Open Source Funding at Shopify

Open source is part of Shopify’s DNA. Shopify is built on layers of foundational open source technologies, which we support through funding of various open source projects and foundations. This page consolidates our portfolio of funded OSS work. We are proud to partner and invest in initiatives that are fostering strong, healthy, inclusive open source communities. (For developer events, conferences and sponsorships, check out our Engineering Events page for more information.)

We're fortunate to support open source bodies and foundations. Here are a few sample partnerships and sponsorships:

Bytecode Alliance

Developers are running untrusted code in many new places which opens up many security concerns, a problem that requires cross-industry effort for it to be tackled. Bytecode Alliance is a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating secure new software foundations, building on standards such as WebAssembly.

ECMA / TC39

ECMA is the body that oversees the development of Javascript and WebAssembly. As Shopify gets deeper into using WebAssembly, we want to be an active participant and present in this community as a member of ECMA.

GraphQL Ruby Gem

Shopify’s GraphQL implementation is dependent on the GraphQL Ruby Gem, built by Robert Mosolgo. We make a recurring commitment to sponsor this project in support of development of the Gem.

GraphQL Foundation and Working Group

Shopify is an active member of the GraphQL Foundation and GraphQL Working Group, providing financial and in-kind sponsorship. GraphQL is one of the foundational technologies in use at Shopify. We’ve doubled-down on our investment in GraphQL because we believe it offers more opportunities for our partners to extend our platform and provide essential merchant experiences.

Khronos Group Inc

Shopify is a contributing member of the Khronos 3D Commerce Exploratory Group. We know the future of commerce is constantly changing and we’re leading the way by natively supporting 3D and AR shopping experiences.

Igalia: JS Engine for WASM

Igalia is aimed at making Javascript run at high performance on Web Assembly (WASM) because we want to provide good support for that to both Shopify and external developers.

Linux Foundation: Open SSF

The Open Source Security Foundation (Open SSF) is a cross-industry organization that brings together the industry’s most important open source security initiatives and the companies and individuals that support them. It is committed to advance open source security for all.

Ruby Central

Ruby Central is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting Ruby and advocating for Ruby communities globally. They are also known for organizing and supporting some of the major Ruby and Rails conferences globally, in addition to hosting RubyGems.org, the Ruby community’s gem hosting service. Our recent funding and support for Ruby Central was announced in 2022, underscoring our shared commitment to security work. Through this funding, we are able to give Ruby Central an opportunity to re-invest in the operations of rubygems.com.

Rust Foundation

Rust Foundation is an independent non-profit organization dedicated to stewarding Rust programming language, nurturing the Rust ecosystem, and supporting the set of maintainers governing and developing on Rust. In 2022, Shopify made a public commitment to invest in the Rust ecosystem. Shopify’s funding to the Rust Foundation is our way of contributing towards the mission of empowering everyone to build sustainable, efficient and safe software.

World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)

Shopify is an active member of the W3C community. The web is a foundational technology for global commerce and, working with the W3C, we’re ensuring the next version of the web is built with commerce in mind.