Monetize your software.

The AI-era monetization platform for developers. Ask your users to opt-in to support you by sharing idle compute and bandwidth. Earn 55% of revenue with no ads, data collection or paywalls. It's also open-source

$2735
Users Opted In
3000

The AI era way of monetizing free software

Mellowtel
Mellowtel

Mellowtel

The biggest bottlenecks in AI are compute and bandwidth. AI search, deep research, and workflow automation all need access to the live web. Mellowtel connects this demand to compute and bandwidth voluntarily shared by opted-in users who want to support their favorite products, and splits 55% of the revenue with developers.

Ads
Ads

Ads

alienate the users who actually use your tool. CTRs are collapsing, ad-blocker adoption keeps climbing, and the product feels worse.

Paywalls
Paywalls

Paywalls

kill distribution for single-purpose utilities. Most users won't pay $4.99 for a feature they use for 30 seconds.

Affiliate links
Affiliate Links

Affiliate links and data-broker deals

are how most browser extensions die. Sold to the highest bidder, then quietly converted into spyware. Your reputation goes with them.

How it works

1

Integrate Mellowtel

Drop the package into your desktop app, browser extension, mobile app, or website. The integration code is around 7 lines. Use the AI agent for faster setup

import Mellowtel from "mellowtel";
let mellowtel = new Mellowtel("<YOUR_KEY>");

(async function() {      
  await mellowtel.initBackground();
})();
2

Ask for explicit opt-in

Mellowtel only activates after user consent. Use the hosted opt-in page or your own UI with optIn(), optOut(), and getOptInStatus().

await mellowtel.generateAndOpenOptInLink();

// Or if you want to manage the UI...

await mellowtel.optIn();
await mellowtel.start();
3

Earn

For opted-in users, Mellowtel routes public web requests through a sandboxed window. You earn revenue from every request.

Bandwidth impact for the user: roughly an extra incognito tab open for a few seconds. Rate-limited and resource-aware so browsing performance never drops.

Earn and withdraw

Start earning as soon as users opt in to support your app. Revenue is calculated based on the number of requests handled through users that decide to support you. Cash out your earnings whenever you want. There is no minimum threshold

No minimum threshold

Withdraw funds anytime

Revenue from requests

PayPal, Stripe & Crypto

How much  you could earn each month

$0

1,000 users
250
5,000 users
1500
10,000 users
3400
50,000 users
7000
100,000 users
20000

The privacy boundary

Read the privacy docs →
What Mellowtel does not access
No personal data or cookies
No local storage data
No browsing history
No app-stored data
What Mellowtel does see
A random device identifier
The requested public URL
The HTTP response
Anonymized IP range

Public pages are fetched in an isolated, sessionless window — without user cookies or user data - with the bandwidth impact of opening a tab for a few seconds.

The AI era runs on real-time access to the open web.
Mellowtel helps developers participate in that economy through consented bandwidth and compute sharing that respects both users and products.

Trusted by developers

500+

Developers

I'm a developer from Brazil and have been using Mellowtel across multiple products. The integration was straightforward, the support team responsive, and I've already received multiple payouts. Mellowtel provides an additional revenue stream while maintaining a transparent, user-consented experience - Siege App

100k+

Users worldwide

This is the best monetization I've found. I earn more from Mellowtel than ads and affiliate combined. I can finally pay my bills by doing what I love most: building products - Nabil

1000s

of dollars in earnings

Mellowtel helps us plant trees worldwide. Thanks to users sharing idle internet bandwidth, we can fund verified reforestation projects and offset carbon emissions while keeping IdleForest free for everyone. - Daniel, Founder @IdleForest

100M+

Workloads handled

Used by developers all over the world

Built around user control

Open source

Anyone can view the code on GitHub. Inspect it and contribute to keep a safe and trusted ecosystem

Consent-first

Users are opted out by default and need to explicitly opt in, if they want to. Consent can be revoked at any time.

Rate limiting

Mellowtel activates only when resources allow. End users performance stays the same.

Privacy driven

No browsing history, cookies, or personal data is collected. Every claim is verifiable in the source code.

Live in minutes, on any platform.

Electron, Windows .NET, macOS

Full SDK with consent flow and request handling. 10–15 minutes per framework.

