Comment by anatoli_k

Solo dev here, shipped a security scanning SaaS where the core value is in the scoring methodology and detection logic. These are exactly the kind of thing that looks algorithmically copyable. What I learned is that the algorithm was never the moat. The moat is the boring stuff around it - handling edge cases at scale, calibrating thresholds against real world data, the integrations, support quality, response time and honestly just being the project that's still maintained 18 months later when someone Googles your problem. A large org or well known developer who clones your idea has to commit headcount to maintain it, most of them won't. The ones who do, will move slower than you because they have stakeholders, they need to do meetings, sync and prioritize tasks. Speed of iteration based on real user feedback is something a solo dev wins at by default, but only if you have users and you don't get users by hiding. Open source your project, license it AGPL if commercial use worries you, but spend more time on the launch than the license. Additionally, remember that even with licensing, the cost of protecting your licensed services can be too big to handle for solo developers and that alone can kill the project. My personal point of view is that the thing that kills solo projects is not theft - it's lack of progress.