Where Do Ko-fi and UPI Donations to Edge-Drop Go?

Edge-Drop is free and open source under the Apache-2.0 license. There is no paid tier, no premium features, no subscription, no in-app purchase. The project accepts donations via Ko-fi (international) and UPI (India) for users who want to support ongoing development. This guide covers what donations fund, what stays free forever, why the project chose this model, and how it differs from a freemium or subscription model. For neighbouring context see Microsoft Store listing: what to expect and what local-first software means for clipboard apps.

What donations actually fund

Donations to Edge-Drop fund concrete costs, not vague "development." The categories are:

• Code-signing certificate — an EV code-signing certificate costs roughly $200-400 per year. Without one, Windows SmartScreen warns users that the installer is "unrecognised," which reduces trust and install completion. A code-signing certificate is the single largest recurring cost for a Windows desktop utility.
• Microsoft Store developer account — a one-time $19 fee for an individual Microsoft Store developer account, required to list Edge-Drop in the Store. See Microsoft Store listing: what to expect.
• GitHub Actions minutes — GitHub provides 2,000 free Actions minutes per month for public repositories, which is enough for most projects. If the project exceeds this, additional minutes are billed.
• Hosting for the marketing site — edgedrop.app is hosted on a static-site host (Vercel, Netlify, Cloudflare Pages, or similar). The free tier is sufficient for a marketing site; donations cover any overage or custom-domain renewal.
• Translation platform — community translations are hosted on a platform (typically Crowdin or Weblate); the free tier covers small projects, but a paid tier may be needed for active translation management. See how to change language and RTL layout.
• The maintainer's time — donations partially compensate the maintainer for time spent on bug triage, code review, releases, and support. This is not a salary; it is a token of appreciation that makes the work sustainable.

The exact split varies by month and by donation volume. The maintainer publishes periodic transparency reports on the project's Ko-fi page.

What stays free forever

Everything user-facing stays free:

• All features — there are no premium features locked behind a paywall. Every feature in the product is available to every user, regardless of donation status.
• All platforms — there is only one platform (Windows), and there are no platform-specific paywalls. macOS and Linux are not supported. See what Edge-Drop is not trying to become.
• All distribution channels — the GitHub NSIS installer and the Microsoft Store MSIX package are both free. There is no "pro" installer.
• All updates — every update is free, on every channel. See how Edge-Drop updates on GitHub builds.
• All future features — there is no roadmap of paid features. Anything added in the future is added to the free product.
• The source code — Apache-2.0 licensed, available on GitHub forever. Anyone can fork, modify, or redistribute under the license terms. See Apache-2.0 clipboard tools you can actually audit.

This is a deliberate choice. The project is a hobby-grade tool maintained by a single developer; the goal is sustainability, not revenue. For the broader open-source context, see donations, stores, and keeping a free app alive.

Why no paid tier

A paid tier for a clipboard shelf would create perverse incentives:

• Feature gating would mean holding back useful features from non-paying users, which contradicts the open-source ethos.
• Subscription revenue would create pressure to ship features that justify the subscription, rather than features that users actually need.
• Customer support obligations would scale with paying users, turning a hobby project into a part-time job.
• Pricing complexity (tiers, regional pricing, education discounts) would consume time that could go into the product.

A donation model avoids all of these. Donors give because they want to, not because they have to. Non-donors get the same product. The maintainer has no obligation to anyone beyond the open-source license and basic community norms.

This is the same model used by many popular open-source utilities: VS Code (Microsoft-supported, free), OBS Studio (donation-funded), ShareX (donation-funded), Ditto (donation-funded). Edge-Drop follows this tradition. For neighbouring comparisons, see Powertoys as a clipboard strategy and open source vs closed clipboard apps.

Ko-fi versus UPI

Edge-Drop accepts donations via two channels:

• Ko-fi — an international donation platform that supports credit card, PayPal, and various regional methods. Donors can give one-time or set up a monthly recurring donation. Ko-fi takes a small fee (typically 0-5% depending on the donor's chosen tier).
• UPI — India's Unified Payments Interface, a real-time payment system that supports direct bank-to-bank transfers. UPI donations incur no platform fee; the entire amount reaches the maintainer. UPI is the preferred channel for donors in India.

