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last_review_date: "2026-07-18"
---

# Maintainer Stipends and Grants

The Lead Maintainers own and approve this policy.

## Maintainer stipends

### Eligibility

Each quarter, the Project Leader will notify maintainers whose contributions in the preceding quarter were insufficient for the stipend.

The Project Leader reviews stipend eligibility in the second half of March, June, September and December.
The Project Leader reviews eligibility for Annual General Meeting travel assistance in the second half of December.

Maintainers will not receive the stipend for months where they are doing paid project work.

### Amount and frequency

The stipend is US$300/month.
Maintainers are paid through invoices submitted to [Homebrew on Open Collective](https://opencollective.com/homebrew).

### Invoicing and getting paid

To reduce administrative overhead, maintainers should [set their invoices to recur once per quarter](https://docs.opencollective.com/help/expenses-and-getting-paid/submitting-expenses#regular-recurring-expenses), tag the request with `maintainer-stipend` and submit it to [Homebrew on Open Collective](https://opencollective.com/homebrew) for US$900, covering three months at US$300 per month.

Invoices must be filed during January, April, July and October for the preceding quarter.
If previous invoices were submitted on a different schedule, please adjust the amounts and the new schedule accordingly.

Invoices must contain:

* The date the invoice was created
* A due date at least 30 days after the creation date (NET30)
* Your legal banking name
* Your mailing address
* A line item for each quarter you are owed, noted as

        Homebrew Maintainer Stipend, #{start_month}–#{end_month} #{year}

  and the amount of the stipend.
  If the invoice template you are using has a quantity field, simply use 1.

Open Collective handles the payment transfer.
Enrol in its payment system before submitting an invoice; otherwise, payment will be delayed.

### Things to know

Maintainers who sponsor Homebrew for any amount should consider cancelling that sponsorship.
We appreciate the historical support, but being an active maintainer is more valuable to the project.
Moreover, contributing while receiving payment may complicate your taxes in some countries!

### Stipend program history

In November 2022, the Project Leadership Committee voted to pay maintainers a minimal monthly stipend via GitHub Sponsors.
The programme used accrued funds alongside larger individual development projects, such as API installation improvements and CI runners.

In August 2023, the Project Leadership Committee voted to change the way we pay maintainers from GitHub Sponsors to quarterly invoices submitted through Open Collective.

In December 2025, the Project Leadership Committee was replaced with the Lead Maintainers.

## Maintainer grants

Homebrew offers several grants to maintainers who are working to improve Homebrew. The Lead Maintainers authorise support for these categories of activities:

1. Organising a maintainer hackathon
1. Hardware expenses for maintaining Homebrew
1. Travel to conferences
1. Travel to the Homebrew Annual General Meeting

The [Expense and Reimbursement Policy](Expense-and-Reimbursement-Policy.md) requires pre-approval from the Lead Maintainers.
You can contact a Lead Maintainer through the private maintainer communication channel before submitting a request.

The Lead Maintainers may also support *ad hoc* awards.
Submit a proposal that explains how the expense advances Homebrew's goals before creating the [Open Collective](https://opencollective.com/homebrew) reimbursement request.

See [Expense and Reimbursement Policy's *Getting Reimbursed* section](Expense-and-Reimbursement-Policy.md#getting-reimbursed) for instructions how to submit expenses approved for the following sections.
Remember to tag the reimbursement request with `maintainer-grant`.

## Maintainer hackathons

Maintainer hackathons can be organised to rapidly develop new features or otherwise improve the Homebrew project in ways that cannot be achieved via online collaboration. Hackathon proposals must have a single organiser that will be the point of contact for the Lead Maintainers. The organiser, in their application, should provide the following in a pre-approval request:

* Well-defined goals that the hackathon will aim to achieve
* List of (tentatively) attending maintainers and their departure cities
* Proposed schedule with dates, location and itemised budget

You can contact a Lead Maintainer through the private maintainer communication channel before submitting a request.

Organisers should, if possible, seek local sponsorships to offset costs of e.g. venue or equipment hire. Organisers should also budget for group meals for lunches and dinners to build maintainer camaraderie.

The Lead Maintainers will reimburse travel expenses for reasonably local maintainers. For example, reimbursement for hackathon travel between Australia and Europe is unlikely, but reimbursement for travel within Europe is acceptable.
See the [Expense and Reimbursement Policy's Meals and Entertainment section](Expense-and-Reimbursement-Policy.md#meals-and-entertainment) on what meals may be covered.

All attendees must follow Homebrew's [Code of Conduct](https://github.com/Homebrew/.github/blob/HEAD/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md#code-of-conduct).

After the hackathon finishes, the organiser must provide to the Lead Maintainers a brief report on who attended and what was accomplished, with links to pull requests or other verifiable achievements.

## Homebrew hardware

The Lead Maintainers will reimburse reasonable purchases of hardware necessary to maintain Homebrew. To apply, a maintainer should submit to the Lead Maintainers for pre-approval:

1. A brief summary of their history of work for Homebrew.
1. A brief explanation of how the requested hardware is necessary for their work on Homebrew.
1. A list of items to be reimbursed, with prices and applicable taxes.

Eligibility for hardware grant is also subject to the following:

1. The maintainer must have been eligible for the maintainer stipend the last 4 quarters and been a maintainer at least a year.
1. A maintainer can only apply for hardware once every 4 years.

Homebrew does not fund top-of-the-range hardware when a lower-cost configuration meets the documented maintenance need.
The request must compare current models and explain the selected balance of cost, performance and expected useful life.
Homebrew's contribution must be no more than US$4,000.
A maintainer may pay the difference for a more expensive configuration after the Homebrew-funded configuration has been approved.

You can contact a Lead Maintainer through the private maintainer communication channel before submitting a request.

## Conference travel

The Lead Maintainers may reimburse maintainers who attend conferences that advance Homebrew's goals.
Maintainers who can obtain support from an employer, conference or another source should use that support before requesting Homebrew funds.
Maintainers giving a Homebrew-related presentation should acknowledge Homebrew's support and share the poster, slides or recording where possible.

To apply for reimbursement of conference expenses, a maintainer must submit to the Lead Maintainers:

* The name, location and dates of the conference
* The workshops, panels, or other events where maintainer attendance can benefit Homebrew
* The title of the Homebrew-related presentation (if applicable)
* An itemised estimate of conference expenses

As justification for attendance, the Lead Maintainers may ask the maintainer for a brief report on the conference, and how attending the conference has helped or could help improve Homebrew.

All travellers must follow Homebrew's [Code of Conduct](https://github.com/Homebrew/.github/blob/HEAD/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md#code-of-conduct) and the conference's policies.

## Annual General Meeting

The Lead Maintainers will typically reimburse the expenses of active maintainers to attend the Homebrew Annual General Meeting. The Lead Maintainers will solicit applications through the private maintainer communication channel yearly, around October. Maintainers who have not yet attended an annual meeting are especially encouraged to apply.

See [Expense and Reimbursement Policy's *Getting Reimbursed* section](Expense-and-Reimbursement-Policy.md#getting-reimbursed) for instructions how to seek approval for travel and submit approved expenses.
