# GitHub Sponsors

10 Hacker News commenters recommended GitHub Sponsors and 4 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 7 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Lets people sponsor open source developers directly, with no fees for donors or recipients. Critics mainly cite heavy administrative overhead and fear Microsoft could raise its cut.

## Why people recommend it

- No fees for donors or recipients (4 comments): "github sponsorships don't charge anything extra than the costs it would have itself and you get chargeback protection" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47530155)) "GitHub sponsorship as a method that currently charges no fees to either the donor or the recipient" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48394408)) "GitHub won't take a cut (or pays for it from their own purse) for any credit card processing fees." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46440470))
- Supports open source creators financially (3 comments): "It's a nice way to support creators and a pretty good reason to stay on GitHub." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47460127)) "The only success stories I see in the space are GitHub Sponsors and LiberaPay" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47080085)) "It's a nice way to for free and open source developers to earn some money." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49333819))

## What people warn about

- Heavy administrative overhead and friction (2 comments): "GitHub actually offers something in that direction. Sponsoring is hard - it works differently for every project/foundation and the administrative overhead is huge." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46618683)) "That's effort & friction and only simplifies the "begging" aspect" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46620680))
- Microsoft could raise its cut (2 comments): "how long before they start skimming OSS projects that are public but nonetheless have Github Sponsors income" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46291679)) "GitHub Sponsors is a liability because Microsoft can increase their cut at any time" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46069750))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Patreon](https://hackerapproved.com/p/patreon.md): 55 recommend
- [Watsi](https://hackerapproved.com/p/watsi.md): 29 recommend
- [Ko-fi](https://hackerapproved.com/p/ko-fi.md): 8 recommend
- [Buy Me a Coffee](https://hackerapproved.com/p/buy-me-a-coffee.md): 7 recommend

## Where to get it

- [Visit the official site](https://github.com/open-source/sponsors)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "GitHub Sponsors", https://hackerapproved.com/p/github-sponsors/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).