The two channels exist because international payment processors charge fees that are disproportionate for small donations from India. UPI allows a ₹100 donation to reach the maintainer in full, whereas Ko-fi would take a cut. Conversely, Ko-fi allows donors outside India to give easily without setting up a UPI account.

Both channels support the same project. There is no "Ko-fi tier" versus "UPI tier" distinction; the donor picks whichever is convenient.

How to donate

To donate via Ko-fi:

1. Visit the project's Ko-fi page (linked from the Edge-Drop website or the GitHub README).
2. Click "Support" or "Donate."
3. Choose a one-time amount or a monthly recurring amount.
4. Pay via credit card or PayPal.

To donate via UPI:

1. Find the maintainer's UPI ID (linked from the GitHub README or the Edge-Drop website).
2. Use any UPI-enabled app (Google Pay, PhonePe, Paytm, BHIM, etc.) to send a payment to that ID.
3. The donation reaches the maintainer's bank account directly.

Donations are voluntary and non-refundable. There is no "donor badge" or special recognition in the app. Donors do not get priority support, faster bug fixes, or feature requests. The donation is a gift, not a transaction.

How the donation model differs from a subscription

The donation model is closer to patronage than to commerce. Donors support the work; they do not buy a product. The product is free for everyone, including non-donors.

What Edge-Drop does not claim

• Donations do not buy influence. A donor cannot pay for a feature to be added or a bug to be prioritised. Feature requests go through the public issue tracker.
• Donations do not guarantee sustainability. The project could end tomorrow if the maintainer stops; donations do not create a contractual obligation to maintain the project. See bus factor: what if a solo app goes quiet.
• Donations are not tax-deductible. Edge-Drop is not a registered non-profit; donations are personal gifts to the maintainer.
• Donation volume is not a quality signal. A popular project may receive more donations, but a niche project that is well-maintained may receive fewer. Donation volume reflects audience size, not product quality.
• The donation model does not preclude future changes. The maintainer could in theory introduce a paid tier; the Apache-2.0 license ensures the existing source remains free, but future versions could theoretically be dual-licensed. There is no current plan to do so.

How to support Edge-Drop without donating

For users who cannot or prefer not to donate, other forms of support are valuable:

• Star the repository on GitHub — helps with discoverability.
• Leave a review on the Microsoft Store — helps other users find the app. See store ratings vs actual clipboard quality for the limits of store ratings.
• Report bugs with useful reproduction. See how to report a bug in Edge-Drop.
• Contribute translations via the translation platform. See how to change language and RTL layout.
• Contribute code via pull requests. See how to build from source for the curious.
• Write about Edge-Drop honestly in a blog, forum, or community. Honest criticism is more valuable than uncritical praise.

These contributions are not lesser than donations. They are how open-source projects sustain themselves.

Summary

Edge-Drop is free and open source forever under Apache-2.0. You can visit our Support Edge-Drop guide for international support or the UPI Support Guide for direct UPI contributions in India. Donations fund concrete costs: code-signing certificates, the Microsoft Store developer account, hosting, translation platform, and a portion of the maintainer's time. There is no paid tier, no premium features, no subscription. For users who cannot donate, starring the repo, leaving a review, reporting bugs, contributing translations, and contributing code are equally valuable forms of support.

Related reading

• Support Edge-Drop
• Support Edge-Drop via UPI
• How to Install Edge-Drop on Windows 10 and 11
• What Local-First Software Means for Clipboard Apps

Sources

• Apache Software Foundation — Apache License 2.0 — the open-source license under which Edge-Drop is distributed
• Ko-fi — About — official documentation for the donation platform Edge-Drop uses internationally
• National Payments Corporation of India — UPI — official overview of the Unified Payments Interface used for donations from India
• Microsoft Learn — Microsoft Store developer account — documents the developer account requirement and fee that donations help cover
• GitHub — Sponsors and open-source funding — reference for the open-source funding patterns Edge-Drop follows

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