No investors

Fast clients and huge channels; optional E2EE and a semi-centralized model create a distinct trade-off between freedom and trust in the operator.

Tips and memberships with lighter branding than Patreon; Gold tier and shop features add platform dependency over time.

Creator subscriptions with high take rate and policy whiplash; payment processors and brand risk shape who can stay on platform.

Still user-respecting by default, but growing reliance on the nonprofit’s roadmap and network effects builds soft lock-in.

Dominant PC games client; strong library lock-in and social graph, still delivering real value to buyers.

A steward-owned search engine that can’t be sold and spends its profits on climate projects.

Paid, ad-free email on open standards, so you can bring your own domain and leave whenever you like.

Open-source browser with privacy-forward defaults and no ad-tech parent; Mozilla’s funding model is fragile but the user-facing product still skews toward surplus over extraction.

Open-source publishing platform run by a nonprofit foundation; self-hostable for free, Ghost Pro managed hosting funds the foundation without taking a cut of creator revenue.

Nonprofit digital library behind the Wayback Machine: free, ad-free, and run for preservation—under constant legal and financial pressure rather than profit pressure.

Indie game marketplace where creators set their own price and revenue split—including 0% to the platform; bootstrapped, no ads, and structurally hostile to extraction by design.

Paid, ad-free search funded by subscribers instead of advertisers—you are the customer, so the results are tuned for you.

A nonprofit offering free lessons and practice for anyone, with no ads.

The free, open-source office suite from a nonprofit, now chosen by governments leaving Microsoft.

Federated microblogging with no single owner; rough edges, but user surplus and exit to other instances is real.

Creator-owned streaming platform run by Standard Broadcast; subscription-only with no ads and a revenue share that returns the majority to creators—rare structural alignment at scale.

Local-first note-taking app; files stay on your device in plain Markdown, sync and publish are optional paid add-ons, and the core product is free for personal use with no VC pressure.

A one-time-purchase iPad drawing app with no subscription, no ads, and a public pledge against generative AI.

End-to-end encrypted email from a Swiss nonprofit-aligned foundation; free tier with no ads or scanning, paid plans fund the service without monetising user data.

A customisable, employee-owned browser that doesn’t track you and has refused to add generative AI.

A nonprofit reader mission with volunteer editors; ads are off by default and the core reading experience still prioritizes users over rent extraction.