Open projects. Clear expectations.

Learning stays free

AskOpenSource helps you discover open-source projects. Users do not pay to search, explore, or use an account. Regular repository submissions and approved listings are free. Only optional sponsored Spotlight placements are paid.

What qualifies for a listing

• A substantive generative-AI capability, with enough documentation to understand its use and setup.
• Public source code and an identifiable open-source licence. A public repository with no licence, or a restrictive source-available licence, is not enough.
• A usable free open-source edition that delivers the advertised capability. Proprietary or paid-only products do not qualify.
• Clear disclosure of required hosting, external APIs, hardware, and any optional paid editions or services.
• An accurate description and practical use cases.

Review, then approval, then placement

Submissions receive automated repository and eligibility checks following the review rubric. Arthi receives new submissions and review findings by email and makes the final approval decision. We may request changes or decline a submission, and review decisions are emailed to the submitter. Approved regular listings have no payment requirement. Approved Spotlights receive a secure Razorpay payment link and are published only after payment is verified.

“Editorially reviewed” describes these checks. It does not mean a project has passed a security audit, that every capability has been tested, or that integrations are guaranteed to work.

Sponsorship is visible

Paid Spotlight placements carry a “Sponsored” label and run for the selected 5, 15, or 30 days. The prices are US$9, US$24, and US$39 respectively. When the paid display period ends, the ordinary free catalogue listing remains. Payment does not change ordinary search ranking or make a project the best choice for every task.

Your account stays private

We use Google Analytics on public pages to understand how people find and browse the directory. The account, idea workspace, review and payment pages do not load the Google tag.

Accounts support saved tools and submission history. Your name, email, and country are stored privately for your account. These details, private submissions, reviewer notes, and payment references are excluded from the public repository catalogue and analytics events.

Authorised administrators can view AskOpenSource account names, verified email addresses, countries, registration dates, recent activity times, daily generation attempt counts, and repository submission metadata for service operations, support and abuse prevention. Administrative access is restricted and dashboard reads are audited. Reviewer access remains separate.

Activity records contain event types, times, account identifiers and public repository identifiers. They exclude raw task prompts, uploaded documents, generated plans, credentials and raw IP addresses. Search text is sent to the search service and, when enabled, its AI provider to produce recommendations; this is separate from administrative activity records. Avoid submitting confidential or personal information in prompts.

Recent activity and presence records are limited to 30 days; admin dashboard access records are limited to 90 days, with daily cleanup. Public cumulative activity retains only total visits, searches and repository clicks with their tracking start date. Temporary visit deduplication records contain a browser session identifier and expire after 30 days. Account profiles and submissions remain while needed to provide your account and the review service. Daily quota records enforce the beta allowance. The network activation gate retains a private salted hash rather than a raw IP address.

“Active in the last five minutes” is an estimate based on a visible signed-in browser, not a count of everyone with a saved login. Search events are observed browser actions; generation attempts do not prove a completed creation. Sponsor reports contain aggregate placement counts and exclude account email addresses.

For an account access, correction or deletion request, contact The Arthi AI Collective. Requests require identity verification. Account deletion must also address the corresponding authentication identity and retained service records.

Check before you build

Recommendations and diagrams are starting guidance. Read the project’s current documentation, check its costs and requirements, and test a small useful result before relying on it.