Bread
Bread is a zero-fee donation platform that helps individuals distribute small recurring contributions across multiple open source projects using weight-based allocation configured via repository manifests. It serves open source project maintainers and donors, processing payments through Stripe.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2023
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingSoftware
What Bread does
Bread (bre.ad), operated by Andrew Baxter, LLC and founded in 2023 in San Francisco, is a donation infrastructure platform purpose-built for the open source software ecosystem. The platform enables individual donors to distribute small, recurring contributions across many open source projects simultaneously, using a weighted allocation system that allows donors to express relative support across their software dependencies. Its two customer segments are open source project maintainers, who declare funding recipients and weights, and open source donors, who configure and fund the distribution.
Technically, Bread is built around a `.bread.yml` manifest file stored in a project repository, an embedded donate button that surfaces funding prompts to developers, a REST API that enables programmatic donations and automation, and a "bread-scan" tool that auto-generates `.bread.yml` configurations from existing repository manifests. Payment processing and payouts to maintainers are handled through Stripe, with a $5 minimum threshold before automatic withdrawal is triggered. The platform supports both GitHub and GitLab repositories.
The business model charges no platform fees on donations processed, differentiating Bread from competitors such as Open Collective (which levies a hosting fee) and positioning the service as a low-friction utility for the open source community. Bread's own revenue depends on voluntary tips left by donors and any net economics on held balances. The company is bootstrapped, with no external funding disclosed, and operates as a sole-member LLC under founder Andrew Baxter.
Bread firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Bread
- Legal name
- Andrew Baxter, LLC
- Website
- https://bre.ad
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2023
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Bread is a zero-fee donation platform that helps individuals distribute small recurring contributions across multiple open source projects using weight-based allocation configured via repository manifests. It serves open source project maintainers and donors, processing payments through Stripe.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where Bread is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
Bread business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Platform Service (Zero Commission): Bread charges zero platform fees for using the service. The company relies on voluntary donations from users who appreciate the service. Stripe processing fees are deducted from transactions.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Monthly | Free donation platform with zero fees |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels3 records
Bread product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Bread is a web platform that enables donors to contribute micro-donations (even less than $0.01) to many open source projects simultaneously and have the funds distributed monthly using a configurable weight-based allocation. Project maintainers receive donations by adding a .bread.yml manifest to their repository, and withdrawals are processed via connected Stripe accounts. The platform charges zero platform fees and supports automatic monthly forwarding of portions of received funds to upstream project dependencies.
Product overview
Bread is a single unified platform for crowdfunding open source projects. The core platform enables donors to make micro-donations distributed across multiple projects using weighted allocation, while project maintainers receive funds through connected Stripe accounts. Key components include the main donation platform, a Donate Button Generator for embedding donation links, the .bread.yml manifest system for configuring donation distribution, a REST API for programmatic donation management, and the bread-scan tool for auto-generating configuration files.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Bread Donation Platform Self-serve web platform that allows donors to subscribe a small monthly amount and have it distributed across many open source projects using a weight-based allocation, with project setup via a .bread.yml manifest in the repository root and payouts through Stripe Connect.
- Donate Button Generator Web tool that produces embeddable Markdown and HTML donate buttons and links so project maintainers can add Bread donation entry points to their websites and READMEs.
- Bread REST API Developer-facing REST API with OAuth Bearer token authentication offering GET /api/account_get_donate_weights and POST /api/account_set_donate_weights for reading and updating donation weights programmatically.
- bread-scan Open source helper tool that automatically generates a .bread.yml configuration file for an open source repository based on its dependencies, simplifying onboarding for maintainers.
Quantifiable outcome
- Supports donation amounts less than $0.01
Companies that use Bread
Customer profileSegments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Bread technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration1 record
Feature4 records
Bread partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- StripecoreStripe is the exclusive payment processing partner handling all money flows. Stripe Connect is used for withdrawal functionality, with Express pricing applying to receiving money. The integration enables both donation collection from donors and withdrawal capabilities for project maintainers.
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Bread competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Open Collective: Open Collective is a fiscal sponsorship and transparent funding platform for open source projects and communities. It directly competes with Bread by enabling recurring donations to OSS collectives with built-in expense management — the most operationally similar peer.
- thanks.dev: thanks.dev is a developer-funding platform that automatically compensates OSS maintainers based on their packages' downstream usage. Directly comparable to Bread's dependency-aware distribution model, with a usage-weighted rather than donor-weighted approach.
- Polar: Polar is a monetization platform for developers and open source maintainers offering subscriptions, one-time payments, and issue funding. Targets the same audience and similar funding mechanics as Bread.
- Liberapay: Liberapay is a recurring donation platform built specifically for creators and open source projects, with a zero-fee philosophy. It overlaps with Bread in targeting micro-donor-to-project funding flows without extracting platform fees.
Broad incumbents
- GitHub Sponsors: GitHub Sponsors is a Microsoft-backed developer sponsorship program embedded in the largest code-hosting platform. It serves the same donor-to-maintainer flow as Bread but with massive distribution advantages and corporate matching programs.
- Tidelift: Tidelift pays open source maintainers through subscriptions from companies that use the software. It targets the same "fund the supply chain" use case as Bread's dependency-forwarding model, but is B2B-led.
- Patreon: Patreon is the dominant creator-membership platform enabling recurring supporter payments. While not OSS-specific, its membership/subscription mechanics are a reference point for Bread's recurring donor model and the broader micro-funding category.
Emerging players
- Buy Me a Coffee: Buy Me a Coffee enables creators (including developers) to receive small one-off and recurring support payments with minimal friction. A direct comparator for "donate a little" UX, though not OSS-specialized.
- Ko-fi: Ko-fi offers tips, memberships, and shop features for creators with a 0% platform-fee tier. Comparable to Bread in the "non-extractive donor experience" angle, but oriented to individual creators rather than open source supply chains.
Others
- Stripe: Stripe is Bread's exclusive payment processor and integration partner powering all money flows. Not a competitor, but the platform's most important enabling relationship and a structural dependency.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Bread social profiles
Digital presenceBread financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Bread leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Bread funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors5 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Bread M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Bread
What does Bread do?
Bread is a web platform that enables donors to contribute micro-donations (even less than $0.01) to many open source projects simultaneously and have the funds distributed monthly using a configurable weight-based allocation. Project maintainers receive donations by adding a .bread.yml manifest to their repository, and withdrawals are processed via connected Stripe accounts. The platform charges zero platform fees and supports automatic monthly forwarding of portions of received funds to upstream project dependencies.
Is Bread a public or private company?
Bread is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Bread founded?
Bread was founded in 2023. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Bread based?
Bread is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does Bread make money?
One revenue line is on record: platform Service (Zero Commission).
Who are Bread's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Open Collective, thanks.dev, Polar and Liberapay. Broad incumbents are GitHub Sponsors, Tidelift and Patreon. Emerging players are Buy Me a Coffee and Ko-fi. Stripe is listed as an others.
Does Bread have an API?
Yes. REST API for automating management of donations. All requests require an Authorization: Bearer TOKEN header. Available endpoints: GET /api/account_get_donate_weights (returns donation weights as JSON, requires scope account_read); POST /api/account_set_donate_weights (changes donation targets and weights, requires scope account_write_weights). The request body is JSON matching the weights structure used in .bread.yml configuration files. Developer documentation is at bre.ad/doc/api.