What is Open Source?
A plain-language explanation for non-developers.
The recipe book analogy
Imagine a recipe book that anyone can read, cook from, and add their own recipes to. If you spot a mistake in a recipe, you can suggest a fix. If you have a great recipe that is not in the book, you can submit it for others to enjoy. The book is never locked away — it belongs to everyone who uses it.
Open source software works the same way. The code — the “recipe” that tells computers what to do — is published publicly. Anyone can read it, use it, improve it, or build something new on top of it.
What makes OpenAffiliate open source
All program data is public YAML files on GitHub
Every affiliate program in the registry is stored as a small text file. You can read any of them at any time — nothing is hidden.
Anyone can suggest changes or additions
If a commission rate is wrong or a program is missing, you can propose an update. No special access required.
A community reviews and approves changes
Proposed changes go through a review process before they are accepted. This keeps the data accurate and trustworthy.
The code that runs the website is also public
The Next.js app, the API, the CLI — all of it is on GitHub. Developers can audit it, fork it, or run their own instance.
Why it matters
Transparency
You can verify any program's data yourself. No black boxes, no hidden agendas.
No vendor lock-in
The data belongs to everyone. If OpenAffiliate ever disappears, the data lives on — anyone can mirror or fork it.
Community-driven
Hundreds of contributors keeping data accurate is more reliable than any single company trying to do it alone.
You do not need to be a developer
Contributing to an open source project sounds technical, but it does not have to be. The easiest way to add a program to OpenAffiliate is through the web form — no coding, no command line, no GitHub account required.
Submit a program →Do not have a GitHub account?
GitHub is the platform where open source projects live. It is free to sign up and you do not need technical knowledge to create an account. Visit github.com/signup to get started.
Alternatively, just use the web form on the submit page — it handles GitHub for you behind the scenes.