Frequently asked questions
Where is Swoin based and where is my data stored?
Swoin is operated from Germany, within the European Union, and the platform is run under EU law. Our application servers and our object storage run in EU regions, so your account data, your product pages and your transaction history are stored in the EU.
Two things we want to be precise about: payments are processed by Stripe, and sign-in runs through GitHub, Google or Microsoft. Those providers are not EU-only companies, and where they process data is governed by their own terms — so not every sub-processor in the chain sits in the EU.
What is an Innovation Token (InTo) and what can I do with it?
An Innovation Token is the voting unit on Swoin. Subscribers receive InTo from their monthly subscription and can spend those tokens on the roadmap items of the product they want built next.
A roadmap item’s token total is therefore a weighted signal: it shows not just how many people want a feature, but how much paying interest is behind it.
What InTo are not: they are not money. Innovation Tokens cannot be withdrawn as cash or converted back into money, and saved InTo can only be used for voting inside the platform. The maker’s earnings from subscriptions are a separate thing, and those are what get paid out.
How and when do payouts reach my bank account?
Payouts go to European bank accounts by SEPA transfer, so a valid IBAN is required.
Payouts are requested, not automatic — you request one once your balance has reached the minimum payout amount of 50 euros, and pending requests stay visible in the payout section of your account. Swoin retains a platform fee on earnings, and the transfer itself is subject to the payment provider’s fees on top of that. The current rates are in our terms and conditions.
Tax treatment of what you earn is your own responsibility — Swoin does not give tax advice.
Is Swoin suitable for open source projects?
Yes, and that is one of the cases it was built for. Swoin does not ask you to close your source, add a paywall, adopt a dual licence, or move your code anywhere. Your repository stays where it is and stays as open as it is.
What Swoin adds is a funding channel with a feedback loop: people who depend on your project subscribe, receive Innovation Tokens, and put those tokens on the issues they most want addressed. Instead of a donation button with no signal attached, you get a ranked view of what the people funding the project actually want next.
What does it cost and how does billing work?
Creating a product page and publishing a roadmap costs you nothing up front. Swoin earns by retaining a platform fee on the subscription income your product generates, and payout transfers carry the payment provider’s fees. The exact current percentages are stated in our terms and conditions.
On the subscriber side: billing is in euros. A subscriber picks a monthly amount, is charged immediately on subscribing and then on a recurring basis, and their Innovation Tokens are credited with each transfer. Subscribers can also spend additional InTo on a single feature beyond their monthly amount.
Do I have to move my software onto Swoin?
No. Swoin is not a marketplace, a store, or a hosting platform for your software. There is no app review, no exclusivity clause, and nothing to migrate.
Your software stays exactly where it is — your own site, a package registry, an app store, a Git host. What lives on Swoin is your product page, your roadmap, and the subscriptions and token votes attached to them. You link to it from wherever your users already find you.