Donations pay for the servers
None of the 13 apps need a subscription, and 9 do not even need an account. That leaves a lot of people using Numori with no way to chip in. This is that way.
Subscriptions pay the people who write the code. Donations are earmarked for the infrastructure underneath: the storage nodes, the sync relay, the build and release machinery. Separating the two means we can promise that the free apps stay free without quietly hoping they will one day be a funnel.
Where it actually goes
In rough order of size. We would rather name three concrete things than say “it helps us keep the lights on”.
- Servers and bandwidthStorage nodes, the sync relay, the database, monitoring and offsite backups. This is the largest share and the one that grows with the number of free accounts.
- TranslationPaying human translators instead of running the interface through a machine. It is a stated commitment, and commitments cost money.
- Accessibility auditsTesting with real assistive technology and paying people who use it daily to tell us where we got it wrong.
How to donate
Several options because donation platforms are unevenly available and take unevenly large cuts. GitHub Sponsors and Liberapay pass on the most; PayPal is the one most people already have.
Monthly is far more useful than one-off, even at a much smaller amount — a server bill is monthly too. But a single donation is genuinely welcome and there is no wrong size.
You get nothing for it, on purpose
No badge, no donor tier, no early access, no name in a credits file unless you ask. Partly because rewarding donations turns a gift into a purchase, which changes how it is taxed and complicates something that should be simple. Mostly because the alternative is a second pricing ladder built out of goodwill, and one honest price list is enough.
Ways to help that cost nothing
Money is the least interesting kind of contribution and often the least useful. All of these help more than a few pounds does.
- Report bugs. The issue tracker is open to everyone, paying or not.
- Translate an app into a language you actually speak.
- Audit the code. It is all public precisely so that someone will.
- Run an accessibility pass with the assistive technology you use.
- Tell one person who is looking for an alternative.