Does getting paid for open source software development make you a manufacturer?

No. Companies that get paid for open source development work are service providers, not manufacturers under the CRA.

The CRA applies to products being placed on the EU market, not to development services. A manufacturer is defined as a person who develops or manufactures products with digital elements and "markets them under its name or trademark" (Article 3(14)). A company providing contracted development services for open source software it is not responsible for is not marketing a product under its own name.

This distinction holds regardless of the client's status. Whether the client is an open-source software steward, a manufacturer, or another type of organization, the service provider relationship does not make the contractor a manufacturer. The determining factor is who places the product on the market under their name or trademark, not who performs the development work.