Why Open Source

chen.ist

Why Open Source?

Compare open-source infrastructure with proprietary alternatives. Real differences, not marketing.

Open Source vs. Proprietary

A practical comparison for European organizations.

Open Source
Proprietary
Licensing cost
Free
Per user/month
Data location
You choose (EU)
Vendor decides
Vendor lock-in
None
Significant
Source code access
Full
Closed
GDPR compliance
By design
Depends on vendor
Security audits
Community + you
Vendor only
Customization
Unlimited
Limited by vendor
Exit strategy
Your data, your format
Migration pain

What replaces what

Production-ready open-source alternatives you can deploy today.

Microsoft 365 → Nextcloud + Collabora

Files, email, calendar, contacts, real-time document editing. Self-hosted, EU data.

Azure AD → Keycloak + FreeIPA

SSO, MFA, LDAP directory, federated identity. Enterprise-grade, zero licensing.

Slack / Teams → Matrix / Mattermost

Encrypted messaging, federation, channels, threads. Full control over data.

Zoom → Jitsi Meet

Browser-based video, no accounts needed. Screen sharing, recording, breakout rooms.

Datadog / Splunk → Prometheus + Grafana

Metrics, dashboards, alerting. Scales from 5 to 5,000 servers.

Windows Server → NixOS / Debian

Declarative, reproducible servers. No per-server licensing.
Cost savings

40–70% cost savings.
Not a promise — math.

Commercial SaaS licensing costs add up quickly as your team grows. The open-source equivalent (Nextcloud, Keycloak, Matrix, Jitsi) costs zero in licensing — you pay only for hosting and management.

Even with professional managed services from chen.ist, most organizations save 40-70% compared to commercial SaaS licensing. Get a personalized estimate.

Our infrastructure services
0
Per-user fees
EU
Data stays here
100%
Code auditable
40-70%
Cost savings

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of your infrastructure?

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