What it costs, and how we mean to pay for it
Every feature is free right now, for every community, with no trial period and no card. There is not even a way to pay us if you wanted to.
That is deliberate while we are still building. It also means we are not yet a sustainable business, and we would rather say so than imply otherwise.
What it costs to run is unglamorous: servers, email delivery, and the people who build and support it. Nothing goes to advertising, and nothing is paid out to shareholders.
The ground rules
What will never be for sale
No paid advertising
Your community is not an audience to be rented out. There are no paid ads now and there will not be any later, because the moment attention pays the bills, attention becomes the product.
Nothing sold about you
No profiles assembled, nothing passed to data brokers, no third parties watching over our shoulder.
No value extracted
Infrastructure a community depends on should not become a private asset to be squeezed. That is a commitment we have put in writing, not a mood.
The plan
Free today, carried together later
Today: free, and nothing to buy
Later: carried by those who can
Who owns this, and who will
Zen Social is owned today by Liisberg Consulting ApS, a Danish company. We have committed to changing that — to an independent, purpose-locked ownership structure that protects the platform's purpose and core assets from future extraction, with communities, workers and representatives of the public interest sharing responsibility for it. That has not happened yet, and we would rather be held to it than quietly drop it.
The full commitment — and how far we have got — is on our mission and vision page.
Purpose-locked ownership
An independent structure that protects the platform's purpose and core assets from future extraction. Committed to in writing, not yet in place.
Stewardship shared
Representatives of the public interest are to share responsibility for Zen Social's development.
Organise your community now, for free
- Is it really free?
- Yes. Every feature, for every community. There is currently no way to pay us even if you would like to.
- Will you start charging?
- Most likely, in the form of voluntary contributions from those who can afford them, and possibly some additional paid features. What communities depend on is meant to remain usable whether or not they can pay.
- Why not just run ads?
- Because advertising decides what you see, and then what you see decides what gets posted. That is the mechanism we exist to avoid, and no amount of revenue is worth rebuilding it.
- Can local businesses take part?
- Yes — as members of the community, not as advertisers. We are planning to let local businesses post in the circles where they belong, always clearly marked, and with a way to keep commercial posts out of the feed. What stays off the table is selling reach: nobody can pay to be shown to your community.
- Who owns Zen Social?
- Liisberg Consulting ApS today, with a written commitment to move to shared, purpose-locked stewardship. Our mission and vision page sets out what that means and how far we have got.