OBJECTIVES: An open-source health economic model is defined here as one that is freely available to those who wish to access it. In addition to the model and its underlying code, a written report describing its aim, methods, structure and results should be freely available. A culture of open-source modelling allows existing models to be updated to answer new research questions and decision problems, and creates a transparent public arena for model validation, education, collaboration and learning across research, industry and healthcare communities. Despite these benefits, open-source health economic modelling is not standard practice. This research aimed to investigate the perceived benefits of and challenges to open-source modelling, from the perspective of the international health economics community. METHODS: A double-blinded short survey of 10 questions was made available to the following LinkedIn groups between 25 April 2016 and 6 May 2016: International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research; HTA in Europe (maintained by EUnetHTA), and institute for Medical Technology Assessment. RESULTS: The survey was undertaken by 46 respondents, whose main sector of work ranged across industry (35%), academia (32%), government (20%) and other (13%). 97% of respondents stated when reviewing information from an economic model that is not publicly available, having access to the model code would be beneficial to them. When asked what the most common reasons for wanting to access the details of a health economic model, 59% of respondents wished to learn the technical aspects for use in a different disease area or decision problem. CONCLUSIONS: The potential benefits of open-source health economic models are numerous and recognised by the international health economics community, and this research highlights the value of strategies to promote and facilitate open-source modelling practices.