Launch catalog / Playbook
Open Collective
Conditional free route community
Researched from public pages — no submission was run · sources read 2026-09-26. Rules change — recheck the platform's own pages before submitting.
What the free route requires
- Creating a collective is free, but to receive money the collective must be accepted by a fiscal host (e.g. Open Source Collective, Open Collective Europe, Gift Collective) — each host has its own mission scope, geography, acceptance criteria and fees
- This is a fundraising/fiscal-hosting platform, not a launch directory — only appropriate for products/projects that genuinely want to accept donations or sponsorships transparently
Requirements
- Project fits a fiscal host's mission scope (e.g. open source projects → Open Source Collective 501(c)(6); European groups → Open Collective Europe; charitable NZ groups → Gift Collective)
- Collective pages are financially transparent by design — balances, contributions and expenses are public
- Commercial SaaS looking for a backlink/launch listing is not the intended use
Prepare before opening the form
- Decide which fiscal host matches the project's mission, location and currency
- Project name, description, public repo/community links
- Admin real-name identity — finances are publicly attributed
- Planned contribution tiers (tip jar, monthly goals, memberships) if fundraising is the goal
Workflow
- Open https://opencollective.com/signup/collective (linked from 'Create a Collective' on /collectives)
- Create the collective profile (name, mission, links)
- Apply to a suitable fiscal host from the collective dashboard — hosts review against their acceptance criteria
- After host approval, the public collective page at opencollective.com/<slug> is live and can accept contributions
Watch for
- Batch submission URL /create renders an empty nav shell — the real route is /signup/collective
- Fiscal host review is a gate: rejection leaves the page without money features
- All finances are public — do not use for a product that shouldn't disclose revenue
- Host fees differ per host (typically a % of funds raised) — 'free' refers to page creation
What counts as live
The collective page is publicly reachable at opencollective.com/<slug> and, once host-approved, shows an active 'Contribute' option
Not verified
- Exact acceptance criteria and turnaround per fiscal host
- Whether a purely commercial SaaS product would be accepted by any host