Pricing
Searching on Spes Publica is free. When it's busy, searches wait in line. A stamp lets one search skip the line, and that search also gets results from a paid search source.
Stamp packs
One stamp is one search. Bigger packs cost less per stamp.
| Pack | Stamps | Per search |
|---|---|---|
| $1 | 50 | 2¢ |
| $5 | 300 | 1.67¢ 20% more |
| $10 | 700 | 1.43¢ 40% more |
| $25 | 2,000 | 1.25¢ 60% more |
| $50 | 5,000 | 1¢ 100% more |
| $100 | 12,000 | 0.83¢ 140% more |
“More” is how many more stamps each dollar gets you than in the $1 pack.
How stamps work
- When you buy a pack, you get a code. Add it to your account to put the stamps in your account's balance, or use it in this browser without an account.
- Each of your devices keeps about 20 stamps ready, made from your balance. It makes more on its own while you browse, so you don't have to do anything.
- Each search uses one stamp from the device you're searching on, skips the line, and adds a paid search source.
- Signing out of a device puts its unused stamps back in your balance.
It works this way so that a stamp can't be traced back to who bought it. Your device makes each stamp and has it signed in a scrambled form, so we can check a stamp is real when it's used, but not whose it was. The trade-off: stamps on a device are like cash in a wallet. If you clear your browser's data, the few on that device are lost. Your balance never is.
Buying stamps
Buying stamps isn't switched on yet. For now, stamps come from codes. If you have one, you can use it once you have an invite.
What we know about your stamps
We know how many stamps an account has. We can't tell which purchase they came from, or which searches they were used on. Stamps are signed in a way that lets us check they're real without being able to recognize them later.