Name

KDE e.V.

Legal name

K Desktop Environment e.V.

Website

https://ev.kde.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Berlin

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: Individual supporting members pay €100/year, organizational supporting members pay €1000/year, patron memberships at €5000-€10000/year depending on size.
2. Corporate Sponsorships and Patrons: Companies including Blue Systems, Canonical, Google, SUSE, Qt Group, and others provide financial support as patrons to KDE e.V.
3. Government and Public Funding: KDE e.V. receives funding from public bodies including Sovereign Tech Fund investment of €1,285,200 EUR during 2026-2027, and local government support.
4. Donations: One-time and recurring donations accepted via PayPal and other payment methods. KDE e.V. does not accept cryptocurrency donations due to German tax regulations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

KDE e.V. develops, maintains and stewards a suite of free and open-source desktop, mobile and application software. Its flagship offerings are the Plasma desktop environment, KDE Applications (productivity and multimedia tools), KDE Frameworks (reusable Qt-based software libraries), Plasma Mobile for smartphones, and the KDE neon Linux distribution. The organization does not charge for the software itself; revenue is generated through supporting memberships, corporate patronage, donations and grants that fund community events, infrastructure and ongoing development.

Product overview

KDE e.V. develops and maintains a comprehensive open-source software ecosystem. The core offerings include Plasma (a graphical desktop environment), KDE Applications (a suite of productivity applications), KDE Frameworks (the underlying development toolkit), Plasma Mobile (mobile-optimized interface), and KDE neon (an Ubuntu-based Linux distribution). These products work together as an integrated ecosystem to provide users with complete desktop and mobile computing environments across multiple platforms including GNU/Linux, Windows, macOS, and Android.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Akademy: Annual meeting of the KDE community since 2003, known as Akademy since 2004. Includes conference, coding sessions, meetings, and the annual membership meeting of the e.V.

Products and services

• Plasma Desktop Environment A graphical desktop environment for computers and mobile devices, available on GNU/Linux, Windows, macOS, and Android. Intended for end users seeking a free, customizable desktop experience and for technology vendors embedding the desktop in their products.
• KDE Applications A suite of free and open-source applications for multiple platforms, including file managers, email clients, text editors, multimedia players and digital graphics tools. Intended for end users seeking a comprehensive productivity stack and for OEMs/ISVs bundling a full desktop suite.
• KDE Frameworks An underlying development framework providing reusable Qt-based software libraries for building KDE applications. Used by KDE application developers and by third-party developers integrating with the KDE stack.
• Plasma Mobile A mobile-optimized version of the Plasma desktop environment for smartphones and other mobile devices. Intended for mobile Linux phone users and for device makers shipping a free, customizable mobile UI.
• KDE neon An Ubuntu-based Linux distribution featuring the latest KDE software, providing an up-to-date reference KDE desktop experience. Intended for users who want a ready-to-run KDE desktop and for downstream distributions tracking KDE development.
• KDE PIM (Personal Information Management) A Personal Information Management suite integrated with the Plasma desktop, covering email, calendar, contacts and related workflows. Used by end users of KDE Plasma desktops and targeted at users seeking integrated communications and scheduling.

