You're Not the Product. You Never Will Be.

You've heard the saying: "If you're not paying for the product, you are the product."

It's become a cliché because it's usually true. Free apps need to make money somehow, and that usually means ads, data sales, or pushing you toward affiliate bookings.

Avventura is free. But you're not the product. Here's how that works.

Why Avventura is free

I made Avventura free because I want you to have a great travel planning tool.

That's it. No catch. I genuinely believe that trip planning should be better than it is, and I wanted to build something that helps. The free version isn't a demo or a teaser—it's a real, useful app that does what it says.

Yes, there's a Pro tier with additional features. And yes, I hope you find enough value in Avventura that you decide to upgrade. That's how I keep the lights on.

But here's the thing: that's on me, not you.

It's my job to build features that genuinely improve your trip experience. It's my job to earn your support by making something worth paying for. If I do that well, some people will choose to upgrade. If I don't, they won't.

That feels like an honest deal to me.

What I'm not doing

Most free apps subsidize free users by monetizing them in other ways. I'm not doing any of that.

No ads. You'll never see a banner ad, a sponsored placement, or a "promoted" recommendation in Avventura. The app is for planning your trip, not for selling your attention to the highest bidder.

No data sales. Your travel plans are yours. I don't sell your destinations, your dates, your interests, or anything else to data brokers, advertisers, or "partners." I don't build a profile on you. I don't track you across the internet.

No affiliate games. I don't make money when you book a hotel or a flight. That means I have no incentive to steer you toward specific bookings, show you fake "deals," or bury the option that's actually best for you.

No dark patterns. I'm not trying to manipulate you into upgrading. No fake urgency, no guilt trips, no features that mysteriously break until you pay. If you're happy with the free version forever, that's fine.

Free users and Pro users get the same respect. The only difference is features.

Why this matters

Travel data is surprisingly intimate. Where you're going, when you're leaving, who you're traveling with, what kind of places you like, what you're willing to spend. It paints a detailed picture of your life.

Most free travel apps treat that information as an asset to be monetized. It flows to advertisers, data brokers, and whoever else is willing to pay for it. You search for flights to Tokyo and suddenly see Japan ads following you around the internet for weeks.

I find that creepy. I'm guessing you do too.

Avventura stores your trip data for one reason: to help you plan your trips. It's not analyzed for advertising insights. It's not packaged and sold. It's not shared with "partners." It just sits there, doing its job, until you need it.

The bet I'm making

Here's what I believe: if I build something genuinely useful, some percentage of people will choose to support it.

Not everyone. Not even most people. But enough.

That means my job is to keep making Avventura better. More useful features. Better experience. Real improvements to how you plan and take trips. If I do that, Pro subscriptions take care of themselves.

This model only works if I stay focused on what actually helps you. The moment I start optimizing for anything else—engagement metrics, ad revenue, data collection—the whole thing falls apart.

So that's the deal. You get a free app that respects your privacy and actually tries to be useful. I get to build something I'm proud of and hopefully earn enough support to keep doing it.

That's the entire business model. No hidden agenda. No fine print.

You're not the product. You're a person planning a trip. And I'm just trying to help.