BackSpin is an open AI attention exchange. It turns the idle moments while an AI model is generating inside coding tools into verified human attention, useful sponsored discovery, and shared revenue.

How do developers earn with BackSpin?

Install the CLI or editor extension once. While your AI tools work, BackSpin shows one useful discovery card and pays you a revenue share of the verified, quality-adjusted attention delivered. There is no separate signup step.

What can advertisers promote on BackSpin?

Developer tools, APIs, MCP servers, cloud credits, grants, jobs, templates, SaaS products, and startup deals. The unit is useful discovery, not generic banner advertising.

Which tools and editors does BackSpin support?

VS Code and VS Code-compatible editors, Cursor, Windsurf, Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Antigravity, Zed, and terminal-based AI coding agents, with planned support for AI apps such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Replit, Lovable, Bolt, and Copilot.

How does BackSpin verify attention and prevent fraud?

Each window is scored on activity, focus, on-screen card visibility, session quality, workflow relevance, TrustRank, and fraud risk. A cross-account farm engine detects synthetic attention; blocked accounts earn nothing and their advertiser charges are reversed.

Is BackSpin open source?

The core scoring, ranking, relevance, reputation, trust, revenue-split, market-price, and display-rule formulas are published as an open algorithm, and a privacy-safe open ledger publishes every settled bid, reward, and price tick.

How do I install BackSpin?

Run curl -fsSL https://usebackspin.com/install.sh | sh then backspin run all. The installer auto-provisions a local account, so there is no separate login step.

Install the BackSpin browser extension

Where BackSpin works#

The discovery strip can appear on secure HTTPS sites, except BackSpin's own pages. Earning is split into two clearly different contexts: supported AI generation waits earn at the browser AI rate, while optional verified active browsing earns at a lower rate. Background, idle, hidden, and dismissed tabs do not qualify.

Supported AI generation sites

ChatGPT - chatgpt.com and chat.openai.com
Claude - claude.ai (the chat web app)
Gemini - gemini.google.com
Perplexity - perplexity.ai and www.perplexity.ai
Plus Copilot, Grok, DeepSeek, Mistral, Qwen, Meta AI, Kimi, Poe, You.com, Phind, and Z.ai

Not the browser extension

Using AI in your terminal or editor - Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Cursor, Windsurf, Antigravity? Those are not browser pages, so the extension does not cover them. The BackSpin CLI and the VS Code / editor extension handle those surfaces instead.

Get the CLI Get the editor extension

What BackSpin accesses, and what it never does#

A browser extension can be powerful, so here is exactly what BackSpin does before you install it. Its content script runs on secure HTTPS pages so it can render the discovery strip and locally verify that the tab is visible, focused, and recently used. On the supported AI services above, it also checks narrow generation lifecycle signals such as a visible Stop control or busy state. Permissions are limited to storage, activeTab, the HTTPS content script, and BackSpin API access.

It never touches your content

Never reads, stores, or transmits your prompts.
Never reads the AI's responses or your conversation history.
On supported AI services, checks only generation lifecycle controls; on ordinary sites, it does not inspect page text or content.
Sends attention metadata only: that a wait happened, how long a card was on screen, and your ratings.

It never modifies anything else

Does not patch, replace, wrap, or modify any other extension, browser, or installed tool.
Adds nothing to disk beyond the extension folder you load.
Open source and auditable - read exactly what it does.

Read the source on GitHub How it works

1. Download for your browser#

Pick the build for your browser, then unzip it to a folder you will keep - the browser loads the extension from that folder, so do not delete it after installing.

Download for Chrome, Edge, Brave, Arc Download for Firefox

2. Load it in Chrome, Edge, Brave, or Arc#

Steps

Open chrome://extensions (or edge://extensions, brave://extensions).
Turn on Developer mode using the top-right toggle.
Click Load unpacked and select the unzipped folder (the one containing manifest.json).
BackSpin appears in your toolbar. Pin it for one-click access.

3. Load it in Firefox#

Steps

Open about:debugging#/runtime/this-firefox.
Click Load Temporary Add-on and select manifest.json inside the unzipped Firefox folder.
Note: temporary add-ons unload when Firefox restarts; re-load it after a restart until the signed Add-ons listing is live.

4. Start earning#

There is nothing to sign up for. On first run BackSpin creates a local account for you automatically and starts working.

Use it

Open any of the 15 supported AI services and ask anything.
While the model generates, a single discovery card appears in the corner.
On other secure sites, the discovery strip can run with optional active-browsing earning; turn it off globally or hide it per site in settings.
Click the BackSpin toolbar icon any time to see the current status and open settings.

Keep your rewards

Your account lives behind a private account code (Settings shows it, with a Copy button). Claim that code with your email at usebackspin.com to take ownership of your earnings and use them across devices. Everything else is optional - most people never touch the advanced settings.

View your rewards

Troubleshooting#

No card appears while the AI is generating

Confirm the tab is a supported site - the popup shows a green 'active on this tab' banner when it is.
Make sure 'Show discovery during AI waits' is on in Settings.
AI sites change their layout often; if detection misses, try reloading the tab. Report persistent misses via the GitHub link above.

The toolbar icon does nothing / extension is missing

Re-open the page you loaded the unpacked folder from; if you moved or deleted the folder, the browser drops the extension.
On Firefox, a restart unloads temporary add-ons - re-add it from about:debugging.

Coming soon: one-click store install#

We are publishing to the Chrome Web Store and Firefox Add-ons. Once live, this page switches to a one-click install with automatic updates, and you will not need Developer mode or temporary add-ons.

Still have a question? Contact us or read the FAQ.