# BackSpin (usebackspin.com), full text for AI systems > BackSpin is the open attention exchange for AI-native workflows: developers earn a revenue share for verified attention while AI coding tools work, and advertisers buy that attention. - Website: https://usebackspin.com/ - Name: BackSpin (also written usebackspin) - Built by: KSATRIA Corp (https://ksatriacorp.com) - Contact: hello@usebackspin.com - Short index: https://usebackspin.com/llms.txt - Open algorithm: https://github.com/hackazer/backspin-algorithm - VS Code Marketplace: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=Backspin.backspin-vscode - Open VSX: https://open-vsx.org/extension/Backspin/backspin-vscode ## Name disambiguation BackSpin at usebackspin.com is a developer tool. It is not affiliated with Backspin Games (backspingames.com), the mobile skill-gaming app, or with backspin.de. Questions about a Backspin Games account, deposit or withdrawal belong to that company. BackSpin cannot see or change those accounts. ## What BackSpin is (https://usebackspin.com/about) BackSpin turns AI wait time into verified human attention. Developers earn a share of the revenue while their AI tools think, and advertisers pay only for attention that was really there. It starts with AI coding tools, where people already wait while a model thinks, edits files, reads a repository or runs a command: VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf, Claude Code, Codex, Cline, OpenCode and other AI IDEs, CLIs and agents, plus AI sites in the browser. The unit BackSpin sells is quality-adjusted attention seconds, not impressions or clicks. During an AI wait the user often cannot click, so BackSpin measures whether a real person was present and focused, and prices that. How it works: a developer installs BackSpin once, and it connects to each AI tool through that tool's own config hook, plugin or MCP server (`backspin restore` undoes every change). While the AI tool is working, BackSpin shows one useful discovery card. Each wait is scored on the server on activity, focus, on-screen visibility, account history and fraud risk. Advertisers are billed only for verified attention, developers receive a revenue share in reward credits, and every settled bid, reward and price tick is published to the open ledger at https://usebackspin.com/ledger. BackSpin is not a CPM banner network, not a click marketplace and not a highest-bid-wins ad spinner. Share of voice depends on bid, reputation and attention quality together. ## Homepage FAQ (https://usebackspin.com/#faq) ### What is BackSpin? BackSpin (usebackspin.com) is an open attention exchange for AI-native workflows. While AI coding tools such as Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, Codex and OpenCode are working, BackSpin shows one useful discovery card, checks that a real person was there, and shares the revenue with the developer. Advertisers buy that verified attention in an open bid market. The unit is quality-adjusted attention seconds, not impressions or clicks. ### Is BackSpin related to Backspin Games or backspin.de? No. BackSpin at usebackspin.com is a developer tool. It is not affiliated with Backspin Games (backspingames.com), the mobile skill-gaming app, or with backspin.de. Questions about a Backspin Games account, deposit or withdrawal need to go to that company directly. ### How do developers earn with BackSpin? Install BackSpin once with the one-line installer or the editor extension. It connects to each AI tool through that tool's own config hook, plugin or MCP server, and the backspin restore command undoes every change. Earnings are credited per verified attention window, scored after each AI wait ends. By default developers receive 50% of the value their verified attention generates. ### Does BackSpin pay out, and how do withdrawals work? Yes. Developers withdraw earned reward credits from the Withdraw page at the published rate of 1,000 credits = $5.00. Crypto payouts in USDT, Litecoin and Bitcoin are available now, and PayPal is listed as coming soon. Every withdrawal is reviewed and approved by an admin before funds are sent. The minimum amount and any fee are shown before you confirm, and a rejected request returns the credits to your balance. ### How do advertisers buy attention on BackSpin? Advertisers bid a CPAS price (cost per 1,000 quality attention seconds) and fund a budget that is billed down only as verified attention is delivered. Share of voice depends on bid, reputation and attention quality, so the highest bid does not automatically win. A quick bid on the open market needs only an email address. ### Which AI tools does BackSpin work with? VS Code and its forks (Cursor, Windsurf, Antigravity, Devin Desktop), the Claude Code, Codex, Cline, OpenCode and Kilo Code CLIs, MCP hosts such as Claude Desktop, and AI sites in the browser including ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity. ## Pricing and payouts ### For developers - Installing BackSpin is free. There is no subscription. - Default revenue split: 50% to the developer, 50% to BackSpin. The split can be overridden per surface, partner or campaign, server-side. - Reward credits convert at 1,000 credits = $5.00 USD. - Editor, CLI and desktop AI waits earn the full rate. Browser AI waits earn one tenth of it, and optional active browsing earns one twentieth. - Payout rails: USDT (TRC-20 or ERC-20), Litecoin and Bitcoin are available. PayPal is listed as coming soon. - Every withdrawal is reviewed and approved by an admin. A rejected request returns the credits to the balance. - The minimum withdrawal and any fees are admin-configured. Fees follow max(amount x percentage, minimum) + flat and are itemized on the Withdraw page before confirming. - Credits earned from activity later found to be fraudulent can be voided. ### For advertisers - Unit: CPAS, the cost per 1,000 quality-adjusted attention seconds. - A campaign sets a CPAS bid and a budget. The budget is billed down only as verified attention is delivered, and the campaign pauses when it is spent. - The public clearing price has a floor of $0.50 per 1,000 attention seconds and is bounded by the top active bid. - Share of voice is bid weight x advertiser reputation x a fairness factor, not highest-bid-wins. New campaigns get a 1.25x fairness boost for their first 7 days. - A quick bid needs only an email. Payment rails include NOWPayments (crypto), PayPal and Whop checkout, depending on what is enabled at checkout. - Unused campaign balance can be refunded when no fraud review or dispute is open. Attention already delivered and verified is not refundable. ## Pricing FAQ ### Is BackSpin free for developers? Yes. Installing the BackSpin CLI, the VS Code extension or the browser extension costs nothing, and there is no subscription. BackSpin earns its share from advertisers, not from developers. ### How much of the revenue do developers get? By default the developer whose screen showed the card receives 50% of the value their verified attention generates and BackSpin keeps 50%. The split can differ for a specific surface, partner or campaign, and it is applied on the server, so a client can never set its own rate. ### What is a BackSpin credit worth? Earnings accrue as reward credits at a fixed published rate of 1,000 credits = $5.00 USD. The rate is linear, so 10,000 credits are worth $50.00. ### How do BackSpin withdrawals work? Withdraw from the Withdraw page on usebackspin.com after linking your auto-created account to an email. USDT, Litecoin and Bitcoin payouts are available now and PayPal is listed as coming soon. An admin reviews and approves every withdrawal before funds are sent, and a rejected request returns the credits to your balance. ### Is there a minimum withdrawal or a fee? Both are set by the platform admin and can change, so this page does not quote a fixed number. The Withdraw page always shows the current minimum and an itemized fee breakdown with the exact net amount before you confirm. ### What do advertisers pay on BackSpin? Advertisers bid a CPAS price, the cost per 1,000 quality-adjusted attention seconds, and fund a budget that is billed down only as verified attention is delivered. The public clearing price never quotes below $0.50, and the campaign pauses on its own when the budget runs out. ### Is BackSpin related to Backspin Games payouts? No. BackSpin (usebackspin.com) is a developer tool and has no connection to Backspin Games or its cash-out system. Questions about a Backspin Games withdrawal have to go to that company. ## Blog posts, full text - [BackSpin VS Code Extension Setup Guide](https://usebackspin.com/blog/backspin-vscode-extension-setup): Set up the BackSpin VS Code extension in VS Code, Cursor or Windsurf: install from Marketplace or Open VSX, consent, deep detection, settings and fixes. - [Advertising to Developers Inside the IDE](https://usebackspin.com/blog/advertising-to-developers-in-the-ide): How advertising to developers inside the IDE works in 2026: formats, what to promote, how to write a wait-state card, pricing per attention second and pitfalls. - [How to Monetize AI Coding Wait Time](https://usebackspin.com/blog/monetize-ai-coding-wait-time): How to monetize AI coding wait time in 2026: what actually pays, how to set up BackSpin across Claude Code, Codex and VS Code, and how payouts and limits work. - [What Is an AI Attention Exchange](https://usebackspin.com/blog/what-is-an-ai-attention-exchange): An AI attention exchange is a market that prices verified human attention during AI wait states. Here is how BackSpin measures, prices and shares it. - [EthicalAds Alternatives for Reaching Developers](https://usebackspin.com/blog/ethicalads-alternatives): EthicalAds alternatives for advertisers and publishers in 2026: Carbon Ads, DEV, direct sponsorships, newsletters and BackSpin, compared on privacy and price. - [Carbon Ads Alternatives for Developer Tools](https://usebackspin.com/blog/carbon-ads-alternatives): Carbon Ads alternatives for developer tools in 2026: EthicalAds, DEV billboards, newsletters, Reddit, AI