FOSS United’s follow-on grant to Rethink DNS

In 2023, FOSS United awarded a grant of 3 lakhs INR to Rethink DNS, a FOSS DNS resolver that helps make the internet safer and more transparent. This grant aimed to support the integration of WireGuard and related features into the Rethink DNS + Firewall app.

The project, which has also received grants from Mozilla (as part of the Builders MVP Program) and OSOM Privacy Inc., has been operational since August 2020. Over the last year, Rethink DNS has become increasingly popular in regions like Iran, Turkmenistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, the US, Germany, and Hong Kong and has over 5,00,000 downloads on Play Store. This growing user base has led to a surge in traffic that has increased the project’s infrastructure costs significantly. Until now, the two full-time developers behind Rethink DNS had been covering these expenses personally.

FOSS United is pleased to announce a follow-on grant of ₹7,00,000 to Rethink DNS. Of this, ₹3,00,000 will address current and near-future outstanding infrastructure costs, while the remaining amount will be allocated to the developers and disbursed in monthly installments over a year. While this grant provides immediate relief, the Rethink DNS team is actively exploring options to make the project financially sustainable in the long term. We wish them luck in their endeavors, and are excited to see yet another successful FOSS project out of India.

If you would like to support RethinkDNS, please head on to their sponsorship page or help them via github sponsors. If you would like to be a co-sponsor of this grant, please reach out to us. 

This grant is made possible thanks to our Industry Partners who help us run the FOSS United Grants program. If you are an organisation that wants to give back to the FOSS Community, please reach out to us at foundation[at]fossunited[dot]org.

If you’re an Indian FOSS project looking for funds, please drop us an email at grants[at]fossunited[dot]org. Additionally, check out FLOSS/fund, an initiative by Zerodha - one of FOSS United’s primary supporters.