Salt Frequently Asked Questions

General

What is Salt?

Salt is the sustained funding platform brought to you by Bountysource. Through Salt open-source projects can collect monthly contributions from supporters in order to reliably and predictably fund ongoing development.

Why is it called Salt?

We built Salt to help open-source developers earn their own salary from working on their projects. The word salary comes from the Latin word salarium, or "salt-money,” a Roman soldier's allowance for the purchase of salt.

Is there a minimum contribution?

There is a minimum team contribution of only one dollar. There is a minimum billing charge of $5. If your contribution amount is less than $5, you will be charged $5 and the remaining portion will be applied as a credit to your account.

For example, if you contribute $1/month to a project you will be charged $5 the first month and given a $4 account credit. The second month will charge your account balance $1, leaving you with a $3 balance.

Can funds earned through Salt be used on Bountysource.com?

Yes, absolutely! Funds can be used on Bountysource.com without any fees to post bounties or donate to other projects / developers.

For Projects and Teams

Can my team join Salt?

If your team is relevant to the open-source world, yes! To setup your team, go to the Salt sign-up page.

How much do you charge?

Bountysource charges flat 10% on cash out. This makes it much easier for all involved to calculate fees, and very often ends up being cheaper than the alternative. Many services charge a flat fee (usually 4-9%) plus actual payment processing fees (3-5%). In our experience, at least 25% of all monthly contributions are $5 or less, which means fees can jump as high as 14% with those pricing models.

How are funds distributed across the team members?

This is up to the team to decide. Any portion of the team balance can be withdrawn upon request, via any cash out method supported by Bountysource.com (Paypal, Bitcoin, Check, and Ripple). The team balance can also be used to post bounties via Bountysource.com. We are investigating ways to automate (and add transparency) to the funds distribution process.