# Backing Directus

> Directus is both _premium_ and _free_ — two things that don't often go together. It takes
> significant resources to maintain and advance the platform. If you'd like to help keep Directus
> active and open-source please consider supporting it through one of the methods below.

## Financial Support

Talented full-time and part-time staff, infrastructure, and third-party services are just some of
our organization's expenses, and revenue from our Cloud services and donations from sponsors doesn't
fully cover those costs. Below are a few ways to help us keep the lights on and move towards
self-sufficiency.

### GitHub Sponsors

Monthly donations via [GitHub Sponsors](https://github.com/sponsors/directus) are the most reliable
form of financial support, and donations made directly to our core developers are currently
**doubled** by GitHub's matching program!

-   [rijkvanzanten](https://github.com/rijkvanzanten) — Technical Lead
-   [WoLfulus](https://github.com/WoLfulus) — DevOps
-   [Nitwel](https://github.com/Nitwel) — Developer

### Sponsored Work

[Commissioned Features](/getting-started/support#commissioned-features) and
[Expedited Fixes](/getting-started/support-expedited-features) are great ways to financially support
the development of Directus, and improve the codebase for the community.

### Merch

Our merchandise is a great way to support Directus — you get some swag, and we get some financial
support and advertising. Simply make an appropriate financial donation through
[GitHub Sponsors](https://github.com/sponsors/directus), message us with sizing/shipping details,
and we'll get it shipped!

## Other Contributions

Below are several ways anyone can help improve our ecosystem.

### Code Pull Requests

Squashing bugs, optimizing the codebase, increasing test coverage, and adding new features, are all
extremely valuable. Not technical? We have plenty of documentation that can always use some extra
attention. Learn more in our [Contributors Guide](/getting-started/contributing).

### Translations

Every translation enables users in new languages to use our international platform. Our
[Crowdin integration](https://locales.directus.io) makes polishing existing translations or creating
new ones a breeze.

### Bug Reporting

If you encounter an issue within Directus, no matter how small, we would love to hear about it.
Proper bug reporting helps our team assess the platform's stability.
[Report a bug](https://github.com/directus/directus/issues/new)

### Brand Advocacy

You can create _perfect_ software, but if no one knows about it, it's all for naught. Marketing and
advertising are expensive, but you can help us avoid these costs with the following quick options:

-   **GitHub Stars** — The primary metric by which we measure our success. It only takes five
    seconds to head to [directus/directus](https://github.com/directus/directus) and click the star
    — enough in a short period of time and Directus gets featured on GitHub's trending page!
-   **Social Posts** — A quick post mentioning [@directus](https://twitter.com/directus) goes a long
    way, and we re-tweet the team's favorite shout-outs to our 35K+ followers.
-   **Testimonials** — _One sentence._ Even that was a sentence, and it was only two words! If
    you're a fan of Directus, we'd love to hear why with a short endorsement. Shoot us an
    [email](mailto:info@directus.io), [Tweet](https://twitter.com/directus), or
    [Discord](https://directus.chat) message with your name, title, and company.