StackAid is a simple way to donate to all the open source software projects you depend on. By subscribing to StackAid, we'll distribute your subscription fee among your projects' direct and indirect dependencies based on your project configuration (eg: package.json).

Why doesn’t open source funding work today?

The problem isn’t a lack of means or desire. Decision paralysis as well as the mechanics of paying are the dam holding back open source funding. Any trivial project can have a dozen dependencies and many more indirect dependencies. If you decide to fund your direct dependencies, here are the questions you then have to answer:

• How much should I give to each project?
• How do I fund each of these projects?

Assuming you’ve figured out those questions, you might still be wondering if this is workable. Will everyone else, especially the dependencies you fund, go to this effort to fund their dependencies? Probably not.

How does it work?

The monthly subscription amount you choose is divided evenly across all your direct dependencies. Each direct dependency then automatically shares up to half of its allocation with its dependencies.