wait-state networks and BackSpin, with real pricing. - [Kickbacks Alternatives for AI Coding Wait Time](https://usebackspin.com/blog/kickbacks-alternatives): Comparing Kickbacks alternatives in 2026: Claude Code Ads, Idlen and BackSpin, by revenue share, supported tools, how each hooks in, payouts and privacy. - [Get paid while your AI works](https://usebackspin.com/blog/get-paid-while-your-ai-works): AI wait states are the most expensive dead time in a developer's day. See how BackSpin turns vibecoding and waiting into verified attention and shared revenue. - [What is AI wait-state monetization?](https://usebackspin.com/blog/what-is-ai-wait-state-monetization): A plain-English guide to AI wait-state monetization: what a wait state is, why it is valuable attention, and how an open attention exchange prices it fairly. --- # BackSpin VS Code Extension Setup Guide > Set up the BackSpin VS Code extension in VS Code, Cursor or Windsurf: install from Marketplace or Open VSX, consent, deep detection, settings and fixes. - Canonical: https://usebackspin.com/blog/backspin-vscode-extension-setup - Published: 2026-10-26 - Updated: 2026-10-26 - Author: BackSpin (https://usebackspin.com/about) To set up the BackSpin VS Code extension, install BackSpin from the VS Code Marketplace (or Open VSX in Windsurf and VSCodium), accept the one-time consent prompt, and keep working with your AI tools. While an agent runs commands, tasks or edits, BackSpin shows one discovery card in a side panel and a credit balance in the status bar. It works in VS Code 1.93 or newer and in forks such as Cursor, Windsurf, Kiro and Devin Desktop. That is the whole happy path. Below are the details: where to get it, what each setting does, how to get chat-only waits counted, and what to check when the panel sits at zero. ## What the extension does The BackSpin extension is the editor side of [BackSpin](https://usebackspin.com/about), the open attention exchange for AI-native workflows. It notices when your AI tool is busy, shows one relevant discovery (a developer tool, API, MCP server, credit or job), and credits you a share of what the advertiser paid for that attention. When the AI is done, the card steps aside. It does not read your code. It watches for the visible signs of AI work: - commands running in the integrated terminal - build, test and run tasks - fast, machine-paced edits to open files - files being created, renamed or deleted in the workspace ## Step 1, install it Pick the route for your editor: | Editor | Where to install | | --- | --- | | VS Code | Marketplace, search "BackSpin" (ID Backspin.backspin-vscode) | | Cursor | Extensions view, or the VSIX with the cursor CLI | | Windsurf | Open VSX, search "BackSpin" | | VSCodium | Open VSX, or the VSIX file | | Kiro, Devin Desktop and other forks | Their extensions view, or the VSIX | If your editor cannot reach either store, install the VSIX directly: ``` curl -fsSL https://usebackspin.com/dl/backspin-vscode.vsix -o /tmp/backspin.vsix code --install-extension /tmp/backspin.vsix ``` Swap `code` for `cursor` or `windsurf` in those editors. Reload the window when asked. ## Step 2, answer the consent prompt On first run BackSpin asks once whether you want to opt in to anonymous attention reporting and sponsored cards. That is the trade: cards fund the rewards, and the reporting (timing and focus only) is how a wait gets credited to you. Say no and nothing is reported. You can change your mind later with **BackSpin: Manage data consent** from the Command Palette. ## Step 3, work normally and watch the panel Run an agent that does real work: a refactor, a test run, a build. A card appears in the BackSpin panel and the status bar shows your balance. Open the panel any time with **BackSpin: Show discovery panel**, or click the status bar item. You can rate the last card useful or annoying, save it for later, or dismiss it. Those ratings matter: they feed the advertiser's reputation, which affects how often that campaign is shown. ## Step 4, turn on deep detection if you chat in a private panel Here is the honest limitation. Editors do not let one extension read another tool's private chat view, and BackSpin does not try to. So if you only chat with an AI inside its own panel, with no terminal, task or file activity, a wait may not register. This is common in Cursor, Windsurf, Kiro and Devin. Deep detection fixes most of that. Some AI tools write to a local session file while the model works, and deep detection watches the modification time of those files, never their contents. It is read-only and does not patch or change any AI tool. Turn it on with **BackSpin: Enable deep detection**, from the toggle on the idle panel, or with the `backspin.deepDetection` setting. BackSpin offers it once on its own the first time it runs in one of those editors. ## Step 5, link your account The extension shares an account code with the BackSpin CLI and with every other editor you install it into. If you ran the CLI first, the extension adopts the same code, so all your earnings land in one balance. To withdraw, claim that account on usebackspin.com with Sync and connect and link it to an email. Payouts are in USDT, Litecoin or Bitcoin after an admin review, and the [FAQ](https://usebackspin.com/faq) has the rules. ## Settings reference | Setting | Default | What it does | | --- | --- | --- | | `backspin.enabled` | true | Show discovery cards during AI wait states | | `backspin.telemetryConsent` | unset | Opt in or out of attention reporting and sponsored cards, asked once if unset | | `backspin.deepDetection` | false | Detect AI activity from local session file timing, asks to confirm | | `backspin.deepDetectionPaths` | empty | Extra folders for deep detection to watch, timing only | | `backspin.debug` | false | Log each detected wait signal to the BackSpin output channel | | `backspin.apiUrl` | https://usebackspin.com | The BackSpin service URL | There is also an opt-in **in-editor rendering** command that shows the card inside the Codex and Claude Code editor panels. It works by a reversible patch to those panels, so it is off by default and has a matching **Disable in-editor rendering** command that restores them. ## Troubleshooting when you earn nothing If the panel sits at IDLE with 0 credits while you use AI tools, go through these in order: 1. **Is it running?** Look for the BackSpin item in the status bar. If it is missing, grant consent with Manage data consent and reload the window. 2. **Was there visible work?** Chat-only waits in a private panel do not register without deep detection. 3. **Is there a warning in the status bar?** BackSpin shows the reason when an account cannot earn right now, such as the daily reward cap, an account under review, or an unclaimed account. Cards still show, and earning resumes on its own when the reason clears. 4. **Turn on diagnostics.** Set `backspin.debug` to true, reload, and run **BackSpin: Show diagnostic logs** to see which signals fire. It never logs prompts, code or replies. 5. **Add the CLI for terminal agents.** For Claude Code, Codex, Cline and OpenCode in a terminal, the CLI hooks into each tool directly and is the most reliable way to earn. See [how to monetize AI coding wait time](https://usebackspin.com/blog/monetize-ai-coding-wait-time). One more thing: **Toggle discovery cards** always shows a card on demand, but that card is low-confidence on purpose and never counts as verified attention, so it does not earn. ## Privacy in one paragraph The extension uses the shape of your activity (timing, focus and which tools are active) to decide when to show a card. It never reads your code, prompts, AI replies, file names, file contents or cursor position. Deep detection, if you turn it on, reads only file modification times. Every setting that changes another tool is opt-in and reversible. ## Other ways to run BackSpin The editor extension is one of several surfaces. The full list, with the status of each, is on the [integrations page](https://usebackspin.com/integrations). There is also a [browser extension](https://usebackspin.com/extension) for AI sites, and the CLI for terminal tools. If you are still comparing products, our [Kickbacks alternatives](https://usebackspin.com/blog/kickbacks-alternatives) post puts BackSpin next to the other options. ## Frequently asked questions ### Where do I download the BackSpin VS Code extension? Search for BackSpin in the VS Code Marketplace (publisher Backspin, ID Backspin.backspin-vscode) or on Open VSX for Windsurf, VSCodium and other forks. You can also install the packaged VSIX from usebackspin.com/dl/backspin-vscode.vsix. ### Does the BackSpin extension work in Cursor and Windsurf? Yes. The same package runs in VS Code 1.93 or newer and in forks such as Cursor, Windsurf, Kiro, Devin Desktop and VSCodium. In forks where AI chat lives in a private panel, turn on deep detection so chat-only waits can register. ### Why does the BackSpin panel stay idle with 0 credits? Usually because no visible AI work happened yet, consent was not granted, or the editor only shows AI chat in its own panel. Check the status bar item, grant consent with Manage data consent, turn on deep detection, and use the diagnostic logs to see which signals fire. ### Does the extension read my code? No. It looks at the shape of activity, such as terminal commands, tasks, fast machine-paced edits and file events, never your code, prompts, AI replies, file names or file contents. Deep detection reads only file modification times. ### How do I remove it completely? Uninstall it from the Extensions view. If you turned on in-editor rendering, run BackSpin: Disable in-editor rendering first so the patched AI panels are restored. If you also installed the CLI, run backspin restore. --- # Advertising to Developers Inside the IDE > How advertising to developers inside the IDE works in 2026: formats, what to promote, how to write a wait-state card, pricing per attention second and pitfalls. - Canonical: https://usebackspin.com/blog/advertising-to-developers-in-the-ide - Published: 2026-10-25 - Updated: 2026-10-25 - Author: BackSpin (https://usebackspin.com/about) Advertising to developers inside the IDE means placing one sponsored message where developers already are while they wait on AI tools: the editor panel, the terminal status line, or an MCP tool result, instead of a web page they may never visit. On BackSpin, developers opt in and get paid for that attention, and advertisers bid per 1,000 quality-adjusted attention seconds, so you pay for verified, on-screen attention rather than raw impressions. This post is for the person who has to decide whether to put budget into this. It covers why the IDE is worth a test, the formats that exist in 2026, what to promote, how to write for a wait, and how to buy. ## Why the IDE, and why now Developers are hard to reach with ads. Many block them, many ignore them, and the good contextual networks (we compare them in [Carbon Ads alternatives](https://usebackspin.com/blog/carbon-ads-alternatives)) live on docs sites that developers visit in short, goal-driven bursts. AI coding tools changed the shape of the working day. A developer now spends real time watching an agent think, read files and run tests. During those waits they are in their work tool, focused on a technical problem, and mostly idle. That is exactly when a short, relevant suggestion has a chance to be read. It is also a moment that only works if it is handled with respect. An ad that covers the code, steals focus or arrives uninvited gets the extension uninstalled. The networks that will last are opt-in and pay the developer. ## The formats that exist There are three main placements in 2026: 1. **Status line and spinner text.** One line of text where the AI tool prints its status. Simple, impossible to miss, and limited to a few words. Several networks sell the Claude Code spinner this way. 2. **Editor panel cards.** A card in a side panel of VS Code or a fork, with a name, a line of copy, an optional logo or image and a link. BackSpin's VS Code extension shows one card at a time and steps aside when the AI is done. 3. **MCP and agent surfaces.** A discovery tool exposed through an MCP server, so a sponsored suggestion can appear inside an agent's transcript. BackSpin calls this sponsored MCP discovery. BackSpin picks the card format by expected wait length: plain text for very short waits, then image, carousel, and a mini-demo for the longest. Cards are structured data, never HTML or scripts. Assets are hosted or proxied by BackSpin, every card carries a "Sponsored" label, and destinations must be https and open in the external browser. ## What works as an IDE ad The format rewards things a developer could use in the task in front of them. BackSpin campaigns typically promote: - developer tools and CLIs - APIs and SDKs - MCP servers and editor extensions - cloud credits and startup deals - grants, bounties and jobs - templates and starter kits It works poorly for things unrelated to work, and for anything that needs a long explanation. If your pitch needs a demo video and a sales call to make sense, a card can get you remembered, but it will not close the deal. ## How to write a card for a wait A wait-state card is read in seconds, often without a click. Write for that: - **Lead with the job, not the brand.** "Postgres branching for every pull request" beats "Meet Acme, the future of data". - **One idea per card.** No feature lists. - **Make it rememberable.** A distinctive name or phrase, because many developers will look it up later instead of clicking now. - **Use a real offer when you have one.** Credits, a free tier or a grant gives people a reason to act after the wait. - **Send the click somewhere useful.** Docs, a quickstart or a pricing page, not a generic homepage with a newsletter popup. The fastest campaign on BackSpin is just a name, one line and a URL. Logos and images are optional. ## Measuring something you cannot click If you judge IDE ads by click-through rate, you will undercount them. During generation a developer often cannot click without breaking their flow. The useful questions are different: - **Was the attention real?** BackSpin only bills seconds where the person was active, the window was focused and the card was on screen, discounted by quality. - **Was it remembered?** Watch branded search, direct traffic and sign-ups with "how did you hear about us" answers after a campaign starts. - **Did they act later?** Give the campaign its own landing page or code so later visits can be tied back. This is why BackSpin sells attention seconds and not impressions or clicks. The [AI attention exchange explainer](https://usebackspin.com/blog/what-is-an-ai-attention-exchange) goes through the scoring in detail. ## How buying works on BackSpin There are two ways in: 1. **Quick bid.** On the [open market](https://usebackspin.com/market), enter your email, brand, one ad line and a destination, then set a CPAS bid and a budget and pay. No account is needed, and you get a receipt code to track the order. 2. **Advertiser dashboard.** Register to manage several campaigns, funding and reporting in one place. Pricing works like this: - **CPAS** is the cost per 1,000 quality-adjusted attention seconds, the only price unit. - **Your budget is metered.** It is billed down only as verified attention is delivered, and the campaign pauses when it is spent. - **Share of voice is shared.** It depends on your bid, your advertiser reputation and a fairness factor, so the top bid does not take everything. New campaigns get a boost for their first 7 days. - **The clearing price is public.** It never quotes below $0.50 per 1,000 attention seconds, and you can watch it move on the market board. Payment rails include NOWPayments for crypto, PayPal and Whop checkout, depending on what is enabled. Unused balance can be refunded when no review or dispute is open. The details are on the [advertiser market](https://usebackspin.com/market). ## Pitfalls to avoid - **Treating it like display.** Copy written for banners, with vague slogans, wastes the moment. - **Judging it in a week by clicks alone.** Give it time and measure recall and later action. - **Promoting something developers cannot try.** If there is no free tier, docs or trial, the card has nowhere to send interest. - **Ignoring feedback.** Developers can rate cards as useful or annoying. Low ratings hurt your reputation, and reputation affects your share of voice. ## Where it fits in a developer marketing plan IDE advertising is not a replacement for docs, content or a good free tier. It sits next to contextual networks such as [EthicalAds](https://usebackspin.com/blog/ethicalads-alternatives), newsletter sends and community work. It is strongest for products that are used inside the editor or terminal: CLIs, APIs, MCP servers and extensions. If that is you, a small test budget will tell you more than any media kit. ## Frequently asked questions ### Can you advertise inside VS Code or Claude Code? Yes, through opt-in networks that developers install themselves. BackSpin shows one sponsored discovery card while AI tools such as Claude Code, Codex, Cline and VS Code agents work, and pays the developer a share of the revenue. ### What can I promote to developers inside the IDE? On BackSpin, campaigns promote developer tools, APIs, MCP servers, editor extensions, cloud credits, grants, jobs, bounties, templates and startup deals. The format rewards things a developer could actually use in the task in front of them. ### How is IDE advertising priced on BackSpin? You bid a CPAS price, the cost per 1,000 quality-adjusted attention seconds, and fund a budget. The budget is billed down only as verified attention is delivered, and the public clearing price never quotes below $0.50. ### Do developers mind ads in their editor? They mind ads they did not agree to. Wait-state cards only appear for developers who installed the tool and get paid for the attention, they show during a wait rather than over the code, and they can be rated, dismissed or muted by category. --- # How to Monetize AI Coding Wait Time > How to monetize AI coding wait time in 2026: what actually pays, how to set up BackSpin across Claude Code, Codex and VS Code, and how payouts and limits work. - Canonical: https://usebackspin.com/blog/monetize-ai-coding-wait-time - Published: 2026-10-24 - Updated: 2026-10-24 - Author: BackSpin (https://usebackspin.com/about) You can monetize AI coding wait time in two real ways: use the wait for work that pays off later, or install a wait-state rewards tool that shows one sponsored card while your AI tool runs and pays you part of the ad revenue. BackSpin does the second across Claude Code, Codex, Cline, OpenCode, VS Code and its forks, paying 50% of the value of your verified attention by default, with payouts in USDT, Litecoin or Bitcoin. This guide covers both, then walks through the BackSpin setup step by step, including the limits most "get paid while you code" pages leave out. ## First, how much waiting are we talking about Watch yourself for a day. Every prompt to an agent is followed by a stretch of thinking, file reads, edits and test runs. Some are short. Long refactors or test loops can run for minutes. Because the waits are scattered across the day, they are easy to underestimate. You do not need a number to make a decision, though. The question is simply whether that time is doing anything for you right now. For most people the honest answer is "I check Slack" or "I stare at the spinner". ## Option one, spend the wait on yourself Not every wait should be sold. Some good uses of a 30-second wait: - **Read the diff as it lands** instead of after. You catch wrong turns earlier and waste fewer tokens. - **Write the next prompt.