Reflex
Reflex Branding #4828
Replies: 8 comments 2 replies
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Vova, I've been working with Reflex for a year now. I make game websites on it. I've been working closely with the framework for a year now, and I can say that such an innovation is controversial. It can be used on Reflex hosting, but of course, people tend to do anything on their hosting sites. Initially, Reflex is a framework, a library for Python. Like other libraries, it is a tool. But let's not forget that, for example, Django or Flask, when compiling a project into a pond, do not have built-in unpluggable ads. The introduction of unplugged advertising leads to a decrease in interest in the library, as well as to a decrease in reputation due to questionable innovations. The fact that you have been making Reflex for free for several years and are already thinking about making money from it is not a bad thing. We have made a Reflex Cloud, but can you please look at the tax deduction, how many people use it? I would use Reflex Cloud myself, despite all the sanctions in my country, but the built-in functionality of this hosting service stops me. It needs to be developed, then the money will come to you there by itself. Finally, you can raise the awareness of the project using Google Ads and other similar platforms. You can develop the media part through YouTube and many other ways, but not by adding a pin, which is done in Reflex. |
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Thank you for opening the discussion here! For people new to the discussion: Thoughts: We don't know any frontend coding framework that puts a badge on your website
With having to pay for removing brand awareness we enter the area of no code website builders like Wix, Weblow et. al. Open source code that can be self hosted should not have to be paid imo. . One of the reasons we chose reflex and promoted it online and offline, is that you can run it anywhere you want no strings attached - if you put in enough effort. We spent endless hours getting our reflex apps running on different environments. Seeing our github actions fail, our docker container terminate, and our SSL certificates rate limited. This would not have been possible without the reflex team, by building reflex in this fast pace the last years and giving support on discord / the forum. Very grateful for that, along with 21k other github users! . The problem for us is not so much the "built with reflex" button itself - the reflex code can be tweaked to remove it. The main issue is a loss of trust in Reflex as a project. We trusted that Reflex will become one of the major ways to build software. Being deployed on millions of machines just like React, Docker or SQLite. . Forcing developers to pay in order to use the full power of Reflex moves it away from this realm. Suddenly it's not anymore the open source python web framework any dev can use. It's a software where you gotta pay to remove the advertisement . "It can absolutely be self hosted for free - it will just have a small badge" - yes, but such a small badge is a dealbreaker for any serious project. Advertisement on your web app is only ok if you have nothing more than a demo app. And for this I can use Streamlit. |
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As a long-time Reflex user and advocate, I have serious concerns about the new mandatory branding requirement. The core issue isn't just about a small badge - it's about respecting the fundamental principles of open source software and developer autonomy. When developers choose a framework, they're making a long-term technical investment based on trust. This move significantly undermines that trust. Key problems with the new branding approach:
I fully support the team finding ways to sustainably fund development. But there are better approaches:
The current approach risks driving away developers and damaging Reflex's reputation in the open source community. I strongly urge reconsidering this policy before it causes lasting harm to the project's adoption and goodwill. |
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I totally agree with @jq6l43d1 and @dentroai above. My thoughts:
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I don't have as an elaborate or in-depth point as some of the previous replies. However, I personally am of the opinion that the solution to Reflex making revenue (which it completely deserves) is not to force branding you must pay to remove onto peoples sites, but instead work to improve and innovate on the paid subscription (Reflex Cloud) to the point where for the large majority, it is their only reasonable option. The no brainer for anyone who doesn't want to fully manage everything themselves. It always feels just a tiny bit of a "cheap win" to just try force peoples hand into paying for OSS. I will continue to show my support for this project, by using Reflex Cloud, which is already pretty ok convenience wise. That being said, I almost definitely wouldn't have put my money into this project if I wasn't so impressed by the freedoms and purity of the open source project. |
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Reflection on My Report and the Direction of the ProjectHello Reflex team and community, I want to share a reflection on my recent experience with Reflex and my vulnerability report regarding the "Built with Reflex" badge. My Initial IntentRecently, I discovered a way to remove the Reflex badge on a deployed application in Reflex Cloud, not just in a local environment. I saw this as a potential vulnerability that could pose a security risk in other aspects, so I decided to report it directly to the Reflex team with the intention of strengthening the framework and helping improve its security. At the time, I thought I was doing the right thing as a contributor, helping make Reflex more secure and robust. However, now that I have read the community's comments and seen the discussion on GitHub, I realize that this situation is much bigger than I initially imagined. Why Do I See Things Differently Now?Like many here, I believe in Reflex as an open-source framework with enormous potential. Its ease of use and Python integration make it ideal for those of us who don't want to juggle multiple languages. But now I ask myself:
