Chip in
Everything here is free for personal use and stays that way. There is no tier above it, nothing held back, and no account to make. If you would like it to keep existing, this is the page for that.
However much you think it is worth
One time, no account, no membership, and nothing promised in return. You will not get a badge, a tier, or a feature that other people do not have, because there are not any — every tool on this site does the same thing for everybody who opens it.
Handled by Stripe. Card details never touch this site, and there is nothing here to make an account on.
Where it actually goes
Short list, because it is a short list.
- The domainRenewed once a year, like everybody's.
- The library shelfAbout fifteen tools need a real library to do their job — a PDF engine, a spreadsheet reader, a speech model. Those used to be fetched from other people's CDNs, in your browser, which handed two companies your address and told them which tool page you were on. They come through this site's own edge now, which costs something and is the reason nothing you do here is visible to anybody else.
- The timeWriting the tools, and the far less glamorous half: driving all 118 of them with a real file on every push, measuring every control on a phone, and reading the network while a file is being processed to prove nothing is sent.
What it does not go on is advertising, analytics or a tracker, none of which this site has, and none of which it will get. That is the whole point of it.
If you use it at work, this is the wrong page
Chipping in is a gift and it is not a licence. Everything here is free for any personal or noncommercial purpose, and using it for work is a commercial purpose, which needs a commercial licence. That is the thing that comes with a certificate you can hand to whoever asks for one, and it is what keeps this sustainable rather than charitable.
The pricing page lays out who needs one and what it covers. If you are not sure which side of the line you are on, the short version is: if the work you are doing with it is paid, it is commercial.
Other ways, if money is not the one
- Tell somebody. Every person who arrives here found it because a search matched, or because somebody sent them a link. There is no marketing budget behind it and there is not going to be one.
- Say what broke. A tool that did the wrong thing with your file is worth more to hear about than almost anything else, and there is an address at the foot of every page.
- Say what is missing. Several of the tools here exist because somebody wrote in and said they had been doing a job by hand.
What this is, and what it is not
Nothing is held back. There is no paid tier of this site and no plan to add one. Chipping in buys nothing you do not already have, which is why it is on its own page rather than in front of a feature.
It is one-off. Not a subscription, and there is nothing to cancel. If you want to do it again some time, this page will still be here.
A licence is a different thing. If you use the tools for work, the commercial licence is what covers that, and a contribution does not stand in for one.
Questions people ask
Do I have to pay to use OBSCURA OS?
No. Every tool is free for personal and noncommercial use, with no account and nothing held back. Using the tools at work is a commercial purpose and needs a commercial licence, which is a separate thing from chipping in.
What do I get for chipping in?
Nothing extra, and that is deliberate. There is no paid tier, no badge and no feature anybody else does not have. It is a contribution towards the site continuing to exist, not a purchase.
Is it a subscription?
No. It is one-off, there is no account, and there is nothing to cancel.
Where does the money go?
The domain, the edge that serves the vendored libraries so no other company sees which tool page you are on, and the time spent building and testing. Not advertising or analytics, because the site has neither.
I use it for work. Should I chip in or buy a licence?
A licence. Chipping in is a gift and does not cover commercial use. The commercial licence does, and it comes with a certificate you can file.