** Queue up what comes after this task so the agent never sits idle on you. - **Skim the docs** for the library the agent is touching. A lot of bad AI code comes from an API call nobody checked. This pays in better code, not cash. It is also the right choice for focused, high-stakes work. You can pause BackSpin any time. ## Option two, sell the wait The second option is to let the wait earn. A wait-state tool notices that your AI tool is busy, shows one sponsored line or card, and credits you a share of what the advertiser paid. Several products do this now, with different shares, payout rails and tool coverage. We compare them honestly in [Kickbacks alternatives](https://usebackspin.com/blog/kickbacks-alternatives). What makes BackSpin different is that it does not pay per impression. It measures each wait as an attention window, checks that you were active and the card was on screen, and pays for quality-adjusted attention seconds. That protects advertisers from bots, which is what keeps the money flowing to real developers. [What is an AI attention exchange](https://usebackspin.com/blog/what-is-an-ai-attention-exchange) explains the model. ## Setting up BackSpin in about five minutes ### 1. Install the CLI The CLI needs Node.js 20 or newer. Never run it with sudo. ``` curl -fsSL https://usebackspin.com/install.sh | sh ``` On Windows, use PowerShell: ``` irm https://usebackspin.com/install.ps1 | iex ``` The installer creates a local account for you, so there is no sign-up step before you start earning. ### 2. Connect your AI tools ``` backspin install ``` This finds the AI tools on your machine and connects to each through its own safe surface: a status line hook for Claude Code, a reversible npm shim for Codex CLI, hooks plus a discovery MCP server for Cline, a native plugin for OpenCode, and an agent hook for Kiro CLI. It does not wrap your terminal. You can also do one tool at a time, for example `backspin install claude`. ### 3. Check that it works ``` backspin run check ``` This verifies your account and the connection to the API. If you use Cline, `backspin test cline` runs an end-to-end check of its discovery MCP. ### 4. Add your editor and browser If you use VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf or another fork, install the BackSpin extension too. It shares the CLI's account, so everything adds up in one balance. The [VS Code extension setup guide](https://usebackspin.com/blog/backspin-vscode-extension-setup) covers it in detail. There is also a [browser extension](https://usebackspin.com/extension) for AI sites like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity. ### 5. Link your account so you can withdraw Earning starts right away, but to withdraw you need to claim the account. Go to usebackspin.com, use Sync and connect, and link your account code to an email. After that, the CLI, the editor extension and the browser extension all pay into the same balance. ## How earning actually works Here is what happens behind the card: - **Each wait is scored on the server.** Activity, focus, whether the card was visible, session quality and account trust all count. Waits that do not qualify earn nothing. - **Your default share is 50%.** It can differ for a specific surface, partner or campaign, and it is always applied on the server. - **Credits have a fixed value.** 1,000 credits = $5.00. - **Surfaces earn different rates.** Editor, CLI and desktop waits earn the full rate. Browser AI waits earn one tenth of it, and optional active browsing earns one twentieth, because the browser is the easiest place to fake attention. - **There is a daily reward cap.** When you hit it, cards still show, and earning resumes the next day. You can rate, save or dismiss any card, and mute whole categories you do not care about, so the cards stay useful. ## Getting paid From the Withdraw page you can request a payout in USDT (TRC-20 or ERC-20), Litecoin or Bitcoin. PayPal is listed as coming soon. Every request is reviewed and approved by an admin before funds are sent. If one is rejected, the credits go back to your balance. The minimum withdrawal and any fees are set by the platform and can change, so check the Withdraw page. It always shows the minimum and an itemized breakdown with the exact amount you will receive before you confirm. The [FAQ](https://usebackspin.com/faq) lists the full rules. ## What not to do Every rewards product attracts people who try to fake the activity. Do not bother: - **Scripted waits and idle loops** are caught by the scoring and earn nothing. - **Multiple accounts on one machine** get grouped by the farm detection engine. - **Blocked accounts earn zero**, and credits from activity later found to be fraudulent can be voided. The rules exist because advertisers only keep paying for attention that is real. Gaming the system ruins it for everyone who is just coding. ## Is it worth it That depends on how much you wait and on current advertiser demand, which changes. We do not publish earnings estimates, and you should be skeptical of any tool that does. The fair test is to install it, work normally for a week, and look at your balance. If it is not worth it to you, `backspin restore` undoes everything in one command. ## Quick checklist 1. Install the CLI and run `backspin install`. 2. Run `backspin run check`. 3. Add the editor extension if you use VS Code or a fork. 4. Link your account by email. 5. Work normally and check your balance after a week. ## Frequently asked questions ### Can you really get paid while AI coding tools run? Yes. Wait-state tools such as BackSpin show one sponsored card while your AI tool works and pay you a share of what the advertiser spent. The amount depends on advertiser demand and on how much of your time qualifies as verified attention, so no honest tool can promise a monthly figure. ### How much does BackSpin pay? By default you receive 50% of the value your verified attention generates. Earnings accrue as reward credits at 1,000 credits = $5.00, and editor and CLI waits earn the full rate while browser AI waits earn one tenth of it. ### Does it slow down Claude Code or Codex? No. BackSpin hooks in through each tool's own status line, hook, plugin or MCP surface and does not sit between you and the model. Running `backspin restore` removes every change. ### How do I withdraw my earnings? Link your auto-created account to an email at usebackspin.com, then request a withdrawal in USDT, Litecoin or Bitcoin from the Withdraw page. An admin reviews each request before funds are sent, and the minimum and any fee are shown before you confirm. --- # What Is an AI Attention Exchange > An AI attention exchange is a market that prices verified human attention during AI wait states. Here is how BackSpin measures, prices and shares it. - Canonical: https://usebackspin.com/blog/what-is-an-ai-attention-exchange - Published: 2026-10-23 - Updated: 2026-10-23 - Author: BackSpin (https://usebackspin.com/about) An AI attention exchange is a marketplace that measures the attention people give while AI tools are working, checks that the attention was real and human, and sells it to advertisers, with a share of the revenue paid to the person who gave it. [BackSpin](https://usebackspin.com/about) is an open AI attention exchange built for developers: it runs during AI wait states in tools like Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and VS Code, and prices attention in quality-adjusted seconds instead of impressions or clicks. That is the one-paragraph answer. The rest of this post explains why the category exists and how the pieces fit, using BackSpin's own numbers where they are public. ## Why AI wait time became a market Using an AI coding tool means waiting. You send a prompt and the model thinks, reads files, edits code or runs a command. Sometimes that is two seconds, sometimes it is a minute. During that time you are at your desk, looking at the screen, and mostly not doing anything else. That is unusual attention. It is focused, it happens inside a work tool, and it repeats many times a day. Traditional ad formats do not fit it well, for three reasons: - **The user often cannot click.** Clicking away mid-generation breaks your flow, so click-through rate says little about whether a message landed. - **Impressions are too cheap a unit.** An impression counts a render. It does not care whether anyone was there. - **Bots are tempting.** Anything that pays for wait time invites people to fake waits. Without verification the inventory is worthless. An attention exchange is the response: measure the attention itself, verify it, and price that. ## The building blocks ### Attention windows When a supported AI tool starts working, BackSpin opens an attention window and closes it when the tool is done. Each window carries content-free signals only: timing, whether the host app was focused, keyboard and mouse activity, and whether the discovery card was actually on screen. It never includes code, prompts or AI replies. ### Quality-adjusted attention seconds Not every second is worth the same. A window where the card was fully visible in a focused editor is worth more than one where the editor sat in the background. BackSpin scores each window with an Attention Quality Score and discounts the raw seconds by it: `weighted_attention = raw_seconds x attention_score / 100` The score combines activity, focus, on-screen visibility, session quality, workflow relevance, a per-account TrustRank built from verified history, and a fraud-risk penalty. Seconds that fail the checks count for nothing. ### CPAS pricing Advertisers buy those weighted seconds. The price unit is CPAS, the cost per 1,000 quality-adjusted attention seconds. A campaign sets a CPAS bid and a budget, and the budget is billed down only as verified attention is delivered. When it is spent, the campaign pauses on its own. ### Share of voice, not highest-bid-wins In many ad auctions the top bid takes the slot. BackSpin allocates share of voice instead. On the public board a campaign's weight is its bid weight times the advertiser's reputation times a fairness factor, and its share is that weight over the total. Reputation runs from 0.5 to 1.5, so a relevant, well-rated advertiser is not simply outspent. New campaigns get a 1.25x fairness boost for their first 7 days so the board does not freeze around early buyers. ### The clearing price The board also quotes a live clearing price. It moves between a floor based on a discounted average of active bids and a ceiling set by the top bid, depending on how scarce attention supply is. It never quotes below $0.50 per 1,000 attention seconds. You can see the current number on the [open market](https://usebackspin.com/market). ### The open ledger Every settled bid, accrued reward and hourly price tick is written to a public [ledger](https://usebackspin.com/ledger) with no personal data. The scoring, ranking, revenue-split and pricing formulas are published in an [open repository](https://github.com/hackazer/backspin-algorithm). The fraud thresholds stay private, because publishing them would tell farmers exactly what to fake. ## How the money flows Here is one wait, end to end: 1. A developer asks Claude Code to refactor a module. BackSpin's status line hook sees the tool is busy and opens a window. 