TL;DR: This month, the total operating cost of the https://vernissage.photos platform was $363.90, of which $125.76 was contributed by patrons. I’m deeply thankful for this support - it plays an important role in keeping the platform running and helps make its current form possible.
Below is a detailed financial report for the operation of https://vernissage.photos during the month of February 2026. The report is broken down by individual service providers whose services are essential to the functioning of the application.
Amazon (S3 + CloudFront)
Vernissage uses Amazon S3 to store all user files and relies on Amazon CloudFront - a content delivery network (CDN) - to distribute those files quickly and reliably across the internet.
- Total storage used: 677.5 GB
- Total number of files: 2,300,665
- Total cost: $22.61
The number of photos is enormous, and the process of reducing the retention period for photos stored in Amazon S3 is still ongoing (the goal is 3 months).
Fly.io
In February, the cost of services on fly.io is very similar to the cost in January. The resources allocated to individual services have not been changed in any way. The cost is still very high. I’m still waiting for a decision regarding the NLnet grant, which could ease my financial burden a bit. If that doesn’t work out and support from patrons doesn’t increase, I’ll have to change something - definitely not for the better.
- Total cost: $340.45
Here’s a breakdown of the services currently in use:
| Name | Type | RAM | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| push | shared-cpu-1x | 512MB | 2 machines |
| web | shared-cpu-2x | 1024MB | 2 machines |
| api | shared-cpu-2x | 2048MB | 2 machines |
| jobs | shared-cpu-2x | 2048MB | 2 machines |
| proxy | shared-cpu-2x | 512MB | 2 machines |
| redis | shared-cpu-2x | 1024MB | 1 machine |
| database | performance-2x | 8192MB | 2 machines |
OpenAI
The use of OpenAI for generating photo descriptions and suggesting relevant tags has remained at a consistent level.
- Total tokens used: 290,465
- Total requests: 378
- Total cost: $0.84
Donations
Huge thanks to all the patrons who make it possible to keep the platform running - and a warm welcome to those who joined last month! Your support truly keeps this project alive, and I’m deeply grateful for it.
- Patreon contributions: $125.76
- Stripe contributions: $0.00
In January, the cost of maintaining the service was $363.90. This is similar to the cost in January 2026. It’s a large expense. Community support is crucial for me. For now, I’m covering most of the costs out of my own pocket.
At the moment, vernissage.photos has 475 registered users, of whom 86 were active in the last month. The project is supported by 24 people. I hope this number will grow in the future so that I can focus more on developing the project.
Thanks again to everyone for your incredible support - it really means the world to me.
— Marcin Czachurski