Substratum Business Model
Last Updated: 2026-06-12
This page is public on purpose. Substratum is a sovereignty product—families deserve to know what we charge for, what stays free, and what we cannot control when you use your existing login.
Related: Why Substratum · Glossary · ADR 32: Account entitlements · ADR 36: Marketing landing · ADR 37: PDS entitlement proxy & billing · ADR 38: Support & entitlement admin · ADR 39: OIDC bridge (Discourse) · Garage v1 rollout
Words on this page
| Customer copy | What it means technically |
|---|---|
| Your existing login | Sign in with Bluesky, Tangled, or another AT Protocol handle—identity stays at that provider. |
| Substratum login and file metadata | A Substratum-operated sign-in and the file ownership records we anchor for you (AT Protocol repo + Passport receipts). |
| Support | Substratum operates your sign-in and ownership records (continuity, export)—plus Discourse for paid login customers. Bundled with Substratum login (Once and base membership). |
| Safety-net storage | Off-site copies Substratum keeps in more than one region. Base membership only—not included in Substratum Once. |
| Home-to-home sync | Copies between homes you trust—built into the protocol and software, not a paid offering. Works with your existing login or Substratum login. |
Philosophy
We follow a Rework-style posture: opinionated scope, no bloat, and honesty about trade-offs.
| Principle | What it means for customers |
|---|---|
| Epicenter over features | One job: keep family memories in more than one trusted place so a single failure does not erase history. |
| Honest about price | We do not compete with Google, Microsoft, Dropbox, or iCloud on bulk $/GB. They subsidize storage at scale; a small team cannot match that—and should not pretend to. |
| Compete on resilience and ownership | Home copies on your disks, optional paid multi-region safety copies, identity you can move—not one company’s only basket. |
| Transparency | This document, open source, and AT Protocol—no hidden lock-in story. |
| Freedom to leave | Your handle and history stay portable. Home copies remain yours. Leaving should be possible; we treat that as retention, not a threat. |
| No forced subscription (Rework) | Substratum login is a paid by-product we must gate—$99 once buys managed login and metadata alone; $5/mo adds safety-net storage. Subscription is not required to get operated login. |
We are the anti-rental-cloud in architecture and identity, not in “free unlimited cloud GB.” Operating Substratum login and file metadata costs real hosting money; we gate it. Home copies use your hardware and stay outside that gate.
What we do not offer
| Claim | Reality |
|---|---|
| “Cheaper than iCloud / Google One / Dropbox” | No. Safety-net overage (~$0.12/GB/mo) is higher than subsidized big-cloud tiers for the same raw gigabytes. |
| “Free cloud storage from Substratum” | No. We do not host your library for free. Your existing login and home-to-home sync on your hardware are free; Substratum login and file metadata (our operated sign-in) is paid and gated. |
| “Replace your photo app on price” | No. Families who only want the cheapest online album should stay on big rental clouds. Substratum is for families who want copies in homes they trust first. |
What we are (and are not)
Substratum is not a generic “cloud storage” offering.
Substratum is a sovereignty and redundancy service for families:
- Home copies — files synchronized across homes and devices you trust (via the home helper / installer).
- Optional safety copies — secure storage Substratum operates in more than one part of the world when home-to-home sync is slow or risky.
- Login choice — use your existing login or pay for Substratum login and file metadata when you want us to operate sign-in and ownership records for you.
Two sign-in paths
| Path | Cost | Who runs sign-in and metadata | What Substratum can protect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your existing login | No Substratum fee (your provider’s rules still apply) | Bluesky, Tangled, or another AT Protocol host | Drive sync, sharing, optional paid safety-net copies—subject to that provider (policy changes, suspension, export limits). |
| Substratum login and file metadata | Paid (subscription or lifetime license) | Substratum | Sign-in we operate, ownership records we anchor, signup gated on payment, stronger continuity and export runbooks. |
Product rule: Creating a Substratum login runs only after payment is verified—either Substratum Once (by-product only) or base membership (by-product + safety-net bundle). Your existing login via OAuth stays available without that gate.
Honest copy for existing-login users: you keep sovereignty at Bluesky, Tangled, or wherever you already are; we have less control to shield you from upstream account or policy risk. Substratum login and file metadata is our paid by-product: we operate sign-in and ownership records so hosting costs and support are covered.
Paid by-product: Substratum login (gated)
Operating a Substratum login (managed sign-in + file metadata on our infrastructure) is the commercial by-product that funds hosting. It is not given away—signup is payment-gated when checkout is live (see What's available today).
Home copies on your disks stay outside this gate—you pay us to operate sign-in and ownership records, not to replace your home storage. Home-to-home sync is baked into the protocol and software for everyone; we do not sell it as part of Once or base membership.
Substratum Once ($99 one-time) — by-product only
Pay once for the by-product alone (Rework: no forced subscription to get a Substratum login).
| Included | Not included |
|---|---|
| Substratum login and file metadata | Safety-net storage (no included GB, no off-site copies from us) |
| Support — we operate your sign-in home and continuity | — |
Once covers hosting and support for login and metadata—nothing more. Need safety-net copies? That is base membership, not Once.
Base membership ($5 / month) — by-product + safety net
Subscription for families who also want off-site safety copies bundled with operated login.
| Included |
|---|
| Substratum login and file metadata |
| Support |
| Included safety-net storage — 25 GB included (may adjust from measured COGS; we will say so here) |
Home-to-home sync is not part of this offering—it is already in the product for all users (see Words on this page).
Safety-net overage: $0.12 / GB / month above the included allowance.
Example family on base membership: ~250 GB in safety net → about $32 / month: $5 base (includes 25 GB) + ~$27 overage (225 GB × $0.12). That is more than many big-cloud plans for the same gigabytes—we charge for redundancy across homes and regions, not for winning a price war.
