This post is going to have a more somber attitude than posts in the past, and it’s not one I’ve ever really wanted to make, but as Catbox has expanded, so has its costs. The operational costs for running Catbox per month for the last year have looked like this:
Datacenter Colocation: $971/month
Offsite Storage: $140/month
Cloud Server Providers: $40/month
Administrative Costs: $60/month
The large datacenter colocation bill is due to the fact that Catbox pushes an extreme amount of traffic. On average, Catbox pushes about 4 gbps, spiking up to 6 gbps.
This means I’ve had to acquire a 10gig internet uplink, which is not the cheapest thing to get. Additionally, Catbox is now hosting approximately 54 TB of content. As I’m sure many of you have encountered Lain, which is a project to basically offload inactive files to offsite storage, which can then be pulled back when a user requests. Catbox also utilizes various Cloud Server Providers (CSPs) to host external monitoring services and other servers. Finally, there are various administrative costs related to running Catbox, including email, legal paperwork, legal residences, and other small fees.
All of this has totaled into Catbox’s monthly expenses to come out to $1,211. As of posting this blog post, Catbox is bringing in $696 per month. This means I am personally footing the remaining $515. Additionally, all server/firewall upgrades and purchases have also come out of my pocket. When I totaled up all expenses for 2021, Catbox was $7,070 in the negative. This means I put $7000+ dollars of my own money to prop Catbox up. This is not tenable for the future of Catbox.
The Bottom Line
The bottom line is that Catbox needs additional funding to survive long term. Our patrons on Patreon have been wonderful, and without them there is no doubt that Catbox would have been forced to close. However, it is clear that Patreon by itself is not capable of supporting the current or future growth of Catbox. This leaves me with 4 options:
Monetize Catbox using traditional avenues (advertisements and sponsorships). This is not my first choice, and not something I’m entirely keen on. It would destroy the purpose and soul of Catbox.
Scale back on costs (primarily bandwidth). This would directly impact user experience, as cutting back to (for example) 5gbps would create a bottleneck and reduce speeds to a snail’s pace.
Open alternative avenues of income (paid accounts). This would involve a monthly plan that would give you additional features (existing features of Catbox would NOT change or be restricted). I am somewhat open to this.
Open alternative avenues of gift giving (cryptocurrencies).As of today, I have begun accepting gifts using Cryptocurrency, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Monero, and Ravencoin. I have had quite a few people request this, and I see that now would be the time to offer this as an option.
You will of course notice that “Closing Catbox” is not an option on that list, and that’s because it isn’t. I would rather exhaust all other avenues of incoming before doing that, including traditional monetization. There are many people who have been using Catbox for the whole 7 years it’s been around, and I know what it would mean to them to lose their files.
So this is my public begging post - I know the current economic climate isn’t the greatest, and that many people have had to cut back on various things, including Patreon subscriptions, but given the traffic Catbox receives, if just 10% of users gave $5, we would be funded until the end of the year. So please, gift via Patreon,crypto, or if you want something more tangible, buy some stickers! I’ve created a new “Supporting” page to track Catbox’s monthly expenses and income, as well as new ways to contribute. I look forward to another great year, and again, thank you not just to Patrons, but to everyone who has continued using Catbox.
THERE! I finished the Mermay Sirens! Daycare Attendant boys finally :D
I didn’t really pick a specfic fish for either of them to based off of, just kinda winged it. Also, their legends:
Siren of the Sun: Good Omen, you’ll have easy waters and a safe voyage, as long as you respect the sea. So no littering, no disrespect, sail during the day, and if you break these rules then the Sun siren will punish you, or you may even bring forth the Bad Omen.
Siren of the Moon: Bad Omen, you’ll face rough waters that will try to sink your ship, if the monsters below don’t rip it to pieces first. Rumored to eat people for fun, but can be avoided if you don’t sail at night, and not break any rules of the sea while you’re sailing.
Their eyes and the tips of their fins can change color like some of my other doodles, but I’m too lazy to make all the variations lol
I also have an Eclipse version I’m cooking up but that’s for another post :P
Redah
