What The PHP Foundation does

The PHP Foundation is a private non-profit collective founded in November 2021 to ensure the long-term prosperity of the PHP programming language. It operates through Open Source Collective as its fiscal sponsor and is governed by a Board of Directors with representation from Platinum sponsors and the PHP community. The foundation is the de facto steward of the PHP language, contracting roughly 12 full-time and part-time core engineers who maintain and advance the php/php-src repository, including the interpreter, extensions, documentation, security patching, and RFC proposal authorship. Its contracted developers were responsible for nearly half of all commits and reviews to php/php-src in 2022, and contributed to major releases including PHP 8.2 (December 2022), PHP 8.3 (November 2023), and PHP 8.4 (November 2024).

The foundation monetizes through a sponsorship-and-donation model rather than product sales. Companies can join at Platinum (e.g., JetBrains, Automattic, Sovereign Tech Agency), Gold (e.g., Laravel, GoDaddy, team.blue), and Silver (e.g., Private Packagist, Symfony, Tideways, Craft CMS, Mercari, Cybozu, Sentry, TYPO3) tiers, gaining Advisory Board representation and visibility. Individuals contribute via OpenCollective and GitHub Sponsors. In 2022, the foundation reported $712,484 in pre-fee contributions (~$622,211 after fees), of which 77% came from organizations and 23% from individuals, and only 39.5% was on a recurring basis. The foundation additionally operates a fiscal and operational relationship with Open Source Collective for compliance and disbursement to contracted developers.

The organization serves two interlocking constituencies: PHP-dependent enterprises (e.g., JetBrains, Automattic, Laravel, Moodle, Shopware, Craft CMS, Acquia) that fund language maintenance to protect their product stack, and individual PHP developers and community contributors who receive financial support through contracted developer roles. Its GTM is community-led, relying on conference presence, monthly "PHP Core Roundup" blog posts, newsletter, Twitter/X, Mastodon, LinkedIn, and GitHub to communicate progress, attract sponsors, and recruit contributors. Sponsorship tiers are tiered, with Advisory Board seats reserved for major sponsors, and an "Ecosystem AI Security Engineer in Residence" role funded by an Alpha-Omega grant via the Linux Foundation signals a small programmatic broadening beyond pure language maintenance into ecosystem security.

Name

The PHP Foundation

Legal name

The PHP Foundation

Website

https://thephp.foundation

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The PHP Foundation is a non-profit collective founded in 2021 that contracts roughly 12 core developers to maintain and advance the PHP programming language, funded by organizational sponsorships (77%) and individual donations, and operating under Open Source Collective as its fiscal host.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Open Source Programming Language Foundation

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Business, Professional, Labor, Political, and Similar Organizations (8139)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Community Foundations (BPAGAKAB)

Keywords

• Open source software
• Programming language support
• Non-profit foundation
• PHP core development
• Developer sponsorship

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Organizational Sponsorships: The foundation receives financial contributions from organizations (companies) that benefit from the PHP language. 77% of funds come from organizations. The foundation has Platinum, Gold, and Silver sponsor tiers.
2. Individual Donations: The foundation accepts individual donations and contributions. 23% of funds come from individuals. Individuals can contribute via OpenCollective or GitHub Sponsors.
3. Sponsorship Tiers: Companies can sponsor at Platinum, Gold, Silver, or custom Major Sponsor tiers. Sponsors receive benefits including Advisory Board membership and visibility.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The PHP Foundation contracts a team of full-time and part-time PHP core developers (currently 10–12 engineers) to maintain and advance the PHP programming language. Its work covers bug fixes, security patches, feature implementation, pull request reviews, RFC proposals, documentation, and PHP build infrastructure. The foundation is funded by tiered organizational sponsorships (Platinum, Gold, Silver) and individual donations processed through OpenCollective and GitHub Sponsors, with Open Source Collective serving as fiscal host.