2. The server picks one discovery card based on share of voice and relevance, say a database API, and the card shows in the status line, editor panel or browser. 3. The tool finishes. The window closes and is scored on the server. 4. If the window qualifies, the advertiser's budget is charged for the weighted seconds at the market price, and the developer is credited a share. By default that share is 50%. 5. The settled numbers land on the open ledger. The developer earns reward credits at a fixed rate of 1,000 credits = $5.00 and can withdraw in USDT, Litecoin or Bitcoin after an admin review. The [FAQ](https://usebackspin.com/faq) has the full rules. ## The math on one wait To make the units concrete, here is the arithmetic with made-up inputs. These are not real market numbers, just a way to see how the pieces multiply. Say a wait lasts 20 seconds and scores 80 out of 100. The weighted attention is 20 x 80 / 100 = 16 seconds. If the campaign is paying a CPAS of $2.00, those 16 seconds cost the advertiser 16 / 1,000 x $2.00 = $0.032. At the default 50% split the developer is credited $0.016, which is 3.2 credits at $0.005 per credit. Two things follow from that. A single wait is worth very little on its own, so the value comes from many real waits over time. And the quality score matters as much as the price: the same 20 seconds with the editor in the background might score 30 and be worth less than half as much. ## Why "open" matters Most ad exchanges are black boxes. Advertisers cannot see why they won or lost, publishers cannot see what their inventory sold for, and nobody outside can check the math. That works when trust is assumed. It does not work for a new category where both sides are asking whether the attention is even real. Publishing the formulas and the ledger does two things. Advertisers can check that they are billed for verified attention, and developers can check that their share matches the published split. It also makes it hard for the exchange itself to quietly change the rules. ## What an attention exchange is not It helps to be clear about the edges: - **Not a CPM network.** The unit is verified attention time, not a render. - **Not a click marketplace.** Clicks are welcome, but the product is built for moments when people cannot click. - **Not surveillance.** No code, prompts, replies or personal profiles are collected. The signals are about timing and presence. - **Not a get-rich scheme.** Earnings depend on real advertiser demand and on how much of your time qualifies. There are daily caps, and suspicious accounts stop earning. ## Where this is going The first market is developers, because they wait on AI tools more than anyone and their attention is valuable to the companies that sell them tools, APIs and cloud credits. The same idea applies to any AI product with real wait time. For a buyer's view of the format, read [advertising to developers inside the IDE](https://usebackspin.com/blog/advertising-to-developers-in-the-ide). For the developer side, see [how to monetize AI coding wait time](https://usebackspin.com/blog/monetize-ai-coding-wait-time). ## Frequently asked questions ### What is an AI attention exchange in simple terms? It is a marketplace where the seconds people spend waiting on AI tools are measured, checked for real human presence, and sold to advertisers, with part of the money going back to the person whose attention it was. ### How is an attention exchange different from an ad network? A classic ad network sells impressions or clicks. An attention exchange sells verified attention time, discounted by quality, and allocates share of voice by more than the bid alone. BackSpin also publishes its bids, rewards and clearing price on an open ledger. ### What does CPAS mean? CPAS is the cost per 1,000 quality-adjusted attention seconds. It is the single price unit on BackSpin. Advertisers bid a CPAS price and their budget is billed down only as verified attention is delivered. ### Who gets paid on an AI attention exchange? The developer whose screen showed the card gets a revenue share, 50% by default on BackSpin, and the exchange keeps the rest. A distribution partner can also take a share on surfaces where one is configured. --- # EthicalAds Alternatives for Reaching Developers > EthicalAds alternatives for advertisers and publishers in 2026: Carbon Ads, DEV, direct sponsorships, newsletters and BackSpin, compared on privacy and price. - Canonical: https://usebackspin.com/blog/ethicalads-alternatives - Published: 2026-10-22 - Updated: 2026-10-22 - Author: BackSpin (https://usebackspin.com/about) The main EthicalAds alternatives in 2026 are Carbon Ads for a larger curated display network, DEV billboards for self-serve tests, direct sponsorships and newsletters for focused deals, and BackSpin for reaching developers inside their AI tools rather than on web pages. If what you value in EthicalAds is the privacy stance, the closest matches are the ones that target by context instead of by person, and that rules out most mainstream ad platforms. We run BackSpin, which is one of the options below. Everything we say about other products comes from their own pages as of October 2026. ## What EthicalAds does well [EthicalAds](https://www.ethicalads.io) grew out of Read the Docs and is built around one rule: target the page, not the person. Its advertiser FAQ says it targets only by country (plus US state) and the content of the page, and that it does not use conversion pixels. That is unusual, and it is the reason a lot of developers do not mind seeing its ads. On price it is also unusually open. The pricing page publishes a CPM table by topic and region, with a $1,000 minimum buy, 10% off at $3,000, 15% at $25,000, and another 10% for auto-renewing campaigns. Its Q4 2026 prospectus describes a network of about 170+ developer sites, all hand-approved. For publishers, the publisher policy describes a 70% revenue share, which is above what most networks pay. So why look elsewhere? Usually one of four reasons: the network does not cover the sites your audience reads, the $1,000 minimum is too much for a first test, you want stronger measurement than UTM links, or you are a publisher whose traffic does not earn enough from CPM alone. ## Comparison at a glance | Option | Targeting | Tracking | Entry cost | Best for | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | EthicalAds | Page topic and country | No conversion pixels | $1,000 minimum | Privacy-first contextual reach | | Carbon Ads | Audience segments and country | One small unit, ad-blocker whitelisted | About $5,000 to $10,000 a month suggested | Wider docs and design network | | DEV billboards | Placement on dev.to | Pay only when visible | From $25 per 1,000 impressions | Small self-serve tests | | Direct sponsorships | The project you choose | Whatever you agree | Negotiated | Backing tools your users already use | | Newsletters | The newsletter's audience | Usually link clicks | Quote on request | Launches | | BackSpin | AI tool and workflow context | Timing and focus only, no code or prompts | Quick bid with any budget | Developers mid-task in AI tools | ## Carbon Ads [Carbon Ads](https://www.carbonads.net) is the obvious first stop. It is bigger by its own count (350+ active sites and 250M+ monthly impressions) and reaches designers as well as developers. Its media kit lists $6 CPM for developers and $5 for creators, recommends 1 million impressions a month, and asks for prepayment. Carbon picks its advertisers as well as its publishers, so expect a conversation before a campaign. For publishers, Carbon is invitation only and exclusive: you agree to show only Carbon ads. Its FAQ quotes a typical $1.20 to $2.30 CPM for publishers, with earnings withdrawable within 60 days and a $20 minimum for PayPal. Pick Carbon over EthicalAds when you have the budget and want the larger network. Many teams run both, since the site lists overlap only partly. Our [Carbon Ads alternatives](https://usebackspin.com/blog/carbon-ads-alternatives) post covers the budget question in more detail. ## DEV billboards DEV sells self-serve billboards from $25 per 1,000 impressions, charged only when the billboard is visible, with no stated minimum. That is pricier per impression than EthicalAds but much cheaper to start. It is a good way to test whether your message lands with developers before committing $1,000 anywhere. ## Direct sponsorships If you know which libraries and docs your users depend on, sponsor them directly. EthicalAds itself sells flat-rate takeovers of select docs sites such as Flask, and plenty of maintainers take sponsors through GitHub Sponsors, Open Collective or their own "Sponsor" page. The upside is control and goodwill: your name sits next to a tool your buyers already trust. The downside is effort. Every deal is a negotiation, and a quiet month on that project is a quiet month for you. For publishers this is also the strongest EthicalAds alternative. A handful of direct sponsors often pays more than CPM on modest traffic, and you choose who appears. ## Newsletters Developer newsletters sell native placements inside the email. They are