Free is not a funnel. It’s a leak.
Every free user costs real money. The bet is that they’ll convert or spread the word — most do neither. Earnesty turns the leak into a funnel: users refill their credits by posting about your product in public.
Two of the hardest problems in software — distribution and free-tier economics — answered by one mechanic, because the second pays for the first.
Why now
Free used to be cheap. AI ended that.
A free user used to cost pennies. Now every prompt burns inference — real money, whether they ever pay or not. Then add the abuse: Stripe helped four AI companies dodge $4.4M in compute losses alone.
It’s a liability. And you’re not a charity.
Source: Stripe — first-party fraud across AI companies, 2026.
Run the numbers
Add it up. What does it give back?
The idea
Free access in. Word of mouth out.
Meet the earned tier — your free tier, reimagined. Users don’t pay with money; they pay by telling their network what they got done with you. The same access you already give away, now buying reach instead of silence.
A free tier that pays you back
The access you already give away starts returning reach instead of just cost. Same spend — finally, a line on the other side of the ledger.
Reach that is already targeted
Your users post to their own followers, and people follow people like themselves. Every post lands in front of your ideal customers without an audience to build or an ad to buy.
Proof in your own numbers
Watch the replies you earned stack up against the tokens they cost. The trade is never a guess.
Near-zero marginal cost
The credits you grant are ones you were already giving away — so the reach costs about what your free tier cost you anyway. Paid plans never feel a thing.
How it works
Four steps, then it runs itself.
Their credits run out
Instead of a hard paywall, their claim code recharges.
Speed is rewarded: the claim is at its peak the moment they run dry and want credits most.
They post & tag
Their own words, with your branded partner tag — like #AcmePartner.
One tag discloses the relationship. First post links their account; after that, posting is all it takes.
Earnesty verifies it
We confirm the post is real, public, and properly disclosed.
The disclosure is required at the gate — no credits move without it.
Credits land
Posts with higher engagement earn more.
No editorial calls — we never judge, edit, or influence what gets said.
The dashboard
See what it costs and what it returns.
One screen shows the replies your earned tier generated and the tokens those credits cost. No guessing whether it's working — you can see it.
The honest questions
Yes, we thought about that.
Isn’t this just astroturfing?
No. We reward participation, not praise — we never judge, edit, or influence what gets said, so a lukewarm post pays exactly like a glowing one. Every post discloses the deal inside it. That’s transparent advocacy, not fake reviews.
Will I lose money on this?
Hard to. You’re refilling access you already gave away, so the marginal cost rounds to zero — and the dashboard shows the replies you earned against the tokens they cost. You watch the trade pay off, in your own numbers.
Is it compliant?
Earnesty verifies the configured participation and disclosure requirements — the branded partner tag, near the start of the post — before a single credit moves, and we stay out of incentivized reviews entirely. Where platforms add their own layer (X’s Paid Partnership label), the flow instructs users to turn it on and nudges anyone whose post is missing it. We support compliance; your claims and applicable law remain yours.
Isn’t this just a referral tool?
Referral tools pay for signups, once. Earnesty pays for word of mouth, again and again — in access you already give away, not a one-time bounty for a new email address.
Why it beats the alternatives
Repeatable. Paid in participation. Near-zero cost.
| Model | What it trades | Why the earned tier differs |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Free access, no obligation | Replaces the free tier — access is conditional on contribution |
| Free trial | Time-boxed, then pay or churn | Refills indefinitely on demand and extracts distribution |
| Referral programs | One-time reward for new signups | Continuously repeatable, paid in access you already gave away |
| "Pay with a Tweet" | One-time content unlock | Repeatable access to an ongoing product, not a one-time unlock |
| Linear per-view credit | Pays for impressions | Pays for real replies from real people |
Who it’s for
Sharpest where free access has a real cost.
Built for
- AI / credit-based SaaS with a free tier that bleeds inference cost
- Prosumer & creative tools (generators, design, content)
- Anywhere running out of credits means “time to refill,” not “I’m down”
Not for
- Mission-critical infrastructure (monitoring, payments)
- Anything load-bearing in someone’s business
- Products where losing access is a catastrophe, not an annoyance
Pricing
Priced per earned user, not per seat.
Pay for the users you manage — never for the credits they earn. It starts small enough to be a no-brainer.
Earned
The whole mechanic, running. Post about us when you want more.
Get started- The complete earned tier — nothing held back
- 100 earning users — grow it to 500 by posting
- Fast verification, like every plan
- Connect Stripe, or use the API
- User status page included
Growth
For running campaigns and reading the results.
Get started- 1,000 earning users — grow to 2,000 by posting
- 2 Drops a month — buy or earn more
- Referral windows, spot rewards, win-back offers
- AI analysis allowance: sentiment, topics, mentions
- AI-search visibility tracking
- Priority verification + on-demand checks
- Control over claim values and decay
Scale
For high volume and full control.
Get started- 5,000 earning users — grow to 10,000 by posting
- 10 Drops a month — buy or earn more
- Every platform we support
- Near-real-time verification where platforms allow
- Full API, webhooks, white-label status page
- Compliance & ledger reports, priority support
Your free tier has taken enough. Time it gave back.
Turn it on in minutes. Your paid plans never change.
Get started