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

21 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Qt ProjectcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKDE e.V. is a community partner of the Qt Project, which provides the Qt toolkit that KDE is built upon.
• LyxminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerKDE e.V. is a community partner of Lyx, a document processor.
• Verein Randa MeetingsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerKDE e.V. is a community partner of Verein Randa Meetings.
• Document FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKDE e.V. is an Advisory Board member of the Document Foundation.
• Open Source Initiative (OSI)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerKDE e.V. is an affiliate of the Open Source Initiative (OSI).
• Open Invention Network (OIN)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerKDE e.V. is a member of the Open Invention Network (OIN) community of licensees.
• OASISminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerKDE e.V. is a member of the OASIS society.
• OpenUKminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerKDE e.V. is a friend of OpenUK.
• United Nations Open Source United (OSU)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKDE endorses the UN's Open Source Principles, joining 119 other FLOSS organisations to support efforts to connect UN teams and their partners, encouraging them to share, discover and reuse open-source solutions worldwide.
• DebiancoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDebian is a member of KDE e.V.'s Advisory Board.
• Free Software Foundation (FSF)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFSF is a member of KDE e.V.'s Advisory Board.
• Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFSFE is a member of KDE e.V.'s Advisory Board. FSFE provides assistance in legal matters for KDE.
• City of MunichcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCity of Munich is a member of KDE e.V.'s Advisory Board.
• FOSS NigeriacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFOSS Nigeria is a member of KDE e.V.'s Advisory Board.
• KDABcoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerKDAB is a major supporter of KDE project and independent contributor to Qt, known for tools like GammaRay, Heaptrack and Hotspot. KDAB's founder was one of KDE's first contributors and president of KDE e.V. from 2002 to 2005.
• enioka Haute CoutureminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partnerenioka Haute Couture is a KDE supporter specializing in complex software development, working in close collaboration with client teams.
• basysKom GmbHminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerbasysKom is a KDE supporter, originally founded by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Eva Brucherseifer, a veteran KDE community member and founder of KDE-Women and KDE-Edu projects.
• CollaboraminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCollabora is a leading global consultancy specializing in delivering benefits of Open Source software to commercial world, active contributor to KDE ecosystem.
• CodethinkminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCodethink delivers critical, high-performance software projects for international companies, experts in Free and Open Source Software and active contributor to KDE.
• Woboq GmbHminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerWoboq offers services around Qt including bug fixes and features within Qt or other applications.
• KDE Free Qt FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKDE e.V. and Trolltech jointly founded the KDE Free Qt Foundation in 1998 to ensure that Qt will always be available as free software. KDE e.V. has elected representatives in the Foundation.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• GNOME Foundation: GNOME Foundation is the most direct peer: a non-profit entity supporting the GNOME desktop environment project, which competes head-to-head with KDE Plasma as the default GNU/Linux desktop. Both operate as community-driven foundations funding open-source desktop software with paid staff and corporate patrons.
• The Document Foundation: The Document Foundation (LibreOffice) is a registered non-profit under German law that supports a major community-driven open-source desktop software suite. Similar scope, governance model (board, advisory board, patrons), and revenue mix (memberships, sponsorships) to KDE e.V.
• Mozilla Foundation: Mozilla Foundation is a non-profit that stewards the Firefox browser and a portfolio of open-source technologies. Comparable as a community-driven software foundation relying on grants and corporate support, with a comparable scale of staff and global contributor base.
• Free Software Foundation: The FSF is a non-profit supporting the free software movement and key GNU projects. KDE e.V. explicitly partners with FSF (Advisory Board seat) and shares the ideological basis, governance style, and patron-driven revenue model.
• Apache Software Foundation: The Apache Software Foundation is a non-profit stewarding a portfolio of open-source projects via a community-driven, vendor-neutral governance model. Compares on legal/financial stewardship of IP, trademark management, and corporate sponsorship mechanics, though at materially larger scale.
• Eclipse Foundation: The Eclipse Foundation is a non-profit supporting open-source tooling and frameworks under member-driven governance with corporate patronage. Comparable function: legal home for open-source projects, IP management, and developer community enablement.

Broad incumbents

• Linux Foundation: The Linux Foundation is a much larger, broader-scope non-profit supporting Linux and many other open-source projects. KDE e.V. operates in the same ecosystem but at narrower scope; the Linux Foundation sits above as the broader industry umbrella.

Others

• Open Source Initiative: OSI is the steward of the Open Source Definition and an advocacy body. KDE e.V. is an OSI affiliate; comparability is in shared advocacy/standards-setting role and non-profit funding model, though OSI does not publish software itself.
• Canonical (Ubuntu): Canonical is a tier-1 KDE Patron that distributes Ubuntu, including Kubuntu (KDE edition). Comparable as a major downstream user/distributor of KDE's stack and an investor in the open-source desktop ecosystem, though structured as a for-profit company.
• SUSE: SUSE is a tier-1 KDE Patron and Linux distribution vendor. Comparable as a corporate backer integrating KDE into commercial enterprise products, providing sustained sponsorship revenue for KDE e.V.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles16 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about KDE e.V.