You will need a TYPO3-capable server, the public provider repo with the Docker stack, and a few hours of setup time. Anyone who has worked with TYPO3 before is done in half a day. Anyone who has not — bring in a TYPO3 agency or book us for onboarding.
Stance
The grants extension is Open Source. Under AGPL-3.0-or-later.
The source code is published on GitLab — freely inspectable, freely auditable, freely usable. Including for self-hosting. Those who let us run Grantifex pay for service. Those who self-host pay us nothing. Both are legitimate.
IWhy open source
Grant-making is a public matter.
Public organisations and foundations expect — rightly — that the tools they use to distribute tax money or foundation assets can be verified. Who decides on approvals? How are the numbers calculated? Who has which access?
Closed-source software on US servers is hard to reconcile with the claim of European data sovereignty. Open source solves this — not because it is ideologically better, but because traceability follows from the source code, not from a whitepaper.
It is no coincidence that the EU Commission, in its Open Source Strategy 2020–2023, explicitly encourages public authorities to prefer open-source solutions wherever it is technically and economically feasible.
„Public money should produce public code. If it is public money, it should be public code as well." Free Software Foundation Europe — Public Money, Public Code
publiccode.eu — Public Money, Public Code, FSFE initiative. EU Open Source Strategy — Strategy of the European Commission.
Four rights. Unconditional.
Use the code — privately, commercially, in any context. For any purpose, without registration or permission from us.
Study the code and adapt it to your needs. Read it, understand it, change it. With or without our help.
Redistribute the code — give copies to third parties. Original or modified, for a fee or free of charge. Your decision.
Run the code yourself — on your own infrastructure. Your own domain, your own servers, your own branding. Without asking us.
One obligation. Exactly one.
Anyone who modifies the code and offers it as an online service must disclose the changes. Even if the modified version is never shipped as software — but only made accessible via browser. That is the famous “Affero clause”.
Disclosure happens under the same license. So that improvements remain usable for everyone — even if a corporation takes over the code.
License and copyright notices are preserved. When redistributing, the origin of the code is stated.
IIIRelease plan
When the code goes public — concrete and honest.
The grants extension will be published on GitLab under AGPL-3.0-or-later once the first paying contract is signed. Expected during 2026.
Platform in production
Full feature set already in use at the first pilot foundations.
First contract
Code audit, licence headers, documentation, repository setup on GitLab.
Public repository
GitLab goes public. Issue tracker, pull requests and discussions open.
TER listing
Listed on extensions.typo3.org — the official TYPO3 Extension Repository.
We will announce the release right here as soon as it happens. Want a reminder? Subscribe to the newsletter or star the GitLab repo — the latter being possible, of course, only once it is public.
IVWhat open source does not mean
Open source does not mean "free as in worthless".
Open source means: the code is free. The service is work that has to be paid for.
Anyone with the time and the know-how can self-host — and pays us nothing. Anyone who cannot or would rather not pays Grantifex to have someone else do that work. Both are legitimate. Both have our respect.
What your price with us covers: hosting, backups, updates, security patches, maintenance, ongoing development, personal support. What it does not cover: your own work, if you self-host.
The code
- Source code of the grants extension
- Documentation & setup guide
- Issue tracker & discussions
- Pull requests & code reviews
The service
- Hosting in Germany
- Updates & security patches
- Daily backups
- Personal support
- Ongoing development with a roadmap
VSelf-hosting
A prospect — not a finished guide. Not yet.
We take self-hosting seriously. A full step-by-step guide ships in the repo with the release. Until then, here is what you will need.
# 1. Clone the provider repo $ git clone https://gitlab.com/grantifex/provider.git $ cd provider # 2. Create the configuration $ cp .env.example .env $ editor .env # enter domain, DB, mail # 3. Start the Docker stack $ docker compose up -d ✓ typo3 running ✓ mariadb running ✓ redis running ✓ mailcatcher running # 4. Initial setup $ docker compose exec typo3 typo3 grants:install --admin [email protected] → Portal ready at https://grantifex.local → Backend at https://grantifex.local/typo3 # Sketch. Final guide follows # with the repo release in 2026.
VIIn the TYPO3 ecosystem
One of the most mature open-source CMS in Europe.
Grantifex is not a solitaire. It lives in an ecosystem with an active community, its own conferences, clear standards and an established marketplace for extensions.
The grants extension will be listed in the official TYPO3 Extension Repository (extensions.typo3.org) once it is published. That way any TYPO3 developer can find it — without knowing us.
VIIContribute
Three ways to make Grantifex better.
Anyone who wants to contribute can. Pull requests are reviewed and merged when they fit the roadmap.
Bug report
Found a bug? Open an issue on GitLab — with reproduction steps and the affected version. We confirm within two business days.
GitLab issue · publicFeature request
Missing a feature? Open a discussion on GitLab. If it fits the roadmap, we schedule it. If not, we honestly say why.
GitLab discussionCode contribution
Can build it yourself? Fork, branch, pull request. For larger changes, check in first — otherwise someone develops the same area in parallel.
Pull request · CONTRIBUTING.mdNeed a feature urgently?
You can commission the development as sponsorship. We build the feature on a time-and-materials basis — and it then lands in the AGPL codebase. So you pay once, benefit yourself, and all Grantifex instances get the feature too.
We know this is an advance of trust. An extension that officially will be under AGPL — but is not yet public. That is the reality of an early phase, not the end state. We are transparent about it.
As soon as the code is published, this caveat disappears automatically. Until then, we offer a bridge: code review under NDA.
Prefer to verify for yourself before you sign?
A test instance under your subdomain, NDA access to the code, a personal conversation. In that order — or any other.