strong for launches and weak for steady presence. Rates are mostly quoted on request, so ask for audience numbers and past click data before you pay. ## BackSpin BackSpin is not a website ad network, so it is not a drop-in EthicalAds replacement. It solves a different problem: reaching developers while their AI coding tools work. While Claude Code, Codex, Cline or an editor agent is busy, BackSpin shows one sponsored discovery card, a developer tool, API, MCP server, cloud credit or job, and the developer who saw it gets a share of the revenue. Where it lines up with EthicalAds is the privacy line. BackSpin detects that an AI tool is busy from content-free signals and never reads code, prompts, AI replies or file names. Targeting is based on the tool and workflow context, not a personal profile, and every settled bid, reward and price tick goes to a public [ledger](https://usebackspin.com/ledger) with no personal data. The core scoring and ranking formulas are published as an open algorithm. Where it differs is the unit. EthicalAds sells impressions. BackSpin sells quality-adjusted attention seconds: each second of a wait counts only if the person was active, the window was focused and the card was on screen, and it is discounted by quality. You bid a CPAS price (per 1,000 of those seconds) and fund a budget that is billed down only as verified attention is delivered. A quick bid on the [open market](https://usebackspin.com/market) needs only an email. Honest limits: the inventory is newer and smaller than a mature web network, and since developers often cannot click during a wait, you are buying recall and later action more than instant clicks. [Advertising to developers inside the IDE](https://usebackspin.com/blog/advertising-to-developers-in-the-ide) explains how to write for that moment. ## If you are a publisher A lot of people searching for EthicalAds alternatives are on the other side: they run a docs site, a tool or a blog and want the ads that pay for it. The honest picture: - **EthicalAds** pays publishers a 70% share and keeps the ads privacy-friendly, which your readers will appreciate. If you are accepted, it is a good default. - **Carbon Ads** is invitation only and exclusive, with a typical $1.20 to $2.30 CPM by its own FAQ. Exclusivity means no other ads on the site, so compare carefully before switching. - **Direct sponsors** pay best per visitor when your audience is specific, but you have to sell and renew them yourself. - **Donations and sponsorship platforms** such as GitHub Sponsors and Open Collective work well for projects that people depend on, and they need no ad unit at all. BackSpin does not run ads on websites, so it is not a publisher option for a docs site. If you build a developer tool, an editor extension or an agent with real wait time, BackSpin's revenue split can include a distribution partner share on surfaces where one is configured, and the [contact page](https://usebackspin.com/contact) is the place to ask about it. ## Questions to ask any network before you buy Whatever you pick, ask these before you send money: 1. **Which sites or surfaces will my ad actually run on?** Ask for a list, not a category. 2. **What exactly am I paying for?** A render, a visible impression, a click, or verified attention time. 3. **How do you filter bots?** A network that cannot answer this clearly is selling you bot traffic too. 4. **What data do you collect about the people who see my ad?** For developer audiences, less is usually better for your brand. 5. **What happens to unused budget?** Check the refund terms before you prepay. ## Our recommendation If EthicalAds is working for you, keep it, and add rather than replace. A sensible stack for a developer tool in 2026 looks like this: 1. **EthicalAds or Carbon** for steady contextual presence on docs sites. 2. **One or two direct sponsorships** of projects your users depend on. 3. **A newsletter send** when you launch something. 4. **A small BackSpin budget** if your product is used inside the editor or terminal, such as a CLI, an MCP server or an API. If you are a publisher, start with direct sponsors and use a network for the long tail. ## Sources checked in October 2026 - EthicalAds pricing page, advertiser FAQ, publisher policy and Q4 2026 prospectus, ethicalads.io - Carbon Ads media kit, FAQ and network page, carbonads.net - DEV Pro Tools pricing, pro.dev.to/pricing - BackSpin facts from the [how it works page](https://usebackspin.com/how-it-works) and [about page](https://usebackspin.com/about) ## Frequently asked questions ### What does EthicalAds cost? EthicalAds prices campaigns per 1,000 impressions by topic and region. Its Q3 2026 table runs from $3.00 CPM for all developers run of network up to $7.50 for niche targeting in top English-speaking markets, with a $1,000 minimum buy and volume discounts from $3,000. ### How much does EthicalAds pay publishers? The EthicalAds publisher policy describes a 70% revenue share with publishers. Carbon Ads, by comparison, quotes a typical publisher range of $1.20 to $2.30 CPM and does not publish its split. ### Is there a privacy-first alternative to EthicalAds? Carbon Ads, DEV billboards and direct sponsorships all avoid cross-site profiling in their basic form. BackSpin is privacy-first in a different way: it only uses timing and focus signals during AI waits, never code, prompts or personal profiles, and publishes bids and rewards on an open ledger without personal data. ### Can a small open source project replace EthicalAds income? Usually with a mix: direct sponsorships for the few companies that care about the project, GitHub Sponsors or Open Collective for individuals, and a network for the long tail. A single network rarely covers it alone. --- # Carbon Ads Alternatives for Developer Tools > Carbon Ads alternatives for developer tools in 2026: EthicalAds, DEV billboards, newsletters, Reddit, AI wait-state networks and BackSpin, with real pricing. - Canonical: https://usebackspin.com/blog/carbon-ads-alternatives - Published: 2026-10-21 - Updated: 2026-10-21 - Author: BackSpin (https://usebackspin.com/about) The best Carbon Ads alternatives for developer tools in 2026 are EthicalAds for privacy-first contextual display, DEV billboards and Reddit Ads for cheap self-serve tests, developer newsletters for one big launch moment, and AI wait-state networks such as BackSpin for reaching developers inside their editor and terminal. Which one is right depends mostly on budget: Carbon itself suggests $5,000 to $10,000 a month to start, and most teams looking for an alternative want something smaller or more measurable. This is the BackSpin blog, so we sell one of the options below. We kept the rest fair, and every price comes from the vendor's own pages as of October 2026. ## What Carbon Ads is good at [Carbon Ads](https://www.carbonads.net) has been around since 2010 and is run by BuySellAds. It shows one small, quiet ad unit on documentation sites, frameworks, tools and design galleries. Its network page counts 350+ active sites and 250M+ monthly impressions, and the unit is whitelisted by AdBlock Plus, so it shows up for people who block everything else. The current media kit lists: - **$6 CPM** for the Developer audience and **$5 CPM** for Creators - a recommended minimum of **1 million impressions a month** - **prepayment** to secure inventory - the classic format: a 260 by 200 image next to a short line of copy Carbon also says it carefully selects both publishers and advertisers. So it is a curated, sales-led buy, not a self-serve dashboard where you launch tonight. That is a good product for a funded developer tool with a quarter's budget. It is a hard fit if you have $800, a new API, and a question you want answered this month. ## Quick comparison | Option | Pricing model | Entry point | Best for | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Carbon Ads | $6 CPM developers, $5 CPM creators | About $5,000 to $10,000 a month suggested | Steady brand presence on docs and tool sites | | EthicalAds | CPM by topic and region, about $3.00 to $7.50 | $1,000 minimum buy | Privacy-first contextual campaigns | | DEV billboards | From $25 per 1,000 impressions, self-serve | No stated minimum | Small tests on a big developer community | | Developer newsletters | Flat fee per send | Quote on request | Launch weeks and announcements | | Reddit Ads | Self-serve auction, CPC or CPM | Low daily budgets | Specific subreddits and communities | | BackSpin | CPAS, per 1,000 quality-adjusted attention seconds | Quick bid with an email and your own budget | Reaching developers while AI tools work | Prices quoted from vendor pages in October 2026. CPM, CPAS and flat sends measure different things, so treat the table as a map, not a leaderboard. ## EthicalAds **Best for:** teams that want something close to Carbon, with public pricing and a strong privacy stance. [EthicalAds](https://www.ethicalads.io) started on Read the Docs and is still the closest thing to Carbon. It targets by page content and country (and US state), never by personal tracking, and its advertiser FAQ says it does not use conversion pixels at all. Its Q4 2026 prospectus describes about 170+ hand-approved developer sites. Pricing is the clearest in this space. The published Q3 2026 table runs from $3.00 CPM for "all developers" run of network up to $7.50 for niche targeting in the US, Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland, with a $1,000 minimum buy and discounts at $3,000 and $25,000. It also sells flat-rate takeovers of specific docs sites. The trade-off: no pixels means you measure results with UTM links and your own analytics, and the network is smaller than Carbon's. We compare it in more depth in [EthicalAds alternatives](https://usebackspin.com/blog/ethicalads-alternatives). ## DEV billboards **Best for:** a cheap first test with no sales call. DEV (dev.to) sells self-serve "billboard" placements through its Pro Tools. The pricing page starts at $25 per 1,000 impressions and says you pay only when the billboard is visible. Bulk