Two checkouts, two scopes
| Substratum Once | Base membership | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $99 one-time | $5 / month |
| Managed login + file metadata | Yes — this is the whole offering | Yes |
| Support | Yes | Yes |
| Safety-net storage | No | Yes (25 GB included) |
| Home-to-home sync | Built into protocol/software (not an offering) | Built into protocol/software (not an offering) |
| Monthly bill | None | $5 (+ overage if applicable) |
Pick Once if you only want our operated login and metadata paid up front. Pick base membership if you also want safety-net storage from Substratum.
Commercial layers
| Layer | Customer-facing idea | What you pay for |
|---|---|---|
| Substratum Once | Managed login + file metadata + support only | $99 one-time; no safety-net storage |
| Base membership | Managed login + metadata + safety-net bundle | $5/mo; 25 GB included |
| Home-to-home sync | Mesh sync between trusted homes | Included in protocol/software—not monetized |
| Safety-net overage | Extra off-site GB above base allowance | $0.12/GB/mo (base membership only) |
| Fair-use upload limits | SaaS API caps on very large uploads | Engineering limits on SaaS paths (ADR 32) |
Self-hosted families: no Substratum upload quota on their own gateway; disk limits are operator choices on home hardware only. Builders: see ADR 32 for entitlement enforcement.
Secondary revenue
The primary by-product is gated Substratum login (above). Additional streams:
| Stream | Model | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Infrastructure for builders | Usage-based (future) | Multi-region private swarm capacity for other AT Protocol projects on Tangled. |
Lean team, build in public—no “community manager” headcount as a strategy. See also the Open Collective update on the distributed persistence layer vision.
Infrastructure phases
| Phase | Scale | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Garage | 0–500 users | Substratum login service + regional mesh nodes; managed Postgres + object storage. |
| Production | 1,000+ users | Horizontally scaled login/metadata stack; elastic object storage; CI/CD from the Tangled repo. |
Statelessness: Services are designed to migrate across providers without customer data lock-in to a single machine.
Customer support
Paid Substratum login customers (Once and base membership) get support—not a ticket black hole, not a dedicated “community manager” headcount (Rework: stay lean, stay reachable).
Channel: Self-hosted Discourse at support.* — sign in with Substratum (AT Protocol via OIDC bridge at id.support.*; ADR 39). Access after operator grant or checkout; entitlement-gated.
| Who | Support |
|---|---|
| Substratum Once or base membership | Discourse access for operated-login issues: sign-in, metadata, export, safety-net (base), billing |
| Your existing login only | Public docs, getting started, and self-hosted troubleshooting—no guaranteed Discourse seat |
What support covers: continuity and export for Substratum login, help when our operated sign-in or ownership records misbehave, and honest escalation when the fix is on Bluesky/Tangled upstream (BYO path). What it does not cover: unlimited 1:1 home-network IT for every family member—we document the home helper path; the household operator is still the first line for local disks.
Discourse SSO flow, support.* deployment, and response expectations: Garage v1 rollout and ADR 38.
Risk and mitigation
| Risk | Mitigation we commit to |
|---|---|
| Provider failure | Stateless services + portable Postgres and object storage. |
| Customer distrust of rental clouds | Home copies first; safety net optional; portable AT Protocol identity. |
| Scope creep | Epicenter only—family redundancy, not “everything app.” |
| Pricing guesswork | Publish this page; change it when measured COGS disagree. |
| “We vanished when I paid” | Discourse channel for paid login customers; export runbooks in operations docs. |
How we make money without breaking trust
- No gate path — Your existing login and home copies on your disks build trust; we do not fund free operated login or unlimited safety-net GB.
- Gated by-product — Substratum login and file metadata (hosted sign-in) is what we sell to cover hosting and support.
- Two checkouts — $99 once for the by-product alone, or $5/mo for by-product + safety net (Rework: pay-once path exists; subscription is not required to get operated login).
- Transparency — If margins or COGS change, we adjust published pricing and explain why.
Questions
What is Substratum Once vs $5/month?
Once ($99) buys only managed Substratum login and file metadata (plus support)—no included safety-net storage. Base membership ($5/mo) adds safety-net storage and a 25 GB bundle. Home-to-home sync is the same on both paths—it is built into the protocol and software, not something we gate or sell. Once is the Rework pay-once path for the by-product; base is the monthly path if you also want off-site copies from us.
Why pay for Substratum login if Bluesky is free?
Bluesky runs their sign-in under their rules. Substratum login and file metadata is us operating your sign-in home and ownership records—for continuity, export, and safety-net integration. We meter that fairly.
Can I use Substratum without paying Substratum?
Yes, with your existing login and home copies on hardware you already own—no Substratum storage bill. That is not “free cloud storage”; it is your disks + our sync software. Safety-net storage and Substratum login and file metadata are optional paid layers.
Why would I pay more than Google or iCloud?
You might not—and that is fine. Substratum is for families who want copies in trusted homes and optional multi-region safety, not the lowest $/GB. Big clouds win on price; we aim to win on where copies live and who controls sign-in and metadata.
What if Substratum shuts down?
Home copies remain in homes you trust. Existing-login users move their handle to another provider. Substratum login customers get export and runbook priority we document in operations—and support via Discourse while the service is running.
How do I get help?
Your existing login: docs and troubleshooting runbooks. Paid Substratum login: Discourse—invite after checkout—for operated sign-in, metadata, and export questions.
Learn more
- Why Substratum — family-facing product story
- Getting started — home helper setup
- ADR 32 — technical entitlements and upload policy
- Marketing landing ADR — public pricing UX rules
- The intergalactic web — essays on ownership, privacy, and permissions on the distributed web
- Substratum on Open Collective — the open-source distributed persistence layer vision