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Guide · Open source

How to use awesome-oss-alternatives: browse open-source SaaS alternatives

Updated · written with AI from the project's own documentation and checked against our catalogue data

awesome-oss-alternatives is a curated list, maintained by Runa Capital, of startups whose products are built on open-source code and compete with closed-source SaaS tools. This guide shows you how to clone the repository, read the category tables and check each entry's GitHub repo and the proprietary product it replaces. It also explains the list's inclusion rules and limits so you know how far to trust it.

Awesome open-source alternatives to SaaSRunaCapital/awesome-oss-alternatives · ★ 19.8k · MIT

Quick start

  1. 1Clone the repository. Run the git clone command to download the list to your computer. No prerequisites are listed in the source.
  2. 2Open the README. Read the README in your editor or on GitHub to see the categories and tables.
  3. 3Search for the paid tool. Find the proprietary product you currently use in the Alternative to column.
  4. 4Open the company repository. Follow the GitHub link in the Company column to see the open-source project.
  5. 5Check the inclusion rules and limits. Remember that the list is neither fully complete nor fully current and does not assess quality or security.
  6. 6Evaluate the product yourself. Test the shortlisted product against your own requirements before you decide.

What the awesome-oss-alternatives list contains

The list is an Awesome-style README, organized into categories such as API Gateway, API Platform, Auth & SSO and Backend as a service. Each row names a company, gives a short description, links to the company's GitHub repository, and lists the proprietary product it is meant to replace in an 'Alternative to' column.

Entries are sorted by category and then alphabetically, according to the README.

  • Category: the problem area, such as API Platform or Auth & SSO
  • Company: the startup, linked to its product or GitHub repo
  • Description: a one-line summary of the product
  • Alternative to: the closed-source tool it competes with, such as Postman or Auth0

Get the list on your computer

The README's install step is a single clone command. The source lists no prerequisites. If you only want to read the list, you can also open the README directly on GitHub, which the project's install method marks as read-online.

Cloning the repository gives you a local copy of the README and its files, which you can search with your editor or the command line.

git clone https://github.com/RunaCapital/awesome-oss-alternatives

Find an alternative to a paid tool

Start from the tool you currently pay for and search the README for its name. The 'Alternative to' column tells you which proprietary product each open-source company targets. For example, several Auth & SSO entries list Okta and Auth0, and several API Platform entries list Postman.

Use the category headings to browse a whole market at once. This works well if you need a replacement in a specific area rather than for one named product.

  • Search for the paid product name, for example Auth0 or Postman
  • Scan the category section that matches your need
  • Open the company's GitHub link to see its repository

Check each entry before you choose

The list states its own inclusion criteria: the product is strongly based on an open-source repo, it has a well-known closed-source competitor, the company is a private for-profit founded in the last 10 years, and its repo has 100+ stars on GitHub.

The README also says the list can be neither fully complete nor fully up to date, and it does not assess product quality or security. Treat an entry as a starting point. Visit the company's site and repository, read its license and documentation, and test it against your own requirements.

  • Confirm the license and documentation in the linked repository
  • Check whether the project is still actively maintained
  • Test the product against your own security and feature needs
  • Compare it with other options, such as the comparable lists named in the project's context

Contribute a missing company

The README invites contributions of new startups. The contribution guide is in .github/CONTRIBUTING.md in the repository. Check that a candidate meets the inclusion criteria before proposing it.

What people use it for

  • A developer looking for an open-source replacement for a paid API testing tool in the API Platform section
  • A technical lead comparing Auth & SSO vendors such as Keycloak, Zitadel and Ory before choosing an authentication tool
  • A researcher tracking open-source startups that compete with established SaaS products in a given category

Frequently asked questions

Is awesome-oss-alternatives free to use?

The list is published under the MIT licence, as shown on the project page. You can clone it and read it without paying anything.

What do I need to install awesome-oss-alternatives?

The source lists no prerequisites. The only install step given is cloning the repository with git, so you need git installed to download a local copy.

How do I download awesome-oss-alternatives?

Run git clone https://github.com/RunaCapital/awesome-oss-alternatives in a terminal. You can also read the list online on GitHub without cloning it.

Is the list complete and up to date?

No. The README says that because things change fast in the startup world, the list can neither be fully complete nor 100% up to date. Verify any company before relying on it.

Does the list show which products are secure or high quality?

No. The list only states inclusion criteria and does not evaluate product quality or security. You need to test each product yourself.

How is awesome-oss-alternatives different from other awesome lists?

It focuses on open-source startups that compete with closed-source SaaS products, with each entry tied to the proprietary tool it replaces. Comparable projects include sindresorhus/awesome, awesome-selfhosted/awesome-selfhosted and alternativeto.net.

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Our verdict

Use this list if you want a quick map of open-source startups that compete with specific paid SaaS tools, especially in authentication and API categories. Skip it if you need a complete, current vendor review or an independent assessment of product quality or security, since the list itself says it provides neither.

Install options & downloads