Hosted open source, without the SaaS bargain.

Open Source Garden

Cloud apps that stay open because users pay their own way.

osgarden is the missing runtime for open-source software that needs servers, storage, auth, billing, and AI. Developers publish useful apps without becoming cloud companies; users get low-cost software, owned data, and clear spend controls.

Open code auditable behavior One wallet direct usage cost User-owned data export or delete
Preview access: New accounts include a $5 welcome credit while payments are switched off.
The missing layer

Open source works beautifully until the software needs a cloud.

Code can be free to copy. Infrastructure cannot. osgarden gives open-source apps a shared, centralized runtime where users fund the compute, storage, bandwidth, and AI they personally consume.

Developers keep projects open

Publish a useful app without wrapping it in a business model, hosting bill, billing system, or support burden.

Users pay for resources, not rent

Costs map to direct usage from one balance, with itemized operations and per-app monthly caps.

The risky parts are centralized

Auth, keys, permissions, storage, billing, backups, and security live in the platform instead of every app repo.

Trust model

Fewer parties to trust. Better places to put trust.

The platform is responsible for dangerous cloud primitives. The app stays open source, inspectable, and constrained by the user's identity, data permissions, and spend limits.

  • Open code, verifiable behavior

    Every app can be inspected, forked, and audited. Behavior is not hidden behind a hosted binary.

  • No developer-held secrets

    API keys and credentials stay with the platform. Public repos cannot leak secrets they never contain.

  • User-owned account and data

    Identity, exports, deletion, and balances live outside any single app, so switching software does not mean surrendering ownership.

  • Escrow and spend caps

    Funds are reserved before work runs and captured at settlement. Setting a cap to $0 blocks an app instantly.

osgarden platform

Auth, billing, keys, storage, backups, policy, uptime

open-source app

Public code, signed bundle, declarative permissions

user account

Owned data, wallet, caps, exports, deletion

For developers

Ship the app, not the company around the app.

Use familiar client APIs against platform-managed data, auth, functions, and AI. Your users bring the wallet; you bring the idea and the open-source implementation.

No hosting burden

Serving a million users should not mean carrying a million users' infrastructure bill.

No secret sprawl

Keys, billing credentials, and platform configuration stay out of the app repository.

Cloud primitives included

Tables, resources, auth, storage, jobs, realtime, and AI use the same identity and spend model.

Aligned incentives

Useful apps can exist because their operation cost is funded by the people using them.

Build your first app

app.ts - @osgarden/sdk
import { createClient } from '@osgarden/sdk'

const osgarden = createClient({
  gatewayUrl: 'https://api.osgarden.net',
  clientId: APP_CLIENT_ID,
})

// Sign in once - your user is now the payer.
await osgarden.auth.signIn()

// Familiar APIs: access-checked, metered, theirs.
await osgarden.table('notes').insert({ title: 'Hi' })
await osgarden.resource(roomId).table('messages')
  .select('id, body').orderBy('createdAt', 'asc')

// AI with no key to hold - the caller pays tokens.
await osgarden.ai.chat({
  model: 'openai/gpt-4o',
  messages: [{ role: 'user', content: 'Hello' }],
})
How it works

One balance can run every open app.

No subscriptions, no per-app payment forms, no mystery invoices. Usage settles against a prepaid balance only when your activity creates real cost.

1

Top up once

Add funds to your account. During preview, the welcome credit lets you use real apps without adding payment details.

2

Run open-source apps

Apps call platform APIs for storage, sync, auth, functions, and AI under your identity and permissions.

3

Settle direct usage

Each operation reserves funds, runs, captures actual cost plus a platform margin, and releases the remainder.

You keep the data, the visibility, and the ability to stop any app.

Infrastructure for software abundance.

When software gets cheaper to create, the runtime has to make it cheaper, safer, and fairer to use. osgarden is a place for open apps to live without turning into traditional SaaS.