Support and capacity

Support keeps rooms open. It does not decide who matters.

One Coffee Chat each week is free. Contributor purchases help pay for hosting, operations, and one weekly Phone Door Coffee Chat for each active Contributor.

The plain model

Phone access has a real cost.The $15 pilot includes one Phone Door Coffee Chat each week; remaining Coffee Chats use the app.
Non-supporters are part of the service.The goal is not to shame people who cannot pay. The goal is to keep ordinary conversation reachable.
Capacity can scale up or down.If support is high, more calls can be available. If support is low, optional calls may slow down before core safety and active-room flows.

What support should not become

It should not become a public leaderboard.
It should not expose who uses subsidized minutes.
It should not imply that paid members are more valuable people.
It should not hide when paid Contributor benefits end or imply an automatic renewal.

Freedom Pool

Freedom Pool is the internal capacity system that keeps essential call flows available. Members do not need to understand its accounting to use Ramble Room.

Before a purchase

Before purchase, Ramble Room explains what Contributor adds, when those benefits end, and that the purchase does not repeat automatically. Coffee Chat remains free whenever there is interest; no participant has to pay for the chat to continue.

Billing and renewal

The 60-day Contributor Founding Pilot is a one-time $15 Ko-fi Shop purchase. It does not renew automatically. Near the end of the 60-day paid upgrade period, the app shows when Contributor benefits end and provides a link to buy another period. Free membership and the weekly Coffee Chat do not expire if you do not buy another period. Your rooms and friends remain in place.

Read Privacy for billing/data boundaries, Sources and Notes for assumptions, and Get Started to try one call first.