Product overview

The PHP Foundation is a non-profit organization that supports, advances, and develops the PHP programming language. The foundation operates a single unified program centered on funding and coordinating PHP core development. It contracts developers (currently 12 full-time and part-time engineers) to maintain PHP, implement features, and fix bugs. The foundation publishes monthly PHP Core Roundup blog posts summarizing developments, facilitates RFC proposals for language changes, maintains an Advisory Board for sponsor feedback, and publishes annual impact reports. The foundation receives donations via OpenCollective and GitHub Sponsors and pays developers through OpenCollective. All PHP language decisions go through the established RFC process administered by PHP Internals, not the foundation directly.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Organizational Sponsorship Program Tiered sponsorship packages (Platinum, Gold, Silver) for organizations that benefit from PHP, granting visibility, Advisory Board participation, and influence over development priorities.
• PHP Core Development Program Contracted maintenance and development of the PHP programming language, including bug fixes, security patches, feature implementation, pull request reviews, RFC proposals, and documentation, delivered by 10–12 contracted core developers.
• Advisory Board for Major Sponsors A governance forum for major sponsors (Automattic, JetBrains, Private Packagist, Symfony, Tideways, Zend by Perforce, Moodle, Shopware, Laravel, Ardennes-étape, Les-Tilleuls.coop / API Platform, Aternos GmbH, PrestaShop, CraftCMS) to provide feedback on developer plans and priorities.
• PHP Core Roundup (Monthly Blog Series) Monthly publication summarizing the latest PHP core developments, RFC proposals, merged changes, and news, prepared for the broader PHP community.

Quantifiable outcome

• PHP Foundation developers responsible for nearly half of all commits and reviews to php/php-src repository
• +4 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and minor.

• Open Source CollectiveflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerOpen Source Collective serves as the fiscal host for The PHP Foundation, handling financial transactions, donations, and legal compliance. The foundation operates through Open Source Collective as its fiscal host.
• Sticker MuleminorOthersSticker Mule provides official PHP Foundation swag such as stickers and limited-edition T-shirts at no cost.
• SlackminorOthersSlack provided a pro plan for the foundation's messenger, facilitated by Matt Brown (Psalm author, PHP community member).

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF): The CNCF, a sub-foundation of the Linux Foundation, supports cloud native open source projects like Kubernetes through corporate membership and vendor-neutral governance. It is a broad incumbent peer with a comparable sponsorship-tiered model for stewarding critical open source infrastructure.
• Apache Software Foundation: The Apache Software Foundation is one of the largest open source foundations, supporting over 350 projects through volunteer communities and corporate sponsorship. It is a broad incumbent peer given its similar non-profit governance and corporate sponsorship model but at much larger scale.
• Linux Foundation: The Linux Foundation is the largest open source foundation, hosting hundreds of projects with corporate membership and developer support programs. It is a broad incumbent peer given its parallel mission of sustaining critical open source infrastructure through corporate sponsorship and developer funding.
• Eclipse Foundation: The Eclipse Foundation is a larger, broader open source foundation supporting multiple projects (Jakarta EE, Adoptium, etc.) with corporate membership and governance structures. It is a broad incumbent peer covering a wider portfolio of open source software than The PHP Foundation's single-language focus.

Direct peers

• Python Software Foundation: The PSF is the non-profit organization that holds the intellectual property and manages the open source development of the Python programming language. It is a direct peer to The PHP Foundation given its parallel mission of stewarding a major open source programming language through sponsor funding and contracted developer support.
• Rust Foundation: The Rust Foundation is a non-profit that supports the Rust programming language through corporate sponsorship and developer grants. It is a direct peer given the structurally identical model of coordinating language development, sponsorship tiers, and contracted maintainer support.
• Perl Foundation: The Perl Foundation is a non-profit that supports the Perl programming language through grants, sponsorships, and community events. It is a direct peer given its nearly identical mission of sustaining a major open source scripting language and its comparable sponsor-driven funding model.
• OpenJS Foundation: The OpenJS Foundation (formerly Node.js Foundation) supports the development of Node.js and JavaScript projects through corporate sponsorship and vendor-neutral governance. It is a direct peer given its focus on stewarding a programming language/ecosystem with a similar tiered sponsor and developer-support model.
• Django Software Foundation: The Django Software Foundation is a non-profit that supports the Django web framework, which is built on Python. It is a direct peer given its parallel non-profit structure, tiered sponsorship model, and mission of supporting an open source web development project through organizational and individual contributions.
• Ruby Central: Ruby Central is the non-profit organization supporting the Ruby programming language, organizing RubyConf and funding ecosystem development. It is a direct peer given its parallel role as the central non-profit stewarding a major open source programming language through corporate sponsorship.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ThePHPF
• GitHubgithub.com/sponsors/ThePHPF
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/phpfoundation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about The PHP Foundation