by Gregory Wolanski
Open Source Design 500
Five hundred open source projects in need of design help
Backstory
You’re a designer. You would like to get involved in open source but don’t know where to begin. You don’t want to work on any open source project. You want to make an impact. But how can you find open source projects that are looking for design help and are being used by many people?
I’ve been asking myself this question for at least a few months. I haven’t been able to find the answer on the web. So I decided to treat it as a design problem.
For more than a year, I explored my answers to the question “What would you like to do if money were no object?” “Building free software” was one of my answers.
I did my research. Most open source projects are on GitHub. GitHub has a feature where users can star projects. This is how GitHub describes stars:
You can star repositories to keep track of projects you find interesting and discover similar projects in your news feed.
Starring a repository makes it easy to find again later. […]
Starring a repository also shows appreciation to the repository maintainer for their work.
In the absence of better alternatives, I allowed myself to assume that the number of stars could serve to measure the impact of a project.
Things to do in projects are called “issues” on GitHub. GitHub has a search engine. Is it possible to do a GitHub search for current issues labeled “ux”, “ui” or “design” and sort them according to the number of stars awarded to the projects?
No.
Hmm.
I learned what I needed to learn and wrote a program that builds such a list. At the time of this writing, it returns 17,742 issues. 17,742 things to do in 2,942 projects. It took two hours to extract all this data from GitHub. And these are just the things from the last 12 months. It’s an excessive amount of data.
What can be done with all this data? A lot. The first thing I’m doing is making the following list of 500 open source projects in need of help from designers. I hope that this is an inspiration for you. It helped me and I believe that it will help you too.
1. freeCodeCamp/freeCodeCamp・291470 stars
2. atom/atom・42019 stars
3. Microsoft/vscode・39428 stars
4. jekyll/jekyll・32036 stars
5. getlantern/lantern・30073 stars
6. zurb/foundation-sites・26701 stars
7. neovim/neovim・25132 stars
8. TryGhost/Ghost・24453 stars
9. nylas/nylas-mail・23737 stars
10. ant-design/ant-design・20182 stars
11. Leaflet/Leaflet・20065 stars
12. apache/incubator-superset・16920 stars
13. storybooks/storybook・16143 stars
14. npm/npm・14633 stars
15. facebook/jest・13737 stars
16. angular-ui/ui-router・13671 stars
17. ipython/ipython・12177 stars
18. angular/material2・12073 stars
19. NativeScript/NativeScript・11807 stars
20. diaspora/diaspora・11493 stars
21. keystonejs/keystone・11433 stars
22. tootsuite/mastodon・11413 stars
23. source-foundry/Hack・10407 stars
24. LightTable/LightTable・9930 stars
25. JuliaLang/julia・9577 stars
26. Automattic/wp-calypso・9463 stars
27. fabric/fabric・9298 stars
28. pockethub/PocketHub・9087 stars
29. chmln/flatpickr・9055 stars
30. spree/spree・8870 stars
31. WhisperSystems/Signal-Android・8475 stars
32. elastic/logstash・8302 stars
33. OpenEmu/OpenEmu・8187 stars
34. docker/kitematic・8057 stars
35. metabase/metabase・7605 stars
