What to expect for open source in 2026

In 2025, open source development experienced significant global growth, with 36 million new developers joining GitHub, highlighting the increasing internationalization of the community. This expansion, particularly notable in countries like India, Brazil, and Indonesia, is shifting the traditional dynamics of open source projects, as contributors now often reside outside the regions where these projects originated. To accommodate this global scale, successful projects are adopting explicit communication strategies, with clear contribution guidelines and governance documentation to support diverse contributors. The advent of AI has further accelerated global participation by lowering barriers for new developers, although it has introduced challenges such as "AI slop," which creates a burden of low-quality contributions. To manage these issues, AI is being used defensively to help maintainers triage and manage the influx of information. The explosive growth of new developers also presents challenges in maintaining a balance between contributors and maintainers, emphasizing the need for structured paths to guide contributors into maintainership roles. While AI-focused projects dominated the growth, non-AI projects like Home Assistant and VS Code continue to thrive by meeting real needs and supporting broad communities. Looking forward to 2026, the sustainability of open source growth will depend on how the community addresses these pressures, particularly the integration of AI and the increasing global participation.