← Blog · updated Sep 20, 2026
Bountysource is down: where GitHub bounties moved
If you searched for "Bountysource alternatives" or "Bountysource down", the short version is that the platform that used to be the default place for open source bounties has stopped working, and the activity moved to newer services that pay on merge. This page explains what happened, what to use instead, and how to see what is open today.
What happened to Bountysource
According to its Wikipedia entry, Bountysource launched in 2003 and relaunched around the GitHub API in 2012, was acquired by CanYa in 2017 and by The Blockchain Group on July 1, 2020. As of June 2023 it appears to have stopped paying bounties on verified claims, in November 2023 its parent company filed for bankruptcy, and by May 2024 the site was described as temporarily down. When we checked on 2026-09-20, www.bountysource.com did not respond from our servers. We cannot speak for what the owners plan, so do not count on unpaid balances.
Where open source bounties live now
Bounties did not disappear; they moved. Algora lets companies fund GitHub issues in dollars and pays contributors when a pull request is merged. Opire lets anyone put a reward on a GitHub issue and, by its own design, the creator only pays when someone claims it, which is a direct answer to the Bountysource problem. IssueHunt, BountyHub and TaskBounty are smaller marketplaces with their own listings. Gitpay and Polar.sh are other names that come up in alternatives lists, though they work differently from issue-by-issue bounties.
How to avoid the same risk
Prefer platforms that only charge the funder when the work is claimed or merged, read who holds the money before you start, keep the merged pull request link as proof, and do not let a big balance sit on any platform longer than necessary. None of this removes the risk, it reduces it.
See what is open today
On 2026-09-20 the BountyOS scanner tracked 290 verified open bounties worth $19,543: 269 on Algora, 10 on Opire, 10 on BountyHub and 1 on TaskBounty, with 169 posted in the last 48 hours. Nothing came from IssueHunt at that moment. The numbers refresh every hour on the live GitHub bounty board.
Choose a planFAQ
What happened to Bountysource? Per its Wikipedia entry, it appears to have stopped paying verified claims in June 2023, its parent company filed for bankruptcy in November 2023, and the site was described as temporarily down by May 2024.
What is the best Bountysource alternative? For funded GitHub issues that pay on merge, Algora and Opire are the most active. BountyOS scans them and other marketplaces together so you can compare open bounties in one place.
Can I still claim old Bountysource bounties? We cannot confirm that. Unpaid balances depend on the platform owners, so treat them as at risk.
See also: GitHub bounty board · Algora vs Opire vs IssueHunt · Get paid to fix GitHub issues