1Blocker has been self-financed since the very beginning. We have never taken on investments and have stayed independent over the years.
Being independent is very important because it lets us build a product guided by our vision and the feedback from our community rather than investors. As a result, we can focus on building the best possible product that we love using ourselves.
1Blocker is available for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. However, to maintain 1Blocker among multiple platforms and devices, we need to cover our main ongoing costs:
Catch up with new iOS & macOS releases, new features, and requirements by Apple.
Keep our server running that builds rules and makes adjustments for constantly-changing Web.
Answer support emails and Twitter messages.
That's before even thinking about developing new features from user feedback.
The "pay once, free updates forever" business model we used before was good when we launched 1Blocker. However, this paid-upfront model cannot keep revenue healthy in the long term. Because to keep the revenue positive, we would need to focus on getting more and more downloads instead of making the app better and better for existing customers.
1Blocker is in the same market as many large competitors who often have "Acceptable Ads" or other, sometimes questionable, programs.
We think privacy is not for sale, so we don't participate in such programs. The only way we make money is through direct sales of 1Blocker on the App Store to our customers.
Those who did pay for 1Blocker are ultimately the people who keep 1Blocker alive. Without your support, 1Blocker won't be able to exist.
Thank you all for using and supporting this project.