Open-source program

MergeHarbor reviews public open-source repositories for free. Coverage is per repository: you choose which repositories qualify, and the rest of your organization stays on its plan.

What qualifies

A repository qualifies when anyone can read it without signing in, on one of these hosts:

• github.com
• gitlab.com
• bitbucket.org
• gitea.com and codeberg.org

Private and internal repositories do not qualify, and neither do repositories on self-hosted servers (GitHub Enterprise Server, self-managed GitLab, Bitbucket Data Center, your own Gitea), because “public” there does not mean open to everyone.

Select a repository

1. Connect the code host and add the repository to MergeHarbor as usual.
2. Open Billing → Plan and find MergeHarbor for open source.
3. Search for the repository and choose Select.

MergeHarbor asks the code host whether the repository is public. If it is, the repository is covered right away. If it is not, the page says why. Selecting needs the Manage billing permission (billing.manage), and every change is recorded in the audit log.

What you get

• Free reviews, no monthly cap. Reviews of covered repositories use no credits and do not count toward active developers or overage. They always run at the Standard tier.
• Clear reporting. Billing → Plan shows covered repositories and the number of free reviews this month. On Billing → Usage → Spend, grouped By repository, covered repositories are labelled Open source (free); their model cost is still shown so you can see what reviews cost.
• Economy routing. Covered repositories are reviewed in economy mode. Risky changes still escalate to a stronger model, as they do in economy mode on any plan.

Fair use

To keep the program sustainable, each covered repository gets a limited number of reviews per hour (30 by default). When a repository reaches the limit, new pushes are reviewed again once the hour has passed; the review status explains this on the pull request.

Re-verification

MergeHarbor checks every covered repository with its code host once a day.

• If the repository has become private, coverage ends at once.
• If the check fails (the host is down or rate-limiting), coverage continues and the check is retried. Coverage ends only when checks keep failing for about a day, or when the host no longer shows the repository.

When coverage ends, billing admins get an in-app notification and an email, and the audit log records it. The repository’s reviews then count toward your plan. If the repository is public again, select it once more to restore free reviews.

Need more?

Maintainers of non-commercial projects can also apply to the open-source program for MergeHarbor Team at no cost, for example to cover a whole organization.