36. FineUploader/fine-uploader・7346 stars
37. Wox-launcher/Wox・7329 stars
38. CachetHQ/Cachet・7300 stars
39. mailpile/Mailpile・7141 stars
40. mozilla/metrics-graphics・6759 stars
41. ether/etherpad-lite・6621 stars
42. apex/apex・6386 stars
43. travis-ci/travis-ci・6263 stars
44. ory/editor・6232 stars
45. brave/browser-laptop・6227 stars
46. SFTtech/openage・6213 stars
47. telegramdesktop/tdesktop・6106 stars
48. ianstormtaylor/slate・6051 stars
49. insidegui/WWDC・6036 stars
50. reactioncommerce/reaction・6009 stars
51. joemccann/dillinger・5716 stars
52. keeweb/keeweb・5687 stars
53. owncloud/core・5656 stars
54. zulip/zulip・5582 stars
55. gravitational/teleport・5431 stars
56. the-control-group/voyager・4990 stars
57. MonoGame/MonoGame・4724 stars
58. OpenRA/OpenRA・4657 stars
59. ant-design/ant-design-pro・4527 stars
60. topcoat/topcoat・4276 stars
61. icsharpcode/ILSpy・4105 stars
62. Strider-CD/strider・4053 stars
63. spinnaker/spinnaker・3940 stars
64. rsms/inter・3917 stars
65. rtfd/readthedocs.org・3873 stars
66. prose/prose・3869 stars
67. apex/up・3835 stars
68. HospitalRun/hospitalrun-frontend・3772 stars
69. Sylius/Sylius・3723 stars
70. mattgodbolt/compiler-explorer・3584 stars
71. netlify/netlify-cms・3582 stars
72. askmike/gekko・3575 stars
73. scylladb/scylla・3539 stars
74. malcommac/SwiftDate・3435 stars
75. jaegertracing/jaeger・3391 stars
76. koreader/koreader・3382 stars
77. flarum/core・3380 stars
78. apache/couchdb・3338 stars
79. nextcloud/server・3221 stars
80. wallabag/wallabag・3172 stars
81. vmware/harbor・3146 stars
82. HearthSim/Hearthstone-Deck-Tracker・3133 stars
83. hashicorp/nomad・3040 stars
84. mawww/kakoune・2995 stars
85. transloadit/uppy・2995 stars
86. twitter/heron・2990 stars
87. jupyter/jupyter・2941 stars
88. googlearchive/chromedeveditor・2901 stars
89. eventbrite/britecharts・2890 stars
90. postmanlabs/postman-app-support・2854 stars
91. ricochet-im/ricochet・2812 stars
92. HubPress/hubpress.io・2773 stars
93. benvanik/xenia・2753 stars
94. NVIDIA/DIGITS・2712 stars
95. phpmyadmin/phpmyadmin・2708 stars
96. martanne/vis・2700 stars
97. pyrocms/pyrocms・2672 stars
98. sitespeedio/sitespeed.io・2659 stars
99. lektor/lektor・2567 stars
100. TykTechnologies/tyk・2558 stars
101. mozilla-services/react-jsonschema-form・2504 stars
102. lesspass/lesspass・2481 stars
103. kangax/compat-table・2443 stars
104. statsmodels/statsmodels・2424 stars
105. Microsoft/sqlopsstudio・2402 stars
106. gitextensions/gitextensions・2374 stars
107. redox-os/tfs・2372 stars
108. gephi/gephi・2353 stars
109. owncloud/android・2335 stars
110. duplicati/duplicati・2322 stars
111. freedomofpress/securedrop・2210 stars
112. MovingBlocks/Terasology・2203 stars
113. rundeck/rundeck・2189 stars
114. thoughtbot/shoulda-matchers・2155 stars
115. wordpress-mobile/WordPress-iOS・2104 stars
116. aseprite/aseprite・2081 stars
117. nteract/nteract・2059 stars
118. iron-meteor/iron-router・2057 stars
119. cssmagic/blog・2023 stars
120. tomahawk-player/tomahawk・2004 stars
121. wireapp/wire-android・1976 stars
122. EFForg/https-everywhere・1960 stars
123. bigbluebutton/bigbluebutton・1944 stars
124. opentoonz/opentoonz・1928 stars
125. prikhi/pencil・1919 stars
126. ktorio/ktor・1913 stars
127. iron-io/functions・1861 stars
128. getguesstimate/guesstimate-app・1854 stars
129. howtographql/howtographql・1852 stars
