from Hacker News

I've developed a low code CMS and Ecommerce SaaS platform (similar to WordPress) that supports 3rd party apps/plugins/templates. To make it easier for developers/freelancers/agencies to create custom apps/plugins/template, I've decided to make the source of the base CMS system available but one thing I'm really concerned is to choose the appropriate license for the software.

I think most open source licenses were created before SaaS era so they do not really fit SaaS business model where direct competition to the platform is not preferred. We can see the recent drama between WordPress and WP Engine as an example, another example is Elastic Search and AWS which has led to AWS forking and promoting OpenSearch instead. Cases like these may discourage the founders/developers from contributing more to the software and divide the community into different groups which is something most founders try to avoid. I've explored SaaS friendly licenses such as MongoDB's Server Side Public License or ElasticSearch's Elastic License 2.0 but both licenses are not considered open source license by the OSI standards, moreover they are still ambiguous and may create more confusion to anyone wanting to use the software.

I just want other developers to use the software to create custom plugins/apps or make web/mobile apps for their clients, they may even provide hosting for their clients as part of their development service (this is not considered direct competition if the hosting fee is 30% or less of the total charge) but I do not want someone to just take the code and simply provide mass hosting for it (this is direct competition). What license do you guys think it will work for my case? I would prefer to utilize an existing license that is associated with a well-established software project. I am not inclined to use or create a new license, as this would require developers and companies to assess the license before proceeding with its use.