We are currently the 3rd largest Lemmy instance in terms of monthly active users. This brings a financial burden and we would appreciate your help about it.
I only pin this post when we drop below $200. I know it’s annoying when the donation post is always at the top.
If you want to donate, here’s donation platforms we use:
- Throne.com: No registration needed, fiat only.
- Ethereum: 0x4e4af5dc2f86235ac496542c2a1c00f3c4de40c6
- Monero: 48VYVWPKk65KiDiBaLhvSggKSbDQ4vtdq6HHbDa2HxWLiBWVcZ65gTgMBu7UeSUcm4dasAMMaKHnJNJSgRKi7Q5R5HN9adg
- Trocador.app (multiple cryptocurrencies)
Donate to the team
@lemmyposter212 does heavy lifting by moderating the instance. Therefore, if you want to donate to them individually, you can use the ETH address below.
- 0xba69716dFa94685bE1302f0f875E8fAA8c180fC2
Financial status
Here is what we have and what we spent.
| date | description | USD | ETH | XMR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-06-02 | - load balance server | 245 | 0.0145 | 0.9677 (-0.0370) |
| 2025-05-27 | + donation | 245 | 0.0145 | 1.0048 (+1) |
| 2025-05-26 | + donation | 245 (+5) | 0.0145 | 0.0048 |
| 2025-05-26 | + donation | 240 (+20) | 0.0145 | 0.0048 |
| 2025-05-25 | + donation | 220 (+50) | 0.0145 | 0.0048 |
| 2025-05-19 | + donation | 170 (+20) | 0.0145 | 0.0048 |
| 2025-05-16 | + donation | 150 | 0.0145 (+0.0055) | 0.0048 |
| 2025-05-16 | + donation | 150 (+20) | 0.009 | 0.0048 |
| 2025-05-15 | - main server and media storage | 130 (-95) | 0.009 | 0.0048 |
| 2025-05-11 | - domain renewal | 225 (-17) | 0.009 | 0.0048 |
| 2025-05-04 | + thanks burger baron | 242 (+20) | 0.009 | 0.0048 |
| 2025-05-04 | + donation | 222 (+20) | 0.009 | 0.0048 |
| 2025-04-25 | - load balance server | 202 | 0.009 (-0.007) | 0.0048 |
| 2025-04-18 | + donation | 202 (+10) | 0.0161 | 0.0048 |
| 2025-04-16 | + donation | 192 (+20) | 0.0161 | 0.0048 |
| 2025-04-16 | + donation | 172 (+5) | 0.0161 | 0.0048 |
| 2025-04-16 | + donation | 167 | 0.0161 (+0.0073) | 0.0048 |
| 2025-04-15 | + donation | 167 (+5) | 0.0097 | 0.0048 |
| 2025-04-13 | + thank you radovic 🙏 | 162 (+30) | 0.0097 | 0.0048 |
| 2025-04-13 | + donation | 132 (+10) | 0.0097 | 0.0048 |
| 2025-04-12 | - main server and media storage | 122 (-95) | 0.0097 | 0.0048 |
| 2025-03-28 | - load balance server | 217 | 0.0097 | 0.0048 (-0.0541) |
| 2025-03-16 | - email credits | 217 (-50) | 0.0097 | 0.0590 |
| 2025-03-14 | - main server and media storage | 267 (-95) | 0.0097 | 0.0590 |
| 2025-03-12 | - media storage | 362 (-20) | 0.0097 | 0.0590 |
| 2025-02-23 | - load balance server | 382 | 0.0097 | 0.0590 (0.0505) |
| 2025-02-15 | - main server and media storage | 382 (-94) | 0.0097 | 0.1095 |
| 2025-01-26 | - load balance server | 476 | 0.0097 | 0.1095 (-0.0528) |
| 2025-01-20 | / XMR to USD | 476 (+355.6) | 0.0097 | 0.1624 (-1.8001) |
| 2025-01-15 | + donation | 120 (+50) | 0.0097 | 1.9625 |
| 2025-01-14 | - main server and media storage | 70 (-94) | 0.0097 | 1.9625 |
| 2025-01-03 | + donation | 164 (+50) | 0.0097 | 1.9625 |
| 2024-12-29 | - load balance server | 114 | 0.0097 | 1.9625 (-0.0598) |
| 2024-12-24 | + dec overall, 4 donations, thx 🙏 | 114 (+55) | 0.0097 | 2.0224 |
| 2024-12-14 | - main server | 59 (-75) | 0.0097 | 2.0224 |
| 2024-12-12 | - media storage | 134 (-18) | 0.0097 | 2.0224 |
| 2024-12-11 | + donation | 152 | 0.0097 | 2.0224 (+0.0106) |
| 2024-11-28 | + donation | 152 (+20) | 0.0097 | 2.0118 |
| 2024-11-26 | + donation | 132 (+5) | 0.0097 | 2.0118 |
| 2024-11-25 | + donation | 127 (+20) | 0.0097 | 2.0118 |
