Open source is at the heart of Frontend Masters. Our entire business is built on open source software and in teaching how to use open source to become a better engineer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This month, the developer community watched Tailwind Labs lay off 75% of their engineering team<\/a>. Not because usage declined, but because it exploded. Tailwind CSS sees 75 million downloads per month, more popular than ever, yet revenue collapsed by 80%. AI coding tools now answer developers’ questions directly, so they never visit the documentation where Tailwind’s commercial products live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Adam Wathan, Tailwind’s founder, recorded a podcast episode titled “We had six months left”<\/a> explaining the situation: “Tailwind is growing faster than it ever has and is bigger than it ever has been, and our revenue is down close to 80%.” The reason? Developers now ask AI how to use Tailwind instead of visiting the documentation. They get their answer, ship their feature, and never see the page where Tailwind’s commercial products live. The funnel from “uses the framework” to “discovers paid products” is broken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The response from the community was swift. Within 48 hours, Vercel, Google AI Studio, Gumroad, Lovable, and Macroscope all pledged financial support<\/a>. Guillermo Rauch called Tailwind “foundational web infrastructure.” The Hacker News discussion<\/a> generated over 1,100 points and 635 comments examining what this means for open source sustainability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Funding has always been a challenge in open source. Projects can be more successful than ever while the people who maintain them can not afford to keep the lights on. I created jQuery UI Datepicker, which became the most used UI component on the internet for over a decade, and I received a total of about $500 for it. I eventually stopped maintaining the project to create a sustainable business, which became Frontend Masters. Open source has always had a sustainability problem. AI is making it worse, faster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For 2026, we’re continuing our $50,000 annual commitment to open source through thanks.dev<\/a>, distributing funds across our dependency tree of 1,100+ projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since we began this journey in 2019, Frontend Masters has now donated $966,000<\/strong> to open source projects through thanks.dev and Open Collective<\/a>, as well as to non-profits like The Last Mile<\/a>, Annie Cannons<\/a>, and Vets Who Code<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We teach open source. We use open source. We support open source. It’s the blood running through our veins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Tailwind situation isn’t an isolated case. It’s a warning sign for the entire ecosystem. When AI tools are trained on open source documentation and answer questions without attribution or compensation, the traditional discovery-to-revenue funnel breaks down completely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This isn’t about being anti-AI. We teach AI courses. We use AI tools. But we need to be honest about what’s happening: the infrastructure that powers modern software development is under financial strain, even as usage reaches all-time highs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Corporate sponsorship and direct funding aren’t just nice-to-haves anymore. They’re how we ensure the tools we all depend on continue to exist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our approach remains focused on broad coverage rather than concentrating funds in a handful of high-profile projects. Through thanks.dev, we’re funding 350+ projects across our dependency tree, from the frameworks you know to the utilities three levels deep that make everything work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We believe it’s unhealthy for the ecosystem when large projects sit on hundreds of thousands in inactive funds while smaller, critical projects go unrecognized. The maintainer who built that parsing library you’ve never heard of deserves support too.<\/p>\n\n\n\nOur Continued Commitment<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Why This Matters Now<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How We Fund<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A Call to Action<\/h2>\n\n\n\n