I have mixed feelings, right now I'm experiencing a similar story with a project I have, and at this point I'm frustrated because whatever feature or differentiator I add, my competition takes it, at this point I feel like I'm the one shaping my competitor.
I can only spend ~4 hours/week to this project and I'm the only person behind it, whereas my competitor has ~20 active contributors, so I'm starting to get dismotivated enough to continue with the project...
Considering that my competition is stealing whatever I do, and considering that I don't have the resources to compete with them, I don't see much options...
My project is closed, their project is open. No party is directly involved in any money-related activity and there are many legal and political reasons behind this situation.
There is much backstory to tell, but my intention is not to deviate from the main thread, but to share that I can relate with the frustration of not being able to stand against a competitor due to lack of resources.
In my case it was more viable to give up since it was a "for fun project" (and the fun stopped when I had to take care about defending my work, getting a lawyer, taking care about how to license it, etc.), but I'm pretty sure that if the project were an important part of my career or my living I would have looked for options to save it.
I can only spend ~4 hours/week to this project and I'm the only person behind it, whereas my competitor has ~20 active contributors, so I'm starting to get dismotivated enough to continue with the project...
Considering that my competition is stealing whatever I do, and considering that I don't have the resources to compete with them, I don't see much options...