Funding

Running a full featured, highly available and performant Mastodon instance costs money. We don't have investors, run ads, or sell your data. vmst·io is funded by the membership of the instance. Without you, we don't exist.

While access to your account does not require a paid subscription, for those that can afford it we have options to help cover the cost our operations:

Monthly subscriptions are preferred through Ko-Fi or Patreon.

Fund with Ko-Fi

Subscriptions through Patreon have higher fees than our other options.

Fund with Patreon

Yearly subscriptions can be managed through Open Collective.

Fund with Open Collective

You can also make one-time contributions directly through Stripe, also available via either Ko-Fi or Open Collective.

Fund with Stripe

Subscription Tiers

TierMonthlyBenefits
Red$2First time shout-out plus profile badge
Blue$4First time & recurring shout-outs plus profile badge
Purple$8First time & recurring shout-outs plus profile badge
Chartreuse$14First time & recurring shout-outs plus profile badge
Tartan$24First time & recurring shout-outs plus profile badge

The Chartreuse and Tartan tiers feature the immense gratitude of the server team.

Contribution Benefits

Keeping vmst.io online costs on average about $1.25 per active member. The ideal situation would be for every active user to be a Red subscriber, but we recognize that's not always possible. The real difference between the tiers is how much you feel your usage of the platform is worth.

Everyone who helps fund our operations gets their first contribution posted by our @funding. bot.

  • All tiers get "Subscriber" badge on the user profile visible to other vmst.io members.
  • Those who sign up for Blue tier or higher will always be included in a recurring shoutout post by @vmstan.

Members who provide financial support are still subject to the same rules of the road that all members must follow.

Merch

We have some stylish merchandise available through Cotton Bureau, featuring our "Toots In / Toots Out" logo. T-shirts, sweatshirts and tank tops, starting at $25.

Style via Cotton Bureau