130. CMB2/CMB2・1838 stars
131. Netflix/security_monkey・1833 stars
132. OpenZeppelin/zeppelin-solidity・1812 stars
133. punkave/apostrophe・1807 stars
134. mumble-voip/mumble・1794 stars
135. OpenGrok/OpenGrok・1764 stars
136. fnproject/fn・1747 stars
137. ckan/ckan・1744 stars
138. ampache/ampache・1734 stars
139. fontforge/fontforge・1714 stars
140. trailsjs/trails・1693 stars
141. CartoDB/cartodb・1647 stars
142. alexrj/Slic3r・1643 stars
143. asciidoctor/asciidoctor・1641 stars
144. onyx-platform/onyx・1633 stars
145. solidusio/solidus・1608 stars
146. SUSE/Portus・1606 stars
147. rubygems/rubygems.org・1600 stars
148. divmain/GitSavvy・1597 stars
149. atom/teletype・1587 stars
150. wordpress-mobile/WordPress-Android・1585 stars
151. goldendict/goldendict・1574 stars
152. LMMS/lmms・1572 stars
153. frontendbr/forum・1568 stars
154. verdaccio/verdaccio・1566 stars
155. Radarr/Radarr・1565 stars
156. canjs/canjs・1547 stars
157. status-im/status-react・1546 stars
158. snipe/snipe-it・1525 stars
159. git/git-scm.com・1522 stars
160. montagejs/montage・1519 stars
161. sagalbot/vue-select・1508 stars
162. SSilence/selfoss・1493 stars
163. NixOS/nix・1488 stars
164. SpiderOak/Encryptr・1460 stars
165. vector-im/riot-web・1432 stars
166. swimlane/ngx-charts・1432 stars
167. kimchi-project/kimchi・1410 stars
168. django-admin-bootstrapped/django-admin-bootstrapped・1405 stars
169. seven332/EhViewer・1401 stars
170. Teradata/covalent・1376 stars
171. WordPress/gutenberg・1347 stars
172. jnunemaker/flipper・1322 stars
173. duckduckgo/duckduckgo・1316 stars
174. pypa/warehouse・1285 stars
175. wesnoth/wesnoth・1264 stars
176. bitovi/jquerypp・1256 stars
177. 720kb/ndm・1238 stars
178. ASKBOT/askbot-devel・1231 stars
179. nyaadevs/nyaa・1224 stars
180. mustache/mustache.github.com・1220 stars
181. icefox/git-achievements・1213 stars
182. corda/corda・1207 stars
183. donejs/donejs・1202 stars
184. blockstack/blockstack・1188 stars
185. firebug/firebug・1169 stars
186. nunit/nunit・1150 stars
187. osTicket/osTicket・1141 stars
188. mozilla/thimble.mozilla.org・1129 stars
189. isaacs/github・1118 stars
190. GSA/data.gov・1114 stars
191. Elgg/Elgg・1097 stars
192. Automattic/simplenote-android・1045 stars
193. Schmavery/facebook-chat-api・1034 stars
194. ankidroid/Anki-Android・1028 stars
195. bpmn-io/bpmn-js・1028 stars
196. boostorg/beast・1016 stars
197. jxtech/wechatpy・1012 stars
198. 24pullrequests/24pullrequests・1003 stars
199. composer/packagist・1002 stars
200. iRareMedia/iCloudDocumentSync・997 stars
201. justwatchcom/gopass・987 stars
202. smartstoreag/SmartStoreNET・974 stars
203. purpleidea/mgmt・970 stars
204. dotnet/corefxlab・965 stars
205. translate/pootle・929 stars
206. modoboa/modoboa・910 stars
207. devsnd/cherrymusic・909 stars
208. craftcms/cms・896 stars
209. lightningnetwork/lnd・891 stars
210. fritzing/fritzing-app・889 stars
211. pantsbuild/pants・883 stars
212. stampery/mongoaudit・883 stars
213. EFForg/privacybadger・881 stars
214. jfurrow/flood・872 stars
215. mypaint/mypaint・864 stars
216. mixxxdj/mixxx・858 stars
217. thredded/thredded・844 stars
218. Yoast/wordpress-seo・816 stars
219. trailofbits/manticore・812 stars
220. atom/autocomplete-plus・810 stars
221. blockstack/blockstack-browser・809 stars
222. mirage/irmin・806 stars
223. 4pr0n/ripme・779 stars
224. frappe/frappe・776 stars
225. boostorg/compute・772 stars
