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scalpels.app
Scalpels is free. Supporters keep it that way: the money pays for our lab and the freelancers helping us build and maintain a growing open-source catalog. In return, supporters get the Experimental apps first.
Support starts at $20 a month.
The Lab
Every day we take an idea from the Lab, try it for real on the Scalpels in the Lab stream, and write up what happened. Supporters are what buy the time, and every supporter is listed on the Lab and on every idea and experiment.
Apache Answer ran on Cloud without a container or a Laravel wrapper. Questions, answers, search, uploads, and settings survived full deployments. Two official plugins had bugs we patched. Answer also kept login sessions in a local cache file, so we moved them to Valkey.
Read the experiment
Ghost ran on Cloud from its published npm package. The public site was up in about ten minutes. Admin, publishing, responsive images, scheduled posts, transactional mail, a newsletter preview, and core Mastodon federation followed. Theme persistence and one ActivityPub path still depend on workarounds we built only for the experiment. Several features have not been tested through their full lifecycle.
Read the experiment
We want to know whether Apache Answer belongs in the Scalpels marketplace. Its official release is a Go program, not a Laravel application. Some of what it needs to keep running, like its configuration and uploads, lives outside that program. Before deploying it, we wrote down where we expected trouble.
Read the idea
We want to know whether Ghost belongs in the Scalpels marketplace. It is a Node application, not a Laravel application. Its official self-hosted setup expects more than a web process and a database. Before deploying it, we wrote down where we expected a one-click Cloud install to run into trouble.
Read the ideaThe shows
Front Page supporters get an ad read in every episode of both shows, and their name and link in the show notes on YouTube and in the podcast.
Daily live stream
Each episode picks up one idea from the Lab, talks it through and kicks off the experiment. The next day we go through what it turned up, then start the next one.
Weekly podcast
A conversation with a colleague or someone else from the ecosystem about the evolving role of open source in an AI-driven industry, what they are building, and plenty about Scalpels.
Supporters pricing
Every tier gets the Experimental apps before they launch. A supporter card also promotes your business or product in our supporters directory. We will gladly accept tweets, YouTube videos, and other exposure in lieu of cash for a card.
Experimental apps first
Every Experimental app as it lands, for as long as you support us, and a direct line to give us feedback.
A public acknowledgement of support
Your name on our Community supporters list if you like, and with a supporter card, a listing in our supporters directory and on the README of the apps you directly help to fund.
Coffee or a beer on us at a conference
We'd buy you a drink anyway, but this gives us a reason to make sure we connect.
Lifetime
Pay once for a listing that never lapses, instead of paying monthly.
$500 once
Buy lifetime listingEvery Experimental app, before it launches for everyone.
$20 / month
Your price is locked in for as long as you stay
A card in our supporters directory that promotes your business or product.
$50 / month
Your price is locked in for as long as you stay
On the Scalpels front page, and in the shows.
$1,000 / month
For 6 months, then it ends
Every Built for Cloud app remains open-source licensed and public. You can always fork it yourself.
Browse the repositoriesQuestions
Yes. Most supporters will be bartered in exchange for a tweet, a video, or an article. The listed price pegs the value.
Early access to every Experimental app. A supporter card adds a listing that promotes your business or product, and the Front Page puts it in front of everyone.
No. Scalpels is free. Supporting us gets you the Experimental apps before they launch for everyone.
In your own GitHub organisation and Laravel Cloud account.
Move up when the additional placement is worth it.