// 1. importing necessary dependencies
import { app, BrowserWindow } from 'electron';
import Mellowtel from 'mellowtel-electron';

app.whenReady().then(async () => {
  // 2. Initialize Mellowtel. Replace here with your configuration key
  const mellowtel = new Mellowtel('<configuration_key>');

  // 3. Request consent with custom reward message
  const consent = await mellowtel.requestConsent(
    window, 
    "Get Premium Free"
  );
  if (consent) {
    // Handle successful opt-in (e.g., activate premium features)
  }

  // Initialize Mellowtel
  await mellowtel.init();
});
Chrome, Edge, Firefox

NPM package, 7 lines of code, optional pre-built consent UI. Live in 5–7 minutes.

import Mellowtel from "mellowtel";

let mellowtel = new Mellowtel("<PUBLIC_KEY>");

(async function() {
  await mellowtel.initBackground();
})();

// Show a disclaimer/message to the end-user, asking them to opt-in
await mellowtel.generateAndOpenOptInLink();

// After the user has agreed to join, Mellowtel will
// automatically start at every browser session unless
// you explicitly decide not to (or the user opts out)
Flutter, Android, Swift

mellowtel_flutter on pub.dev, with native bindings for iOS and Android. Same opt-in model. ~10 minutes.

// 1. importing necessary dependencies
import { app, BrowserWindow } from 'electron';
import Mellowtel from 'mellowtel-electron';

app.whenReady().then(async () => {
  // 2. Initialize Mellowtel. Replace here with your configuration key
  const mellowtel = new Mellowtel('<configuration_key>');

  // 3. Request consent with custom reward message
  const consent = await mellowtel.requestConsent(
    window, 
    "Get Premium Free"
  );
  if (consent) {
    // Handle successful opt-in (e.g., activate premium features)
  }

  // Initialize Mellowtel
  await mellowtel.init();
});
One-script widget tied to your Invite ID.

Acts as a direct website-to-extension monetization bridge for your existing audience. Copy-paste, ship.

<!-- Add this script to your website -->
<!-- 
Replace INVITE_ID with the one you get when you create 
a support link from the dashboard 
-->
<script
  src="https://cdn.mellow.tel/widget.js?invite_id=INVITE_ID">
</script>

<!-- 
  This will ask users to add the Support with Mellowtel 
  extension with your invite ID so we know that user 
  wants to support you. 
-->
<!-- 
  You can preview different widget designs at:
  https://cdn.mellow.tel/preview?invite_id=ijxf49s9h2f 
-->

Mellowtel turn pockets of unutilized, decentralized compute and bandwidth into an economically useful resource for society.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mellowtel?

Mellowtel is an open-source monetization platform for developers and creators to monetize their work in the AI era and keep software and the internet free and available for everyone. It allows users that want to support their favorite developers and products to opt-in to share a small portion of their compute and internet bandwidth.This is used by companies to get access to the web, for web scraping and data collection from public web pages, generating revenue that in part goes to the developers whose users opted-in

How much can developers earn?

The exact amount varies based mainly on three factors: (1) the amount of active users you have, (2) how many of those opt-in, and (3) their geolocation (US, France, Italy, Spain and China have higher payouts). But as a rough approximation, 1000 active extension users who opt in should bring around $250 per month. Mellowtel is scaling quickly and so also the revenue it can share it's growing. The revenue split is 55% for the developer and 45% for Mellowtel.

Is Mellowtel the same as Honeygain or EarnFM?

No. Honeygain and EarnFM are consumer apps that end users install directly. Mellowtel is a developer SDK — you build it into your own product, you own the user relationship, and you take the developer revenue share.

What permissions does Mellowtel require?

For Electron, Flutter, and native apps: no special permissions. For browser extensions: storage and declarativeNetRequest. If you don't already request these in your manifest, add them under optional_permissions.

Will Mellowtel slow down my users' browsing?

No. Rate limiting, system-resource checks, and request batching keep the impact minimal — comparable to opening an incognito tab for a few seconds.

What if I'm adding Mellowtel to an existing product?

You must inform existing users before requesting consent. The consent surface on the qualifying update should be non-dismissible, default to opted out, and remain accessible in settings afterward.

Why should end users opt in?

Users can choose to opt in to support their favorite developers and creators and so help them continue building great products. In return, developers can thank supporters with premium or exclusive content and services.

Where can users change their settings later?

Generate a hosted settings link from your dashboard and place it in your options page. Users can also manage their opt-in state globally at mellow.tel/user-control.

Do I have to use Mellowtel's hosted consent flow?

No. The hosted page is recommended for compliance, but you can build your own UI and call optIn(), optOut(), and getOptInStatus() directly.

Why is Mellowtel open source?

Because keeping it open source allows anyone to see how it works and help make it more secure and reliable by contributing or giving feedback

What is the bandwidth used for?

It powers public-web access for AI companies — ChatGPT-style search and deep research, Cursor-style documentation lookup, lead enrichment, price tracking, SEO analysis. Companies pay for this access, and Mellowtel splits the revenue with you.

Why is Mellowtel a solution to extension malware and spyware?

Most free products (apps or browser plugins) eventually get sold to data brokers because nothing else pays. Mellowtel breaks that cycle: developers monetize through consented, anonymous bandwidth — not by exfiltrating personal data or browsing history. Users get free software, developers get sustainable income, and no personal data ever leaves the device.