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5. Fully open source (Apache-2.0) with a services business model

  • Status: Accepted
  • Date: 2026-08-13
  • Deciders: Inari platform engineering
  • Source: Inari platform plan §11 Decision 3, applied in §1

Context

Inari's commercial model had to be settled before public launch because it shapes licensing headers, repo visibility, feature gating, and community expectations. The open-core model (paid feature gating) creates perverse incentives around the extension SDK and multi-tenancy features that are Inari's differentiators.

Decision

Inari is fully open source under Apache-2.0 — no open-core feature gating; every capability ships in the open repositories. The commercial model is services (consulting, support, managed operations), not product licensing.

Consequences

  • No license-check or gating machinery in the codebase; simpler distribution and contribution story.
  • Revenue depends entirely on services; the pen-test-before-services gate (see the threat model) becomes commercially critical.
  • Community hygiene (trademark, DCO/CLA, SECURITY.md, supported-versions policy) is required before public launch (plan §12.3/13).
  • We would revisit only if the services model proves unsustainable and a licensing change is proposed — that would be a new ADR superseding this one.