226. yeoman/yeoman.github.io・762 stars
227. guyzmo/git-repo・741 stars
228. securitywithoutborders/hardentools・739 stars
229. python/pythondotorg・737 stars
230. allegro/ralph・737 stars
231. material-foundation/material-remixer-android・734 stars
232. ThemeFuse/Unyson・730 stars
233. brave/browser-ios・730 stars
234. duckduckgo/zeroclickinfo-goodies・725 stars
235. akira/exq・712 stars
236. patternfly/patternfly・711 stars
237. JabRef/jabref・704 stars
238. securitytxt/security-txt・702 stars
239. mozilla-mobile/focus-ios・697 stars
240. owtf/owtf・688 stars
241. eslint/espree・687 stars
242. potree/potree・681 stars
243. mavlink/qgroundcontrol・672 stars
244. insidegui/PodcastMenu・667 stars
245. funretro/distributed・655 stars
246. projecthamster/hamster・654 stars
247. pods-framework/pods・653 stars
248. firasdib/Regex101・652 stars
249. FreshRSS/FreshRSS・649 stars
250. opentx/opentx・641 stars
251. LLK/scratch-blocks・640 stars
252. solvespace/solvespace・640 stars
253. HTBox/allReady・629 stars
254. factor/factor・628 stars
255. wavebox/waveboxapp・619 stars
256. nodejs/nodejs.org・612 stars
257. NativeScript/nativescript-cli・605 stars
258. glowing-bear/glowing-bear・605 stars
259. erengy/taiga・595 stars
260. bitovi/funcunit・585 stars
261. sulu/sulu-standard・585 stars
262. webrecorder/webrecorder・583 stars
263. hsz/idea-gitignore・582 stars
264. mulesoft/api-console・579 stars
265. eclipse/smarthome・579 stars
266. emberjs/website・576 stars
267. emoncms/emoncms・572 stars
268. vickychijwani/quill・563 stars
269. ManageIQ/manageiq・562 stars
270. simonmichael/hledger・554 stars
271. wroscoe/donkey・537 stars
272. rwengine/openrw・528 stars
273. alephdata/aleph・518 stars
274. hootsuite/atlantis・513 stars
275. nextcloud/android・511 stars
276. DynamoDS/Dynamo・511 stars
277. consul/consul・509 stars
278. GoldenCheetah/GoldenCheetah・503 stars
279. flosell/lambdacd・503 stars
280. friendica/friendica・500 stars
281. noflo/noflo-ui・498 stars
282. KeitIG/museeks・497 stars
283. mozilla-mobile/focus-android・489 stars
284. exercism/cli・488 stars
285. scout-app/scout-app・487 stars
286. coreinfrastructure/best-practices-badge・486 stars
287. h2non/gentleman・478 stars
288. owncloud/ios・473 stars
289. hyperledger/composer・472 stars
290. vifm/vifm・470 stars
291. prusa3d/Slic3r・467 stars
292. agrafix/Spock・463 stars
293. vector-im/riot-android・462 stars
294. log2timeline/plaso・457 stars
295. GhostText/GhostText・446 stars
296. ushahidi/platform・443 stars
297. EFForg/privacybadgerfirefox-legacy・442 stars
298. influxdata/chronograf・435 stars
299. istresearch/scrapy-cluster・433 stars
300. tgstation/tgstation・432 stars
301. quodlibet/quodlibet・429 stars
302. wallabyjs/public・422 stars
303. colobot/colobot・421 stars
304. chronotope/chrono・418 stars
305. ParabolInc/action・417 stars
306. atom/tree-view・415 stars
307. spack/spack・413 stars
308. HabitRPG/habitica-android・410 stars
309. osresearch/heads・410 stars
310. gdg-x/hoverboard・404 stars
311. fossasia/open-event-webapp・404 stars
312. owncloud/apps・402 stars
313. julianguyen/ifme・402 stars
314. google/blockly-android・402 stars
315. hashview/hashview・401 stars
316. Icinga/icingaweb2・395 stars
317. mikeboers/PyAV・394 stars
318. pencil2d/pencil・390 stars
319. bit-team/backintime・389 stars
320. ethereum/browser-solidity・381 stars
