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Open source software can be valuable even when it does not reduce a license bill. Organizations also weigh faster development, customization, interoperability, reuse, less dependence on one vendor, and the health of the shared projects they rely on. Those benefits are potential advantages, not automatic outcomes: support, security work, licensing governance, implementation, and maintenance all affect the result.
What value can open source create beyond lower license costs?
Open source changes what an organization can inspect, adapt, reuse, and maintain. The value case is therefore broader than whether the software itself is free of charge. A 2023 Linux Foundation Research survey identified cost savings, faster development, open standards, and interoperability among the benefits respondents rated highly. Each can matter differently depending on the organization’s systems and capabilities.
Faster development and customization
Access to source code can let a capable team adapt software to its needs rather than wait for a single vendor’s product roadmap. Reusing existing components can also avoid building every capability from scratch. The practical benefit depends on staff expertise, the project’s condition, and the time and expense required to maintain changes.
Interoperability and reuse
Software built around open standards can make it easier to connect systems or move data between them. Reuse can also extend beyond one organization: public-sector analysis identifies collaboration and reuse as possible technological and economic benefits. Neither follows just from choosing an open-source license; architecture, implementation, and procurement decisions still matter.
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More control over supplier dependence
An organization may have more options to obtain support, adapt software, or migrate than it would with a product controlled by one vendor. This can reduce lock-in and support digital autonomy, but only if the organization has the rights, expertise, documentation, and operational arrangements needed to exercise those options. A project that only one provider or internal team can operate may still create practical dependence.
What does the evidence say about economic value?
The available figures point to meaningful potential value, but they measure different things and should not be treated as promises of savings or return for an individual adopter.
| Evidence | What it says | How to interpret it |
|---|---|---|
| Linux Foundation Research survey, 2023 | Almost two-thirds of surveyed companies said they perceived open-source benefits to exceed costs. The median respondent estimated its economic value at one to two times the cost of use. | These are respondent perceptions, not measured causal returns or a forecast for every organization. |
| European Commission report, 2021 | The Commission reported an estimated €65–95 billion impact on the EU economy associated with roughly €1 billion invested in open source software by EU companies in 2018. | The estimate concerns the EU and 2018 investment; it is not a savings rate an individual company can expect. |
| European Commission model, reported in 2021 | A modeled 10% increase in open-source code contributions was projected to produce 0.4–0.6% of GDP annually and more than 600 additional ICT start-ups. | These are study projections, not observed outcomes or current forecasts. |
The Linux Foundation survey included more than 430 companies, and 43% reported annual revenue above $1 billion. Its report noted a sample tilt toward large firms and variation in perceived value, likely reflecting differences in experience and contribution. The results are useful evidence of how respondents view open source, but they do not establish that every organization will achieve the same result.
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Is open source really cheaper?
Not necessarily. A low or zero license fee is only one part of total cost of ownership. The 2023 survey recorded security gaps, hidden support costs, and licensing uncertainty among perceived cost categories. An organization should compare the full costs of operating each option over the period it expects to use it.
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- Internal operations: Account for staff time for configuration, upgrades, monitoring, customization, and incident response.
- Security and maintenance: Consider the work needed to assess vulnerabilities, apply fixes, track project activity, and maintain local changes.
- Licensing and governance: Include the expertise and processes needed to understand license obligations and manage compliance.
- Exit and transition: Compare the effort to migrate data, replace integrations, or change providers if the project or supplier no longer fits.
A proprietary product may include support or operational capabilities that an organization would otherwise need to arrange itself. Conversely, an open-source option may provide flexibility or avoid some forms of vendor dependence. The relevant comparison is the total cost and strategic fit of the specific alternatives, not “free” versus “paid.”
What risks and organizational demands should decision-makers assess?
Security and project maintenance
Open access to source code does not by itself guarantee secure or well-maintained software. The survey’s identification of security gaps as a perceived cost is a reminder to evaluate project activity, update practices, vulnerability handling, and available support. Organizations also need an owner for security review and ongoing maintenance.
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Support and internal capability
Support may come from a vendor, a specialist provider, a community, or an internal team; the arrangements and response expectations can differ. Before adoption, determine who will handle deployment, upgrades, outages, and changes, and whether the organization has the skills and capacity to do that work.
Licensing governance
Using open-source components at scale calls for a process to identify what is being used and understand applicable license requirements. The perceived licensing uncertainty in the survey makes governance a cost and capability issue, not merely a legal afterthought.
Long-term ecosystem health
Adopting software and sustaining the projects that produce it are related but distinct. A 2025 Linux Foundation Research report describes widespread open-source use in Europe alongside limited direct investment by many companies in sustaining projects. Organizations that depend on critical shared software should consider how maintenance will continue and whether they can contribute money, staff time, testing, or other support.
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How should you compare open source with proprietary alternatives?
Use the same evaluation horizon and operational assumptions for each candidate. Score what matters to your organization rather than assuming one licensing model wins by default.
- Define the need and time horizon. Identify required capabilities, integrations, compliance needs, expected usage, and how long the organization expects to operate the system.
- Estimate total cost of ownership. Include license or subscription charges, implementation, support, internal labor, security, upgrades, governance, and potential transition costs.
- Test adaptability and development speed. Assess whether the option can meet changing requirements, who can make changes, and what those changes will cost to maintain.
- Check interoperability and portability. Examine standards, interfaces, data access, integration effort, and the practical difficulty of moving to another system.
- Assess operational assurance. Review maintenance activity, security processes, support arrangements, documentation, and the people responsible for ongoing operation.
- Evaluate governance and dependency. Establish how licenses will be tracked and whether the organization can realistically maintain, transfer, or replace the system if its needs change.
- Consider ecosystem contribution. For projects important to core operations, assess whether the organization should help sustain them and include that commitment in the business case.
The European Commission’s 2021 study said open-source procurement could reduce total cost of ownership and vendor lock-in and increase digital autonomy. Those are possible outcomes of sound procurement and implementation, not guaranteed properties of every open-source deployment.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Where can open source create public value?
For public-sector organizations, the potential case extends beyond an agency’s own budget. A 2023 Linux Foundation Research report groups possible benefits into several areas:
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- Political: digital sovereignty, transparent transformation, vendor independence, and customization.
- Economic: reuse, lower license fees, local market development, and competition.
- Technological: interoperability and collaboration among communities and institutions.
- Social: local skills development and affordability that may help reduce a digital divide.
These are categories of potential public value, not outcomes that arise automatically. Procurement requirements, in-house capability, support, project governance, and sustained maintenance shape whether a deployment delivers them.
How to make a defensible business case
Present open source as an option to evaluate against a specific alternative, not as a guaranteed cost-cutting policy. Separate measured or quoted costs from expected benefits, state the assumptions behind estimates, and identify who will own operational and licensing responsibilities. If the case depends on flexibility, reuse, or reduced vendor dependence, explain how the organization will actually realize those advantages and what capabilities it must fund.
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