buys get discounts through sales. $25 CPM is high next to Carbon's $6, but there is no minimum to clear, so you can spend a few hundred dollars, watch what happens, and stop. For a lot of early teams that is worth more than a lower rate they cannot reach. ## Developer newsletters **Best for:** one strong push around a launch. Newsletters such as TLDR sell native placements inside the email: TLDR's advertising site describes a primary slot at the top with a logo and up to 100 words, a middle slot with up to 50 words and a bottom slot with up to 30. Rates are quoted on request, and published third-party estimates vary too much to repeat here. Newsletters reach people at a moment they chose to read, which is why they convert well for launches. They are poor for steady presence, because each send is a one-off. ## Reddit Ads **Best for:** going after one specific technical community. Reddit's self-serve Ads Manager lets you target subreddits such as the ones around a language or framework, with low daily budgets and CPC or CPM bidding. Check the Ads Manager for current minimums, since third-party guides disagree. The catch is culture. Developer subreddits are not shy about calling out ads that sound like marketing. Write like a person, answer comments, and expect some of the engagement to be blunt. ## AI wait-state networks **Best for:** reaching developers while they are already in their editor or terminal and waiting on an AI tool. This category is new. When Claude Code, Codex or Cursor's agent is working, the developer often watches the screen for several seconds with nothing to do. A few networks now sell that moment: - [Claude Code Ads](https://www.claudecodeads.com) sells impressions on the Claude Code spinner line, with bids from $1 per 1,000 impressions and the highest bid served first. - **BackSpin** sells attention across Claude Code, Codex, Cline, OpenCode, VS Code and its forks, MCP hosts and the browser. You bid a CPAS price, the cost per 1,000 quality-adjusted attention seconds, and your budget is billed down only as verified attention is delivered. Why BackSpin prices attention instead of impressions: during an AI wait the developer often cannot click, so click-through rate is the wrong scorecard. BackSpin checks whether the person was active, whether the window was focused and whether the card was actually on screen, and discounts each second by that quality. Share of voice comes from bid, advertiser reputation and a fairness factor, so the highest bid does not simply win. The public clearing price never quotes below $0.50 per 1,000 attention seconds, and you can watch it live on the [open market](https://usebackspin.com/market). The honest downside: this inventory is young and smaller than Carbon's network, and you are buying recall and later action more than immediate clicks. If you want to understand the format first, read [advertising to developers inside the IDE](https://usebackspin.com/blog/advertising-to-developers-in-the-ide). ## How to choose A practical way to decide: 1. **Under $1,000 to test:** DEV billboards, Reddit Ads or a BackSpin quick bid. Spend small, measure, then scale what works. 2. **$1,000 to $5,000 a month:** EthicalAds for contextual reach, plus one newsletter send around a launch. 3. **$5,000+ a month for a quarter:** Carbon Ads becomes realistic, and works well next to EthicalAds since the networks overlap only partly. 4. **Product used inside the editor, such as an MCP server, CLI or API:** test the IDE itself. The person seeing your card is mid-task in exactly the place your product would be used. ## What a fair test looks like Most teams judge a developer channel too early. A test that tells you something usually has: - **One clear offer.** A free tier, credits or a useful guide, not "learn more". - **A dedicated landing page** per channel, so you can see where sign-ups came from without guessing. - **Enough time.** Developers rarely buy on first sight. Give a channel at least a few weeks before calling it, and longer for formats built on recall, such as docs-site units and IDE cards. - **A "how did you hear about us" field** on sign-up. It is crude, but it catches the people who saw an ad and came back later by typing your name. - **A cap you can live with.** Pick the amount you are willing to lose on the experiment and stop there. Run two or three channels side by side at small budgets, then move money to whichever brings in users who stick around, not the one with the prettiest click-through rate. Whatever you pick, give each channel its own UTM tags and a landing page that talks to developers like developers. Most failed dev-tool campaigns fail on the copy, not the network. ## Sources checked in October 2026 - Carbon Ads media kit, FAQ, network page and home page, carbonads.net - EthicalAds pricing page, advertiser FAQ and Q4 2026 prospectus, ethicalads.io - DEV Pro Tools pricing, pro.dev.to/pricing - TLDR advertising site, advertise.tldr.tech - Claude Code Ads advertiser page, claudecodeads.com - BackSpin rates from the [how it works page](https://usebackspin.com/how-it-works) ## Frequently asked questions ### How much does Carbon Ads cost in 2026? Carbon's media kit lists $6 CPM for its Developer audience and $5 CPM for Creators, recommends at least 1 million impressions a month and asks for prepayment. Its home page says first-time advertisers typically start with $5,000 to $10,000 a month over 60 to 90 days. ### What is the cheapest alternative to Carbon Ads? For small tests, self-serve options are cheapest to start. DEV sells self-serve billboards from $25 per 1,000 impressions with no stated minimum, Reddit Ads is self-serve with low daily budgets, and BackSpin's quick bid needs only an email and a budget you choose. EthicalAds starts at a $1,000 minimum buy. ### Is EthicalAds better than Carbon Ads? Neither is better in general. EthicalAds publishes transparent CPM pricing by topic and region with a $1,000 minimum and never uses conversion pixels. Carbon has a larger network by its own count and a recommended budget several times higher. Pick by budget and by which sites your buyers read. ### Can I advertise to developers inside the IDE instead? Yes. A newer group of networks shows one sponsored line or card while AI coding tools work. BackSpin sells that attention per 1,000 quality-adjusted attention seconds, and Claude Code Ads sells impressions on the Claude Code spinner. --- # Kickbacks Alternatives for AI Coding Wait Time > Comparing Kickbacks alternatives in 2026: Claude Code Ads, Idlen and BackSpin, by revenue share, supported tools, how each hooks in, payouts and privacy. - Canonical: https://usebackspin.com/blog/kickbacks-alternatives - Published: 2026-10-20 - Updated: 2026-10-20 - Author: BackSpin (https://usebackspin.com/about) The main Kickbacks alternatives in 2026 are Claude Code Ads, Idlen and BackSpin. All of them pay you a share of ad revenue for the seconds your AI coding tool spends thinking, but they differ a lot in which tools they support, how they hook in, and how they pay. Short version: Claude Code Ads has the highest quoted share for Claude Code users, Idlen covers editors and the browser, and BackSpin covers the widest set of AI CLIs and measures attention instead of counting impressions. Full disclosure before you read further: this is the BackSpin blog, so we have a horse in this race. We tried to be fair anyway. Every competitor fact below comes from that product's own site or Marketplace listing, checked in October 2026, and we link the sources at the end. ## Why people look for a Kickbacks alternative [Kickbacks](https://kickbacks.ai) launched in June 2026 and got a lot of attention for a simple idea: replace the Claude Code "thinking" spinner verb with a sponsored line and give the developer part of the money. It works, and it started the whole category. The reasons people go looking for something else tend to be practical: - **Tool coverage.** Kickbacks focuses on Claude Code in VS Code, the Codex VS Code panel and the Claude Code terminal CLI. Its FAQ says the Codex terminal CLI is not supported and does not earn. If you spend your day in Codex CLI, Cline, OpenCode or Cursor's own agent, that matters. - **How it hooks in.** For the VS Code panel, Kickbacks patches the Claude Code extension bundle. It backs up the original and offers a restore command, but some people simply do not want another tool editing a vendor's extension. - **Payout method.** Kickbacks pays through Stripe Connect only. That is great in some countries and a dead end in others. - **Privacy modes.