321. OpenXRay/xray-16・377 stars
322. atom/github・375 stars
323. Storj/core・374 stars
324. partkeepr/PartKeepr・372 stars
325. awesome-jobs/vietnam・371 stars
326. kubernetes-helm/monocular・370 stars
327. symfony-cmf/cmf-sandbox・366 stars
328. magefile/mage・364 stars
329. monero-project/kovri・360 stars
330. grena/gruik・358 stars
331. fossasia/loklak_search・357 stars
332. paragonie/airship・357 stars
333. openSUSE/osem・353 stars
334. redmatrix/hubzilla・348 stars
335. OpenPTT/OpenPTT・347 stars
336. kotcrab/vis-editor・342 stars
337. RocketChat/Rocket.Chat.iOS・336 stars
338. jsxc/jsxc・336 stars
339. threema-ch/threema-web・335 stars
340. mysociety/fixmystreet・333 stars
341. NUKnightLab/juxtapose・331 stars
342. codeforscience/sciencefair・329 stars
343. Etar-Group/Etar-Calendar・329 stars
344. Microsoft/pxt・326 stars
345. LLK/scratch-www・325 stars
346. theia-ide/theia・323 stars
347. byte-foundry/prototypo・322 stars
348. internetarchive/openlibrary・319 stars
349. aurelia/cli・317 stars
350. ZenHubIO/support・311 stars
351. haskell-foundation/foundation・308 stars
352. Storj/storjshare-gui・304 stars
353. OpenUserJS/OpenUserJS.org・304 stars
354. cla-assistant/cla-assistant・302 stars
355. roadiz/roadiz・301 stars
356. kbenoit/quanteda・300 stars
357. Spomky-Labs/jose・300 stars
358. nguillaumin/osmtracker-android・299 stars
359. vaadin/vaadin-grid・294 stars
360. ppy/osu-web・291 stars
361. humanmade/WordPress-Importer・288 stars
362. hotosm/osm-tasking-manager2・287 stars
363. Bionus/imgbrd-grabber・286 stars
364. lbryio/lbry-app・284 stars
365. AzureAD/azure-activedirectory-identitymodel-extensions-for-dotnet・282 stars
366. Glucosio/glucosio-android・276 stars
367. vinszent/gnome-twitch・276 stars
368. streetmix/streetmix・270 stars
369. CGCookie/retopoflow・265 stars
370. EasyRPG/Player・265 stars
371. coyim/coyim・264 stars
372. tylergaw/colorme・263 stars
373. nuttyartist/notes・261 stars
374. aframevr/aframe-inspector・259 stars
375. autolab/Autolab・256 stars
376. 500tech/mimic・253 stars
377. Kotlin/kotlinx.html・252 stars
378. php-censor/php-censor・249 stars
379. opencollective/opencollective・247 stars
380. ludumdare/ludumdare・245 stars
381. brave/browser-android-tabs・240 stars
382. refreshoxford/django-cbv-inspector・236 stars
383. steemit/condenser・235 stars
384. linkeddata/dokieli・234 stars
385. Microsoft/vscode-arduino・234 stars
386. sulu/sulu・234 stars
387. LLK/scratch-gui・234 stars
388. RocketChat/Rocket.Chat.Android・233 stars
389. Alanaktion/phproject・232 stars
390. nilmtk/nilmtk・232 stars
391. rambler-digital-solutions/rambler-it-ios・226 stars
392. Camelcade/Perl5-IDEA・225 stars
393. openopps/openopps-platform・222 stars
394. benbernard/RecordStream・222 stars
395. mysociety/alaveteli・219 stars
396. Sprytile/Sprytile・217 stars
397. enjalot/blockbuilder・216 stars
398. nunit/docs・215 stars
399. apex/static・215 stars
400. owncloud/music・211 stars
401. bardsoftware/ganttproject・211 stars
402. Automattic/sensei・210 stars
403. mysociety/mapit・208 stars
404. xibosignage/xibo・208 stars
405. Syonix/monolog-viewer・207 stars
406. OpenLiberty/open-liberty・207 stars
407. stelligent/mu・206 stars
408. hacktoberfest17/programming・205 stars
409. astroidmail/astroid・205 stars
410. 18F/18f.gsa.gov・204 stars
411. Philip-Scott/Notes-up・200 stars
412. caskdata/cdap・199 stars
413. nextcloud/calendar・199 stars
