the openness premium · 2026 edition
Open Source vs Closed SaaS · 2026
Does opening the code make a product more production-ready — or less? We compared 108 open-source tools against 304 closed web apps on the frames both can be measured on.
33pt
security gap between open-source and closed SaaS (open source leads) — according to Legit.Show
Open source vs Closed SaaS
- Security: Open source 84 · Closed SaaS 51
- Standards: Open source 85 · Closed SaaS 86
- Discoverability: Open source 62 · Closed SaaS 73
What this compares
Four frames are measurable for both an open repo and a closed website — security posture, web standards, discoverability and maintenance. Each bar is the group average (0–100). Performance / accessibility / privacy need a rendered page, so they’re excluded to keep the comparison fair.
The takeaway
open source leads on security here. Open source gets credit for a license and an active history a crawler can verify; closed SaaS gets credit for the headers and polish a browser can see. Each is strong exactly where the other is opaque.