Is OpenHospi really free?

Yes, OpenHospi is completely free for all students. There are no hidden fees, no premium plans, and no ads. We are funded by donations and sponsorships.

How is OpenHospi funded?

OpenHospi is currently self-funded by its founder. We are actively looking for donors and sponsors to help cover infrastructure costs. All contributions will be managed transparently via Open Collective.

Will OpenHospi ever become paid?

No. OpenHospi will never be freemium or pay-to-win. No student will ever have to pay to use the platform or get more visibility.

Costs & Transparency

OpenHospi is free for all users. Here's what it costs us to run.

What does OpenHospi cost?

OpenHospi is and will always be free for students. No hidden fees, no premium plans, no ads. Here's a transparent overview of our running costs. All prices include 21% VAT.

Cost breakdown

Infrastructure

Hosting, database, and authentication

Vercel
Website hosting, CDN, and file storage
€0/mo (Hobby)
~€18.50/mo (Pro)
Supabase
PostgreSQL database, auth & realtime
€0/mo (Free)
~€23/mo (Pro)
Institutional login
Student verification
Free
Free
Expo (EAS)
Mobile app builds, updates & distribution
€0/mo (Free)
~€19/mo (Starter)

Domains

3 domains at Vimexx, renewed annually

openhospi.nl
.nl domain
€7.95/yr
openhospi.com
.com domain
€29.03/yr
openhospi.eu
.eu domain
€13.30/yr

Total overview

	Current costs /yr	At scale (10K+ users) /yr
Vercel	€0	~€222
Supabase	€0	~€276
Institutional login	€0	€0
Expo (EAS)	€0	~€228
Domains (3x)	~€50	~€50
Total per year	~€50/yr	~€776/yr (~€65/mo)

Waived costs

These services are sponsored or donated, saving OpenHospi significant costs.

Sponsored

Sentry

Crash reporting & error monitoring (EU)

$80/moSponsored Business plan

Sponsored

Apple Developer Program

Required for publishing to the iOS App Store

€99/yrWaived for non-profits

Sponsored

Google Workspace

Email, cloud storage and collaboration tools

~€5.75/user/moNon-profit subscription

Sponsored

GitHub Team

Version control, CI/CD and project management

~$4/user/moWaived for non-profits

Sponsored

Crowdin

Translation management for open-source projects

~$100/moFree for open-source

Total saved per year: ~€1,500+/yr

How do we keep it free?

Donations

Individual contributions from users who want to support the platform.

Sponsorships

Universities and student organizations can sponsor OpenHospi.

Open source

Volunteer developers contribute code, reducing development costs.

Support OpenHospi

Backer

€5/mo

Monthly

Your name on our sponsors page.

Sponsor

€25/mo

Monthly

Your logo on our website and README.

Donation

Flexible

One-time

Support with any amount you choose.

Donate via Open Collective

Partners & Sponsors

These organizations help keep OpenHospi free for every student.

Where does the money go?

100% of donations go to infrastructure costs. Via Open Collective every transaction is published publicly. No salaries, no profit, just keeping the platform running for students.

OpenHospi on Open Collective