** The default Private Mode is reasonable. The optional Boosted Mode shares recent prompts, model replies and repo names for better ad matching, which some teams will never allow. None of that makes Kickbacks bad. It makes it a fit for a specific setup. ## The short comparison | Tool | Developer share (as published) | Where it runs | How it hooks in | Payouts | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Kickbacks | Estimated 50% of net ad revenue | Claude Code and Codex VS Code panels, Claude Code CLI | Patches the Claude Code VS Code extension, edits CLI settings | Stripe Connect, about every two weeks above a threshold | | Claude Code Ads | 75% | Claude Code CLI, VS Code, Cursor and VSCodium via Open VSX | Swaps the status line text and thinking verb | PayPal, $10 minimum, weekly | | Idlen | 70% | VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf, Chrome and Firefox | Editor and browser extensions, plus an SDK for AI apps | Stripe, PayPal or API credits | | BackSpin | 50% by default | Claude Code, Codex, Cline, OpenCode, Kilo Code and Kiro CLIs, VS Code and forks, MCP hosts, browser | Each tool's own hook, plugin or MCP server, reversible with one command | USDT, Litecoin, Bitcoin, PayPal coming soon, admin reviewed | A note on that share column. A higher percentage is not automatically more money. What matters is the share multiplied by what advertisers actually pay for your attention, and those prices are set very differently across these products. We come back to this below. ## Kickbacks **Who it is for:** Claude Code users who live in VS Code and want the original, best-known option. Kickbacks shows a short sponsored line in the place where Claude Code normally prints a random verb like "Baking..." while it thinks. In the terminal it uses the Claude Code status line and, on Claude Code 2.1.143 or newer, the spinner verb itself. Its FAQ says Remote-SSH, WSL, devcontainers and VS Code Insiders are covered. What we like: it is focused, it explains its data collection plainly, and it has a diagnose command for when ads do not show. What to weigh: the VS Code integration patches another company's extension, payouts are Stripe Connect only, and the revenue share is described as an estimate that the terms can change. ## Claude Code Ads **Who it is for:** people who only care about Claude Code and want the biggest headline percentage. [Claude Code Ads](https://www.claudecodeads.com) says 75% of every advertiser dollar goes to the developer, which is the highest share we found. It changes only the status line text and the thinking verb, and a restore option puts your settings back. It ships on the VS Code Marketplace and on Open VSX for Cursor and VSCodium. Payouts are PayPal only, with a $10 minimum and one payout per week. On the advertiser side, bids start at $1 per 1,000 impressions in an open auction where the highest bid serves first. That is a plain impression model: a view of the line is the unit, whatever the developer was doing at the time. ## Idlen **Who it is for:** developers who want one product across their editor and their browser. [Idlen](https://idlen.io) says developers keep 70% of ad revenue. It has a VS Code extension (also on Open VSX, so it reaches Cursor and Windsurf) and Chrome and Firefox extensions that show ads while browser AI tools generate. It also sells an SDK so AI app builders can put ads inside their own chat products. One detail worth knowing: Idlen reads your project's package.json on your machine to match ads to your stack. Its site says that analysis stays local. Payouts go through Stripe, PayPal or API credits, which is more flexible than most. ## BackSpin **Who it is for:** people who use more than one AI tool, especially terminal agents, and want the attention they give to be measured and published rather than counted as raw views. [BackSpin](https://usebackspin.com/about) works differently from the spinner-text tools. The CLI installs into each AI tool through that tool's own supported surface: a status line hook for Claude Code, a reversible npm shim for Codex CLI, hooks plus a discovery MCP server for Cline, a native plugin for OpenCode, an agent hook for Kiro CLI. The [VS Code extension](https://usebackspin.com/blog/backspin-vscode-extension-setup) covers VS Code and its forks, and there is a [browser extension](https://usebackspin.com/extension) for AI sites. `backspin restore` undoes every change. The full list with per-surface status is on the [integrations page](https://usebackspin.com/integrations). Instead of paying per impression, BackSpin scores each wait as an attention window: was the person active, was the host focused, was the card actually on screen, and how trustworthy is the account. Advertisers pay per 1,000 quality-adjusted attention seconds (CPAS). Every settled bid and reward goes to a public [ledger](https://usebackspin.com/ledger), and the scoring and revenue formulas are in an open repository. The honest trade-offs: - **The default share is 50%**, lower than the 70% and 75% quoted above. It can differ per surface, partner or campaign. - **Browser earning is deliberately small.** Browser AI waits earn one tenth of the editor and CLI rate because the browser is the cheapest surface to fake. - **Payouts are crypto first.** USDT, Litecoin and Bitcoin work today. PayPal is listed as coming soon, and every withdrawal is reviewed by an admin before it is sent. - **There is a daily reward cap**, and accounts under fraud review stop earning until cleared. The exact rates are on the [how it works page](https://usebackspin.com/how-it-works). ## Revenue share is only half the math Here is the part most comparison posts skip. Your earnings are roughly: price advertisers pay for your attention, times your share, times how much of your time actually qualifies. An impression product pays per view. A 75% share of a low impression price can be less than a 50% share of a higher price for attention that was verified as human and on screen. It can also be more. Nobody can tell you in advance, and any tool that promises a monthly number is guessing. We do not publish earnings estimates for that reason. What you can compare honestly: 1. **Which of your tools are covered.** A great rate on a tool you do not use is worth zero. 2. **How it hooks in.** Settings edits and official hooks are easier to trust and undo than bundle patches. 3. **How you get paid.** Check that the payout rail actually works where you live before you install anything. 4. **What data leaves your machine.** Read the privacy section, then check for optional modes that collect more. ## Which one we would pick If your whole day is Claude Code in VS Code and you want the simplest setup, Kickbacks or Claude Code Ads will do the job, and Claude Code Ads quotes the bigger share. If you want your browser covered too, look at Idlen. If you bounce between Claude Code, Codex CLI, Cline and an editor, or you care about seeing how attention is priced, [try BackSpin](https://usebackspin.com/blog/monetize-ai-coding-wait-time) and judge it on a week of real work. ## Sources checked in October 2026 - Kickbacks FAQ, kickbacks.ai/faq - Claude Code Ads home page, claudecodeads.com - Idlen home page, idlen.io - BackSpin product facts from the [open algorithm](https://github.com/hackazer/backspin-algorithm) and [how it works page](https://usebackspin.com/how-it-works) ## Frequently asked questions ### What is the best Kickbacks alternative? It depends on where you work. If you only use Claude Code and want the highest headline share, Claude Code Ads quotes 75%. If you want one extension across VS Code forks and the browser, Idlen quotes 70%. If you use several AI CLIs and editors and want attention measured and published on an open ledger, BackSpin fits better. ### How much of the ad revenue does Kickbacks pay developers? The Kickbacks FAQ describes an estimated 50% of the net ad revenue attributable to your qualifying activity, and says its terms control the split. Payouts go through Stripe Connect in batches roughly every two weeks once you pass its payment threshold. ### Do these tools read my code or prompts? All four say they do not read code or prompts in their default mode. Kickbacks has an optional Boosted Mode that shares recent prompts and model replies for ad matching, and Idlen reads package.json locally to pick relevant ads. BackSpin only uses timing and focus signals and never reads code, prompts or AI replies. ### Can I run more than one of these at the same time? Technically some can coexist, but two tools fighting over the same spinner or status line usually means neither renders cleanly. Pick one per surface. With BackSpin you can also run `backspin restore` to undo every change it made before trying something else. --- # Get paid while your AI works > AI wait states are the most expensive dead time in a developer's day. See how BackSpin turns vibecoding and waiting into verified attention and shared revenue. - Canonical: https://usebackspin.com/blog/get-paid-while-your-ai-works - Published: 2026-07-08 - Updated: 2026-10-20 - Author: BackSpin (https://usebackspin.com/about) You send a prompt, kick off a build, or hand a task to an agent, then you watch the spinner. Across a day of AI-assisted work that idle time adds up to a real block of focused downtime worth nothing. BackSpin turns it into value for both sides of a marketplace. ## The loop, in one line While your AI is working, BackSpin shows one tasteful, relevant discovery and pays you a share of the revenue for the attention. When your AI is done, it steps aside. No feed, no popup war, no extra clicks. ## Why it is a marketplace, not an ad injector Developers opt in and get paid, so the attention is given rather than stolen. That makes it better inventory for advertisers and a fairer deal for the developer supplying it. ## Privacy is a hard line BackSpin detects that your AI is busy from content-free signals only. It never reads your code, your prompts, or the AI's responses. Every integration ships off until you turn it on, and uninstalls cleanly. ## Where to go next The full walkthrough of earning, scoring and payouts is in [how to monetize AI coding wait time](https://usebackspin.com/blog/monetize-ai-coding-wait-time), and the exact payout rules are on the [FAQ](https://usebackspin.com/faq). --- # What is AI wait-state monetization? > A plain-English guide to AI wait-state monetization: what a wait state is, why it is valuable attention, and how an open attention exchange prices it fairly. - Canonical: https://usebackspin.com/blog/what-is-ai-wait-state-monetization - Published: 2026-07-08 - Updated: 2026-10-20 - Author: BackSpin (https://usebackspin.com/about) AI wait-state monetization means turning the idle seconds while an AI model generates into value, without interrupting the developer. It is a new category because the old ad primitive, impression to click, does not fit a moment when the user often cannot click. ## The unit is attention, not the impression BackSpin measures quality-adjusted attention-seconds: real, focused, human attention during a wait, scored and discounted by quality. Advertisers bid a CPAS price and are billed only as verified attention is delivered. ## Where the terms are defined If a term here is unfamiliar, the BackSpin [glossary](https://usebackspin.com/glossary) defines every concept, from attention windows and TrustRank to share of voice and sponsored MCP, in plain language. For the bigger picture, read [what an AI attention exchange is](https://usebackspin.com/blog/what-is-an-ai-attention-exchange).