Opening up the tool for free is actually one of the options that I consider. Of course, only if there's a good reason to believe that this is the right way to go.
I know of some free alternatives, like http://www.ohloh.net/ but on the other hand there are also pricey reports on technology trends, such as: http://w3techs.com/ This shows that there are companies willing to pay a lot of money for technology insights.
BTW, is there any specific kind of data/insights you would be particularly interested in?
- developer-focused marketers (What are developers interested in, so we can build better products for them?)
- developer evangelists/advocates (Are developers adapting the tools we're evangelising about?)
- IT industry analysts (What are the industry trends? What will be popular next year?)
And from the discussions with those groups, I know they would be willing to pay for this kind of tool. Obviously, my goal is to build a critical mass of users and customers. And the dilemma is whether leave it a SaaS tool and earn from subscription or open it up for everyone and make profit in some other way...
This is not because it is data not worth paying for but rather because I usually start thinking about new tech at the start of a new project, and I only start a new project once every year or two. An ongoing fee for this type of aggregator seems hard to justify.
A possible alternative would be to open up the data for free and supply affiliate links to related books, tools etc.
Maybe it's just not aimed at a user like me.
All the best :)