Open-Source Payouts
How Hanzo Cloud attributes usage to the open-source packages it runs and pays their authors — the 25% commitment, the attribution pipeline, and how to participate, with an honest line between live and roadmap.
The AI stack runs on open source that almost nobody pays for. Hanzo Cloud's commitment, written into the billing code and not just a blog post:
75% of attributable cloud revenue stays with the platform; 25% is pooled for the open-source developers whose packages the cloud actually ran.
This page explains how attribution works, how to participate, and exactly what is live versus roadmap.
How attribution works
| Step | What happens | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Build | Every image the build system produces gets a Software Bill of Materials (syft → CycloneDX): the exact dependency graph of what shipped. | Built (ingestion currently opt-in) |
| Attribute | A git blame engine maps each dependency to its authors line by line, producing per-author contribution percentages. | Built |
| Meter | The cloud already meters usage per organization for billing; that usage is the cost basis. | Live |
| Split | Usage is allocated across the dependency graph, weighted by contribution; 25% of the attributable amount is reserved for contributors. | Built (25% pool is in code) |
| Pay | Contributors receive their share. | Credits live; crypto/fiat roadmap |
The 25% figure is not marketing copy — it is the configured platform/contributor split in the payout engine (75/25) and in the revenue-share config.
How to participate
Status, plainly. The attribution engine, the 25% split, the metering, the payout model, and a contributor API all exist today. What is being switched on is the connective tissue: SBOM ingestion, the scheduled payout run, and the external (crypto/fiat) payout rails. The first payouts go to the dependencies Hanzo Cloud itself runs on, as the reference implementation, paid in credits.
The contributor flow (preview):
- Register a contributor identity tied to your Git login and choose a payout method (credits today; crypto and fiat are being wired).
- Your packages are matched against the SBOMs of what the cloud builds and
runs; the
git blameengine computes your contribution share per package. - Payouts are calculated from metered usage × dependency weight × your share, against the 25% pool, with a small minimum per payout.
- Check your earnings and reconcile them against the SBOM that produced them.
A Hanzo Commerce contributor API backs these operations (register, submit/inspect SBOM attribution, calculate payouts, read earnings). It is being prepared for public self-serve use alongside the onboarding flow below.
Link your repo (roadmap, and the headline)
The end state is fully self-serve:
Connect a GitHub repository, verify you own it, choose how you want to be paid, and receive a share whenever Hanzo Cloud runs software that depends on yours.
This onboarding flow — repo linking with ownership verification — is the piece we are building next. Until it ships, attribution covers a curated set of dependencies (starting with Hanzo's own), and payouts are issued in credits. When self-serve launches, you will be able to verify your earnings directly against the published SBOMs.
Payout methods
| Method | Status |
|---|---|
| Hanzo credits (non-expiring) | Live — the first payout rail. |
| Crypto (to a verified address) | Roadmap — the underlying rail that pays an arbitrary recipient exists; wiring it to contributor payouts is in progress. |
| Fiat | Roadmap — external fiat disbursement is not yet implemented. |
Related
- Proof of AI — how the cloud verifies the work it bills.
- Node Operator — earn by running compute.
- Commerce — the billing system that meters usage and issues payouts.