Ask HN: Release software as open source?

I've been working on this cloud hosting software (basically a DigitalOcean clone) for quite some months/years on the side now and I finally am finishing everything up to release the software the next few days/weeks.

I think there is a sweet-spot for people where OpenStack is too "big" and they simply want to spawn VMs on demand like with DO/Linode/Vultr but on their own servers. This is where my software shines.

The software could also be used by hosting providers that are currently using legacy software solutions like SolusVM.

Since I put so much love (and of course time) into this software I have a hard time simply releasing it as open source. That would mean that everyone can use my software to earn money, without me seeing anything from that. I see the pros of open source, but somehow the cons are currently more prevalent.

This is why I am thinking about selling licenses for the software, which are based on how much servers are managed by my software. This way people who only use it privately with one server would pay nearly nothing while big providers will pay a fair amount for the foundation of their business (aka my software).

I am just torn between to open source it or not, I simply see it as a lot of money lost, more hassle to manage everything but on the other hand the project could grow much faster and with enterprise support, etc. there is also money on the table. I also thought about the GitLab way of releasing a CE edition as open core while having an enterprise edition, but this is so much work, that I currently don't have the time for as a one man dev.

I also fear that when releasing it open source, there is basically no way back.

Does anyone of you have experience with this? I would love to hear stories on which way you guys went with and if you regret it or how it worked out generally.

Thanks!