "done it right" as you call it, but projects that managed to keep the momentum and survive. There are 100s of examples (including VC-funded) where the thing didn't work out. Basically, until you figure out how to turn revenue, there's no chance this will ever get bigger than a side project made by one internet stranger in Bangalore (no matter how talented!) Beta Was this translation helpful? Give feedback. 3 You must be logged in to vote 2 [?] 1 All reactions * 2 * [?] 1 0 replies Comment options * {{title}} Something went wrong. Quote reply [115] armandino Oct 1, 2023 - Thanks for creating this project and persevering through it in the early days. Nobody knows what the future holds, but I root for your success. Also +1 for @majkinetor's suggestions on donations and the Insiders model followed by MkDocs Material. Beta Was this translation helpful? Give feedback. 3 You must be logged in to vote [?] 1 All reactions * [?] 1 0 replies Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment Category Announcements Labels None yet 4 participants @helloanoop @majkinetor @armandino @mishushakov Add heading text Add bold text, Add italic text, Add a quote, Add code, Insert Link Link Text [ ] URL [ ] Add Add a link, Add a bulleted list, Add a numbered list, Add a task list, Directly mention a user or team Reference an issue or pull request Add heading text Add bold text, Add italic text, Add a bulleted list, Add a numbered list, Add a task list, 1 reacted with thumbs up emoji 1 reacted with thumbs down emoji 1 reacted with laugh emoji 1 reacted with hooray emoji 1 reacted with confused emoji [?] 1 reacted with heart emoji 1 reacted with rocket emoji 1 reacted with eyes emoji Footer (c) 2023 GitHub, Inc. Footer navigation * Terms * Privacy * Security * Status * Docs * Contact GitHub * Pricing * API * Training * Blog * About You can't perform that action at this time.