Who it is for
- Digital publishers
- content creators
- platform developers
- researchers
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Grant for the Web
Funding a better model for how the open web sustains itself Grant opens again in 2027.
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Beyond Ads and Subscriptions
Most of the web today runs on advertising or subscriptions, both of which have real costs to the consumer and platform. Advertising funds content by tracking users and selling their attention. Subscriptions create barriers that exclude audiences who cannot or will not pay a recurring fee. Neither model works well for creators, publishers, or the people they are trying to reach.
Grant for the Web funds publishers, platforms, and developers exploring Web Monetization as a viable alternative to advertising and subscription models. The programme is currently closed and expected to reopen in 2027. Sign up to be notified when applications open.
At a Glance
What it supports
- Web Monetization implementations
- Creator and publisher tools
- Research on micropayments and open web revenue models
- Platform-level integrations
How it works
- Award amounts vary
- Next call for proposals expected in 2027
Web Monetization Overview
Web Monetization is a technology that allows content creators, publishers, and owners to earn revenue directly from their audiences through small, automatic payments based on real engagement. It is designed as an open web standard and can complement existing monetization models, rather than replacing them. The long-term vision is a web where monetization is built into browsers, empowering content owners to thrive in a fair digital economy by removing barriers between users and the content they love.
Our Grantees
Since 2025, Grant for the Web has awarded $400,000 to content publishers and publishing platforms exploring Web Monetization as an alternative viable revenue model.
Castopod is the leading open source podcast hosting platform used by over 1,000 podcasts—including the Interledger Foundation’s. Benjamin Bellamy of Ad Aures received a grant to add support for Web Monetization to Castopod’s episode pages, RSS feeds, and ActivityPub social web posts. Web Monetization provides a third revenue option for podcast publishers, who rely on ads and monthly subscriptions.
“Challenges for the Social Web in 2026 are more social and economic than technical. People are the load-bearing infrastructure of the Social Web. The network has grown by leaps and bounds, it’s true, but participants need more funding mechanisms and organizational tools to sustain it. Thanks to this grant from the Interledger Foundation, we can work with the community to put existing services on a solid footing, identify and clear barriers to growth for the Social Web, and make the network a positive factor of even more people’s lives.”
– Evan Prodromou, Research Director at the Social Web Foundation
The 2025 cohort included publishers and platforms exploring the viability of Web Monetization as a third revenue model between ads and subscriptions.
- A New Social: operates Bridgy Fed, providing interoperability between decentralised social network protocols
- Castopod: leading open-source podcast hosting platform, used by over 1,000 podcasts
- Smashing Magazine: publishes practical articles on web design and development for industry practitioners
- WriteFreely: open-source publishing platform used by over 550,000 writers
- Conffab: online learning platform featuring content curated from leading conference organisers
How We Fund
Check out our Grantmaking FAQs to know our approach and expectations across all our grants. For additional clarifications, reach out to programteam@interledger.org.