Open Source

Open source describes software whose code is published openly for anyone to use, inspect, and modify, usually with no license fee attached. A lot of the web runs on it, from operating systems to entire content management systems. Free to license isn't the same as free overall, though. You may save on fees but still pay in professional services, hosting, and the in-house know-how to run it, which is where total cost of ownership comes in. The right call depends on your team, budget, and how much you want to own versus outsource.