| 2024-11-24 | - load balance server | 107 | 0.0097 | 2.0118 (-0.0707) |
| 2024-11-16 | + donation (from 11-15) | 107 | 0.0097 | 2.0825 (+0.0569) |
| 2024-11-16 | + donation (from 11-07) | 107 | 0.0097 | 2.0256 (+1 🙏) |
| 2024-11-14 | - main server | 107 (-75) | 0.0097 | 1.0256 |
| 2024-11-12 | + donation | 182 (+20) | 0.0097 | 1.0256 |
| 2024-11-12 | - media storage | 162 (-18) | 0.0097 | 1.0256 |
| 2024-11-08 | + donation | 180 (+10) | 0.0097 | 1.0256 |
| 2024-11-01 | + donation | 170 (+10) | 0.0097 | 1.0256 |
| 2024-10-25 | - load balance server | 160 | 0.0097 | 1.0256 (-0.0770) |
| 2024-10-17 | + donation | 160 (+10) | 0.0097 | 1.1026 |
| 2024-10-15 | + donation | 150 | 0.0097 (+0.0073) | 1.1026 |
| 2024-10-14 | - main server | 150 (-75) | 0.002 | 1.1026 |
| 2024-10-12 | - media storage | 225 (-18) | 0.002 | 1.1026 |
| 2024-09-24 | - load balance servers | 243 | 0.002 | 1.1026 (-0.1270) |
| 2024-09-14 | - main server | 243 (-75) | 0.002 | 1.2296 |
| 2024-09-12 | - media storage | 318 (-17) | 0.002 | 1.2296 |
| 2024-08-30 | + donation | 335 | 0.002 | 1.2296 (+0.0318) |
| 2024-08-26 | - load balance server | 335 | 0.002 | 1.1577 (-0.1153) |
| 2024-08-16 | + donations (one from July 29) | 335 (+20) | 0.002 | 1.2731 |
| 2024-08-14 | - main server | 315 (-75) | 0.002 | 1.2731 |
| 2024-08-12 | - media storage | 390 (-15) | 0.002 | 1.2731 |
| 2024-07-26 | + donation | 405 (+5) | 0.002 | 1.2731 |
| 2024-07-26 | + donation | 400 (+20) | 0.002 | 1.2731 |
| 2024-07-26 | + donation | 380 (+50) | 0.002 | 1.2731 |
| 2024-07-25 | - load balance server | 330 | 0.002 | 1.2731 (-0.0729) |
| 2024-07-14 | - main server | 330 (-75) | 0.002 | 1.3460 |
| 2024-07-12 | - media storage | 405 (-25) | 0.002 | 1.3460 |
| 2024-06-24 | - load balance server | 430 | 0.002 | 1.3460 (-0.0731) |
| 2024-06-14 | - main server | 430 (-75) | 0.002 | 1.4192 |
| 2024-06-13 | + donation | 505 (+20) | 0.002 | 1.4192 |
| 2024-06-12 | - media storage | 485 (-25) | 0.002 | 1.4192 |
| 2024-06-06 | + donation | 510 (+20) | 0.002 | 1.4192 |
| 2024-06-04 | / ETH to USD | 490 (+473) | 0.002 (-0.125) | 1.4192 |
| 2024-05-22 | - load balance server | 17 | 0.1276 | 1.4192 (-0.0861) |
| 2024-05-22 | + donation | 17 | 0.1276 | 1.5050 (+0.1442) |
| 2024-05-21 | + donation | 17 | 0.1276 | 1.3611 (+1) |
| 2024-05-17 | + donation | 17 | 0.1276 | 0.3611 (+042069 🚬) |
| 2024-05-17 | + donation | 17 (+20) | 0.1276 | 0.3190 |
| 2024-05-15 | - main server | -3 (-75) | 0.1276 | 0.3190 |
| 2024-05-13 | - media storage | 72 (-24) | 0.1276 | 0.3190 |
| 2024-04-28 | + donation | 96 (+50) | 0.1276 | 0.3190 |
| 2024-04-26 | + donation | 46 (+20) | 0.1276 | 0.3190 |
| 2024-04-24 | - load balance server | 26 | 0.1276 | 0.3190 (-0.0993) |
| 2024-04-21 | + donation | 26 (+50) | 0.1276 | 0.4184 |
| 2024-04-15 | - main server | -24 (-65) | 0.1276 | 0.4184 |
| 2024-04-10 | - media storage | 41 (-19) | 0.1276 | 0.4184 |
| 2024-04-09 | + donation | 60 | 0.1276 (+0.06969 🙃) | 0.4184 |
| 2024-04-01 | + donations | 60 (+25) | 0.0579 | 0.4184 (+0.1827) |
| 2024-03-30 | - load balance server | 35 | 0.0579 | 0.2357 (-0.0890) |
| 2024-03-04 | + donation | 35 | 0.0579 | 0.3247 (+0.0420) |
| 2024-03-02 | - main server | 35 (-65) | 0.0579 | 0.2827 |
| 2024-02-28 | + donation | 100 | 0.0579 (+0.0073) | 0.2827 |
| 2024-02-27 | - load balance server | 100 | 0.0506 | 0.2827 (-0.1516) |
| 2024-02-01 | - new server and email provider | 100 (-75) | 0.0506 | 0.3738 |
| 2024-02-01 | / approximate initial value | 175 | 0.0506 | 0.3738 |
