Learn with Next Level Open Source
Learn Open Source, One Step at a Time.
Discover how open-source software works, learn how to choose the right tools and follow practical guides to get started.
Whether you're exploring your first alternative to paid software or learning how to host an application yourself, our guides help you understand the options and take the next step with confidence.
What Do You Want to Learn?
Start with the question you want to answer: the fundamentals, comparing your options, understanding the costs or getting a project running.
Open Source Fundamentals
What open source means, how software licences work and what to consider when choosing a project.
Coming soon
Finding Alternatives
How to evaluate open-source replacements for paid applications, compare features and understand trade-offs.
Coming soon
Costs and Infrastructure
Hosting, API usage, storage, server resources and the other costs involved in running software.
Coming soon
Installation and Self-Hosting
Installing on your computer, Docker, setting up a server and cloud deployment, where the software supports it.
Coming soon
AI and Automation
Open-source AI tools, automation workflows, model requirements and external API dependencies.
Coming soon
Practical Tutorials
Step-by-step setup, configuration, everyday use and troubleshooting for specific projects.
Coming soon
New to Open Source? Start Here.
You don't need to understand every technical concept before exploring open-source software. Start with the fundamentals, learn the terminology and build the knowledge you need to make informed choices.
Our first beginner guides are being written. They will cover:
- What Is Open-Source Software? How open source works, what software licences mean and why projects make their source code available.
- What Is Self-Hosting? What it means to run software on your own computer or server, including the responsibilities that come with it.
- What Is Docker? How Docker packages applications, and why it can make installation and deployment more consistent.
- What Does Free Software Really Cost? How licensing, hosting, APIs, storage and maintenance affect the total cost of using an open-source project.
Until then, every project page already explains what the project needs, what it costs to run and how to get started. Browse the projects or see how it works.
Take What You've Learned Into a Real Project
Understanding the concepts is the first step; applying them to a real project is where the knowledge becomes useful. Each project page sets out its requirements and links to its official documentation.
Run it with Docker
Projects whose official installation guide includes a Docker or container route.
Run it yourself
Projects you can install on your own computer or server, following the project's own guide.
Software that needs a paid API
Projects whose running costs include a paid API or data service that the software needs.
Compare with paid software
Projects whose pages name the paid products they can be compared with.
Clear Explanations. Practical Steps. Honest Trade-Offs.
Technical guides should help you understand what you are doing, not simply tell you which commands to copy.
We aim to explain unfamiliar terms in plain language, identify the requirements before installation and make important costs and limitations visible. When a guide depends on a particular operating system, software version, hosting provider or external API, it should say so, link to the official documentation and distinguish tested instructions from general guidance.
Read more about how we evaluate open-source software.
Ready to Explore Open Source?
Choose a topic, learn something new and discover software that could help you work differently.