Honest answers
Why is there a free tier at all?
Because Farside doesn't work if only paying members can use it. The Passport is at its best when your friends are also on it — and we want zero friction for them to join. Free gets you the full map, all your visits, and up to 3 friends. The cap is there to nudge invitations toward Citizen, not to gate the actual product.
What happens if I cancel Citizen?
You drop back to Free at the end of your billing period. Your data — visits, wishlists, friends — stays. Lists you created stay accessible to anyone you shared them with; you just can't create new ones until you re-subscribe. Founding Member status, if you have it, is permanent regardless.
How does the founding-member badge work?
First 100 Citizen subscribers get a permanent "Founding Member #N" badge on their profile. The number doesn't reset, doesn't expire, doesn't transfer. If you cancel and re-subscribe, you keep your original number. Once 100 are assigned, the badge stops being available to new subscribers — ever.
Is Wayfarer just Citizen with more features?
Sort of. Wayfarer is for people who actually need the day-counter — entrepreneurs running things from anywhere, remote workers and nomads splitting time across multiple bases, expats, and corporate travellers (regional sales, procurement, merchandisers, account managers) flying constantly for meetings. If you don't fall into one of those buckets, Citizen is the right tier. Wayfarer's not a "premium for the sake of premium" tier; it's a job-to-be-done product.
Can I get a refund?
Yes. If you're in your first month and Citizen isn't what you expected, write to hello@farside.earth and we'll refund you. After the first month it's pay-as-you-go — cancel any time and you won't be charged the next cycle.
Where does the money go?
Servers, audio production for the podcast, paying the operators who help us research destinations, and the inevitable graveyard of features that didn't pan out. Farside is operated as a sole proprietorship from Hong Kong; there's no VC, no board, no growth-at-all-costs pressure. Citizen subscriptions are how the publication stays independent.
Is my data safe?
Your account data lives in an encrypted database we own (Turso). Payments go through Stripe; we never see your card. We don't sell or share your data, we don't run ads, and we don't load tracking scripts on the Passport itself. Details in our Privacy Policy.