I would like to clean up the old comments and give a summary here.
Donations via Open Collective
Unfortunately, we cannot use Open Collective because there is no fiscal host that accepts NSFW instances.
Donations via Liberapay or Patreon
Similar scenario to Open Collective. Payment processors (PayPal and Stripe) can ban adult sites at any time.
Donations with alt coins
It is complicated to support so many different coins. Therefore, we only support ETH, XMR as the main ones. You can still donate with dozens of different coins via Trocador. All donations you make there will be merged into our XMR wallet.
Instance size
As of April 10th 25, we have 54.3GB of database and 1.48TB of media storage.
Should I host my media somewhere else to reduce costs?
No you don’t need to. The media cost is not as high as one might think. At least it is at a level that we can sustain as long as we can receive donations.
Distributed setup (Kubernetes)
Although I believe it will increase performance and reliability, I don’t think horizontal scaling (with multiple servers) makes sense for an instance that receives very few donations relative to the number of users. Therefore, I personally prefer vertical scaling for now.
Server location
We currently host the instance in the Netherlands (at least part of it).
Just saw we’re down, donated on Throne to get us back in the green!
Thank you! 🙏
Hello, team at LemmyNSFW,
I’m delighted to see your instance growing and I completely support the idea of donating to ensure the longevity and quality of this platform. Your hard work in maintaining and developing this instance is very much appreciated.
However, I’d like to bring up the idea of financial transparency within our community. Have you considered using a platform like Open Collective for your donation system? It has been adopted by other instances, including Lemmy.world. You can see an example of how they use it here: https://opencollective.com/mastodonworld
In my opinion, Lemmy.world is a shining example of how a Lemmy instance should operate financially. They provide transparency about their finances, which has greatly contributed to building trust with their users and the platform as a whole.
Considering we’re part of an open-source, decentralized platform, I believe this level of transparency is paramount. It not only helps in building trust but also encourages more users to donate, knowing exactly how their contributions will be utilized.
Moreover, seeing big instances openly donating back to the source code developers could set a wonderful precedent. This act of giving back to those who helped create the foundation of our platform would be a tremendous demonstration of gratitude and community spirit.
Again, I am wholeheartedly in support of donating to this community, and I hope my suggestion will be taken into consideration. Keep up the fantastic work!
Going to have to agree that something like this would be good. Lets people see all in one place where we stand and what is needed.
Yes. And I’m genuinely ok with big staff spends. Spend it on hookers and cocaine for all I care. All is like to see is that some percentage is committed and shown to be given back to the source code developers.
Agreed, there’s nothing wrong with making a living. 👍
I’d love to see if we could get enough donations going to distribute to content creators? Maybe this is a more mainstream instance/general purpose NSFW, but it would be very cool to see an instance giving ownership to its content creators.
