Ask HN: Should a no-code AI app builder be open source?

1 zuhaib-rasheed 1 8/11/2025, 12:19:25 PM magicnode.ai ↗

Comments (1)

zuhaib-rasheed · 6h ago
I’m the cofounder of a platform called Magicnode that lets people visually build and launch AI micro apps.

We’re debating whether to keep it closed-source (with a hosted SaaS model) or open source it (possibly keeping a hosted version for revenue).

Potential benefits we see in open sourcing: faster adoption, community contributions, more trust from devs. Potential drawbacks: competitors copying the code, harder to monetize, more support overhead.

For those who have been in similar situations — what factors did you consider? Are there hybrid models that work well? Any examples of companies that made the right/wrong call here?