414. liberapay/liberapay.com・198 stars
415. atom/one-dark-ui・198 stars
416. Reedyn/Saga・197 stars
417. vector-im/riot-ios・196 stars
418. getgrav/grav-plugin-admin・195 stars
419. rsjaffe/MIDI2LR・195 stars
420. hakaru-dev/hakaru・193 stars
421. chromium/hstspreload.org・193 stars
422. GetDKAN/dkan・193 stars
423. Runalyze/Runalyze・192 stars
424. joakimskoog/AnApiOfIceAndFire・190 stars
425. monero-project/monero-gui・190 stars
426. RemoteTechnologiesGroup/RemoteTech・189 stars
427. ipfs-shipyard/peerpad・189 stars
428. snowleopard/alga・188 stars
429. atom/find-and-replace・187 stars
430. DMOJ/judge・185 stars
431. archimatetool/archi・184 stars
432. Storj/storjshare-daemon・184 stars
433. onury/accesscontrol・183 stars
434. propensive/rapture・183 stars
435. dtolnay/syn・182 stars
436. Vector35/binaryninja-api・182 stars
437. Automattic/wp-super-cache・180 stars
438. TrustWallet/trust-wallet-ios・180 stars
439. mroth/scmpuff・179 stars
440. wallabag/android-app・179 stars
441. decrypto-org/rupture・178 stars
442. trufont/trufont・177 stars
443. algorithmic-music-exploration/amen・175 stars
444. matrix-org/dendrite・175 stars
445. libratbag/libratbag・175 stars
446. Spreads/Spreads・174 stars
447. semperfiwebdesign/all-in-one-seo-pack・174 stars
448. nextcloud/bookmarks・172 stars
449. nightingale-media-player/nightingale-hacking・172 stars
450. vmware/docker-volume-vsphere・171 stars
451. lidarr/Lidarr・171 stars
452. uxbox/uxbox・168 stars
453. OpenRA/ra2・168 stars
454. Spacelog/Spacelog・167 stars
455. AdguardTeam/AdguardForiOS・167 stars
456. RestComm/Restcomm-Connect・165 stars
457. pychess/pychess・165 stars
458. camunda/camunda-modeler・164 stars
459. nextcloud/news・162 stars
460. nextcloud/ios・161 stars
461. codeforamerica/click_that_hood・160 stars
462. ejgallego/jscoq・159 stars
463. Trustroots/trustroots・157 stars
464. QubesOS/qubes-issues・157 stars
465. Microsoft/workbooks・157 stars
466. podlove/podlove-web-player・157 stars
467. publiclab/plots2・156 stars
468. magarena/magarena・156 stars
469. amilajack/popcorn-time-desktop・155 stars
470. quicwg/base-drafts・155 stars
471. balancemymoney/balance-open・154 stars
472. pixelated/pixelated-user-agent・152 stars
473. gap-system/gap・152 stars
474. inaturalist/inaturalist・152 stars
475. HabitRPG/habitica-ios・150 stars
476. lightninglabs/lightning-app・150 stars
477. yetibot/yetibot・149 stars
478. go-restruct/restruct・148 stars
479. nextcloud/nextcloudpi・142 stars
480. nextcloud/mail・140 stars
481. AdguardTeam/AdguardForAndroid・139 stars
482. smartchicago/chicago-atlas・139 stars
483. aaronpk/IndieAuth.com・138 stars
484. cloudflare/doca・138 stars
485. CaliOpen/Caliopen・138 stars
486. googlefonts/fontbakery・137 stars
487. juju/juju-gui・132 stars
488. ekylibre/ekylibre・131 stars
489. atom/settings-view・131 stars
490. rosedu/wouso・130 stars
491. vgstation-coders/vgstation13・129 stars
492. stefan-niedermann/nextcloud-notes・129 stars
493. AppleWin/AppleWin・129 stars
494. httpwg/http-extensions・129 stars
495. mozilla/fxa-content-server・128 stars
496. ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K・128 stars
497. clojure/clojure-site・127 stars
498. lewissbaker/cppcoro・126 stars
499. JohnCoatesOSS/Limitless・126 stars
500. OpenChemistry/tomviz・126 stars
PS: Don’t forget to read How to Contribute to Open Source.