Depending on the jurisdictions involved (where the server is hosted and where the admins live), I can imagine there may be very different laws and regulations governing a forum of user-submitted content and a business acting as a publisher and producer of porn content. A great idea, but not as simple as just having the money to do it.
Spend it on hookers …
Use the money to generate more content… smart.
Thank you for your opinion! I would like to do this too but we don’t use single payment method. Also does Open Collective approve payments or should we trust the admin for this? And do admins attach bills somewhere?
Open collective (of which I have zero affiliation) is working on taking cryptocurrency payments. Last I checked it was in beta.
You can give evidence where you feel it would be beneficial. But yeh. You could always find work arounds.
If it’s something you genuinely want to explore, I’m happy to volunteer some of my time to help you with implementing and managing that.
The key thing I’d like to see in all instances, not just yours, is transparency in income, plus some sort of transparency as to how much that may be given back to the community and the source code development.
Honestly. What’s done with the rest, I care very little.
How big a proportion of potential supporters do you think would prefer to pay in crypto?
I’m in column A, but not column B. Just for “statistical purposes”.
If we were a non-NSFW instance, I wouldn’t add crypto but anonymity is important for some people (me included).
I definitely understand where you’re coming from, I was just attempting to debate cost/value.
Almost half of the supporters donating from crypto, so I don’t think its unnecessary.
I’d probably prefer pay in crypto. Also receive in crypto TBH. Just for anonymity’s sake.
I mean since you brought up crypto I accept that as a given.
Just think that most people aren’t into crypto as much as those who are into crypto like to think.
Oh no. I agree. I brought it up because the instance is already taking crypto payments.
Can you contact me from Matrix? my address is @xaeg:matrix.org
Sent some etherium.
Guys, unrelated with the donations and budget health, it would be interesting to have a open thread for discussion on this community. I was about to post about a recent purge of nsfw subreddit s and could not find where to do it.
Original discussion: https://pawb.social/post/19590203
With GitHub sponsorship no longer an option are there any simple payment options available?Happy to support (was supporting at $10 a month) but would rather not learn crypto to do it
Hi. We’ve kicked out :) I’ll share a post about it soon.
Thanks, came back to this post to see if there were updates. I just got refunded today and was very confused. I do appreciate what you are doing and think there needs to be a place for NSFW content in the fediverse, and I’m happy to contribute a little bit monthly to help make that happen. I’ll look forward to your upcoming post about it.
I was really surprised to see that youre using a .com-domain. That alone must be costing you a small fortune per year.
Domains cost like $9 a year.
Thank you so much for hosting this instance. I appreciate it and will help with a small contribution of a few dollars per month from now own. ❤️
Thank you! Every dollar is important and you can be sure that we will use every single dollar for this instance.
Done via GitHub, thanks for your work!
Really appreciated! Although Github works for now, we may change it in future btw.
It is done. Via github if that is okay.
Thank you! Github is the best among these options
What would be good options for me if I just want to use my credit card to quickly buy whatever crypto and send it to any address I want? I did look at some sites a couple of days ago, but they were more for trading and didn’t seem too great for this use case.
I never got into crypto even though I’m a huge nerd, so I have no idea which service is trustworthy and quick’n’easy to use.
I registered to throne.com, which allows direct anonymous credit card donations. If they accept us, then you can use it if you want.
Just don’t jump into a topic you don’t know if you don’t want to learn buddy. I’ll fix this.
And to be honest, I’m not a crypto expert either. I just know basics and some technical details that I’m using on IRL work.
Just a headsup if you’re trying to get on Open Collective, it looks like that might be another patreon scenario:
Yeah I checked TOS too. I thought it’s about posts shared on campaign page. Also Open Collective Europe didn’t reject us. But you are right. I’ll contact about this to Open Collective and fiscal host.
Just subbed on Patreon! Question, are you holding off on upgrading the instance because of the issues with the search?
Thank you! I was waiting for captcha. But I’ll upgrade today.
I set up a Patreon subscription. I am a DevOps Engineer. If you ever need to move to a more distributed setup let me know.
Thank you for your support! But to keep costs low, we had to keep for one server for now. But you’re in my mind if needed :)
I support you my friend both monetarily and conceptually.
You’re one of the people I’ve seen from the very beginning. Thank you for your support!
