GitHub adds ability to sponsor projects

GitHub has added that ability for users to support open source projects they value through sponsorship – similar to Patreon. According to the platform’s documentation, “anyone with a GitHub account can sponsor anyone with a sponsored developer profile through a recurring monthly payment. You can choose from multiple sponsorship tiers, with monthly payment amounts and benefits that are set by the sponsored developer”.

At present, the new feature is in a limited beta period and only a small selection of developers can be sponsored. Once rolled out across the platform anyone who contributes to an open source project is eligible to become a sponsored developer.  Reader who’d like to become a sponsored developer during the next beta phase can join a waitlist.

To help the platform gets off the ground, it has started a GitHub Sponsors Matching Fund, which “matches up to $5000 per sponsored developer in their first year of sponsorship. In the first year, GitHub will not charge any fees, so 100% of sponsorships will go to the sponsored developer. In the future, we may charge a nominal processing fee.”

To find out more, read the article on GitHub’s help site or visit the Sponsors page.