How we keep Ichnus free
Free is not the absence of cost — it is a decision about who pays. Here is the economics behind Ichnus.
There is a question we get more than any other: how can this be free? It is the right question. Ichnus runs on real servers, does real compute, employs real people. Free is not a feature that fell out of the sky. It is an economic decision, and it only holds if the numbers work.
This is how they work.
Who pays
Curos is funded by three kinds of money, none of which comes from our users in exchange for the product:
- Philanthropic foundations that fund public-interest work. Their grants make up the largest share. We take their money because their mission matches ours — and never with strings attached to the product.
- Individual donations from people who use Ichnus and want it to keep existing. Small amounts, on average. Growing steadily.
- Public research grants for interpretability and safety work — funding for the research we would do anyway.
There is a fourth, small category: fee-based API access for non-profits and public-sector partners, priced at cost. An organization that needs heavy programmatic access pays what it costs us to provide it, and no more.
Who does not pay
No one pays for the product. Individual use of Ichnus is free, with no ads, no data sales, and no “premium” version that gets the good model. There is no such version. Everyone gets the same assistant.
What we refuse
Not every offer is worth taking. We have turned down money that came with conditions we could not meet — funding tied to product decisions, exclusive arrangements, or influence over how Ichnus behaves. Independence is the whole point, and independence is expensive. We budget for it.
What it costs
Serving a free assistant to a lot of people is the single biggest cost line after our team. Compute is expensive, and it is the reason efficiency research is a core part of what we do, not a side project. Every percent of serving cost we can shave is a percent of free we can sustain.
The honest part
This model has risks. Foundation funding can concentrate; donation income is unpredictable; a downturn would force hard choices. We manage it the only way a non-profit can — with a lean budget, an audited annual report, and the option, always, to say no.
Free is not magic. It is a budget that has to work, published every year so you can check it. You can check it on the transparency page.
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