How Instaustad Is Funded, and What That Means for You

Money questions about a free tool are fair ones, so here's a straightforward answer instead of a vague line buried in a footer somewhere.

We run on advertising, not subscriptions

There's no paid tier, no "pro" version with extra features, and no plan to add one. Instaustad is funded through clearly labeled ads shown on the site, the same basic model as most free content on the web.

We chose this over a subscription because we think a tool this specific and this occasional-use shouldn't ask people to pay a recurring fee just to look something up once in a while.

What the ads do and don't have access to

The ads on this site are served through standard advertising networks, which may use cookies to help decide what to show you — the same way ads work across most of the internet.

They don't have access to the specific captions, bios, or pictures you look up through our tools; that content isn't shared with advertisers, and it isn't tied to your identity in the first place, since there's no account here to tie it to.

Advertisers don't get a say in what we publish

Nobody buying an ad on this site has any input into our guides, our tool design, or anything editorial. We're not going to write a flattering article because a company advertised with us, and we're not going to avoid a topic because it might make an advertiser uncomfortable. The ad relationship starts and ends at "here's a space on the page," nothing more.

You have some control over this

If you'd rather not have ads personalized based on browsing data, you can choose non-personalized ads instead through the cookie settings in the footer, any time you want. That choice doesn't affect your ability to use any of the tools — everything works exactly the same either way.

Why we're not shy about this

A site that's vague about how it makes money tends to make people wonder what else it's not being upfront about. We'd rather just say it plainly: ads pay for hosting and keep the tools free, that's the whole story, and it's not more complicated than that.