A new service called Sub.club, created by the team behind the Mammoth app for Mastodon, aims to bring the creator economy to the fediverse, the open social web. Launching on Thursday, Sub.club will enable creators on Mastodon to offer paid subscriptions and exclusive content through premium feeds. This platform not only supports creators but also opens up opportunities for helpful bots and community funding.
Given that the fediverse is built on interconnected servers that rely on community support, generating funds can be a challenge. Sub.club, developed in collaboration with Mammoth, is backed by Mozilla, Long Journey Ventures, and Marc Benioff of Salesforce. While some in the fediverse community are hesitant about VC involvement, co-founder Bart Decrem believes that introducing money into the ecosystem could foster growth and sustainability.
To cater to the needs of Mastodon users, Sub.club allows creators to create their premium feeds at their preferred price point. These feeds can be accessed via any Mastodon client on the web. Sub.club also offers an API for developers to seamlessly integrate subscription feeds into their apps. The platform’s first implementation will be through Thomas Ricouard’s Ice Cubes Mastodon app for iOS and Mac.
Sub.club aims to enhance the creator economy within the Mastodon and fediverse communities, granting users the ability to easily subscribe to creators’ paid feeds. The platform currently enables transactions through Stripe with a 6% fee per transaction, offering a more competitive rate than other subscription platforms like Patreon. Sub.club functions as a backend service focused on facilitating payments rather than content discovery.
As the open social web evolves, platforms like Meta’s Threads integrating with ActivityPub could introduce new creators to the fediverse seeking alternative revenue streams. Mammoth and Sub.club’s parent company, The Blvd. Inc., are in the process of raising a seed round to support this vision.
While platforms like X (formerly Twitter) focus on elevating creators, they struggle with maintaining a balance between revenue generation and problematic content. Mastodon, on the other hand, sustains itself through Patreon, grants, and merchandise sales, avoiding traditional advertising avenues. The overall reception of paid content within the fediverse remains uncertain.
Sub.club, distinct from Sub Club by RevenueCat, is currently available as a developer preview, with upcoming tools to support Mastodon server owners financially. For the initial rollout, Sub.club will waive its fees and Stripe charges for the first 90 days. Early adopters include the premium bot “Pups Where They Don’t Belong” and developer Anuj Ahooja.
