Who runs the partner program: 7x, the Foundation and the project
Partners deal with two organizations around one open source project. This page explains which one does what in the partner program, based only on what the published sources say, and lists what they do not say yet.
The two organizations
| 7x | The Exponential Foundation | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A company: "a responsive North American web design, support, development and website hosting company" (https://se7enx.com/about) | A 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation founded in Seattle on 19 March 2026 (https://foundation.exponential.earth/) |
| Role in the project | "7x took over leadership of the project and it's development, support, adoption and community growth in 2023" (README.md) | "This project is operated by the Exponential Foundation" (https://exponential.earth/about/project) |
| GitHub Sponsors | https://github.com/sponsors/se7enxweb | https://github.com/sponsors/exponentialcms |
Background on both: Who is 7x? and Who is the Exponential Foundation?.
What the sources say about the partner program
The partner program pages on exponential.earth (read 18 October 2026) consistently name 7x as the party that runs the program:
- "7x categorizes partners into the following levels" (https://exponential.earth/partner/program-levels).
- "7x is a principle-centered company. We have three fundamental values that define who we are and how we relate to our partners" (https://exponential.earth/partner/program).
- "7x uses a point system to measure the value-oriented collaboration between 7x and each partner" (same page).
- The contract is signed "On behalf of 7x" and disputes are "Settled in 'Seattle, Washington' USA" (same page).
- The partner subscription is bought in the 7x store: https://my.se7enx.com/store/exponential-partners.
- "Program Changes 7x reserves full rights to change or administer this program" (same page).
The program is published on the project website, exponential.earth, and the program text is licensed "Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International", copyright 2025 7x (same page).
What the sources do not say
The Foundation's own site lists ways to support it (a sustaining subscription or a one-time donation, GitHub Sponsors) but no published page describes a role of the Foundation in the partner program. These questions are therefore to be defined by the Foundation:
- Whether the Foundation will co-sign, endorse or certify partners.
- Whether part of partner subscriptions flows to the Foundation.
- Whether the Foundation will keep its own partner directory.
- How the program's governance is shared between 7x and the Foundation.
Tip
Until the Foundation publishes its role, treat 7x as your counterpart for everything in the partner program: applications, agreements, invoices, levels, support tickets and co-marketing. Treat the Foundation as the steward of the open source project you build on.
How this affects you in practice
| You want to | Talk to | Page |
|---|---|---|
| Apply, change level, renew | The partner team at 7x ([email protected], or https://exponential.earth/partner/contact-us) | How to apply |
| Ask about invoices for the partner subscription | 7x (the store seller) | Partner plans and prices |
| Get technical support under your plan | 7x, through your GitHub issue tickets | Opening a partner support ticket |
| Support the open source project financially | The Foundation, and 7x | Sponsors: start here |
| Contribute code, docs, translations | The project on GitHub | Contributing code back |
Related pages
- Working with 7x
- Working with the Exponential Foundation
- Governance: who decides what
- Free documentation: this page is free to copy, translate and improve under the GNU FDL 1.3.
Copyright and copyleft
Since 29 October 2026 the copyright of Exponential is held by the Exponential Foundation and 7x together, the Foundation named first: "Exponential Copyright © 1998-2026 Exponential Foundation and 7x", in files "Copyright (C) 1998 - 2026 Exponential Foundation and 7x. All rights reserved." Who holds it and why, what the GPL lets you do, the third-party notices that stay and how to write the notice in new files and extensions: Copyright and copyleft.