While I have no personal issue with the badge itself, I completely understand why the community is upset. The idea of forcing branding on self-hosted projects and conditioning its removal to a payment contradicts the flexibility and autonomy we expected from Reflex. Where Does This Leave Me?I realize that my report, instead of being a positive contribution to the community, might end up being used to further reinforce this restriction in Reflex. And that gives me an odd feeling because I don't want to be on the wrong side of this discussion. I do not seek to exploit bugs or encourage the misuse of vulnerabilities. But I also don't want to contribute to an initiative that is generating distrust in the community. Reflex has gained support from many developers, professors, and enthusiasts precisely because it is open-source, accessible, and easy to use. And I worry that this direction might make many of us stop feeling like we are part of this project. A Call for ReflectionIt is valuable that the Reflex team has a forum to discuss these issues, and I am glad they can listen to the community. But what I see in this discussion is clear: the community is not against Reflex seeking monetization, but against the way it is being done. If this policy continues unchanged, what will really happen is that more developers will look for ways to bypass these restrictions or abandon the framework. I truly want to keep contributing, but this situation has changed my perception of the project. Reflex is still in its early stages, and the community is not yet large enough for these kinds of restrictions to be sustainable without consequences. If Reflex wants to grow, it must build its reputation on trust, not on restrictions. I do not seek controversy, I just want to express how this situation has changed my perception of the framework. And although I will continue to observe how Reflex evolves, my enthusiasm for contributing is not the same as before. Final ReflectionThe most curious thing about all this is that this vulnerability report, where I managed to ensure that the badge did not affect me, was made just a few minutes before reading the community discussion. After catching up on what has been said in this forum, I feel strange asking myself: What have I done? Did I really do the right thing? What is the right side here? The morally correct side or the technically correct side? I have already exposed what I did; I have already explained how I managed to bypass this. And now I just feel strange. With this, I am not trying to expose or glorify my discovery, much less, but to say that this genuinely lowers my motivation to continue contributing to the project. I hope Reflex truly values its community and does not just focus on its branding. |
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We were considering using Reflex for our stack and now I am second guessing the choice. I am sure there are many like myself. I urge the Reflex team to reconsider their direction here if they want to retain developers and continue being "fully open-sourced." |
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A new beta version of Reflex was released relatively recently. They left the same bar in it, but you can hide it without paying for hosting from Reflex. It's encouraging that the Reflex team can take action based on discussions on Github. To be honest, I don't know yet what plans the team has for further monetization, but I think it's best to leave the library completely free and use it to monetize: paying for hosting, using ready-made components (for example, integrating payment systems). |
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That’s a great idea. They could further monetize by selling a premium library of pre-made components ready to use, a boilerplate, etc. |
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Of the monetization options, it would be possible to come up with the integration of React libraries. For example, MUI to the Reflex family for an additional one-time payment |
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As of reflex-0.7.0, the newly introduced Reflex Branding is a badge in the lower right corner of each page showing the
[R]logo and displaying the text "Built with Reflex" on viewports wider than 1024px. The badge is displayed in production mode and in exported apps.The branding can be removed for Reflex Cloud subscribers in Team or Enterprise tier by setting
show_built_with_reflex=Falseinrxconfig.py(see link above).Why are we doing this?
Commitment to Open Source
Reflex is and always will be an open source project. As a user, if you don't like some aspect of the framework, you are encouraged to modify or remove it to suit your needs. The branding is one avenue being explored to offset development costs of the rapid pace at which the project has been evolving.
This discussion will remain open as long as the commentary is constructive. We want to hear your feedback or suggestions, but posts that are solely complaints/rants or that contain instructions to hide the branding may be removed to keep the conversation focused.
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