> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: /docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# How Commons works

> Read Libre's resource usage, running costs, support payments, and reserve.

Lottie Libre is free. Voluntary support helps pay for the service and its development. It does not buy features, priority access, or a promised delivery date.

Commons shows resource usage, costs, and support payments.

## Usage

Usage figures show resources consumed by hosting, accounts, cloud storage, email, development, and release checks. Each has a unit and an allowance.

* Some allowances belong to a shared provider account, rather than Libre alone. They are not per-user quotas.
* Usage within an allowance may be included in a subscription. Reaching an allowance does not by itself mean the editor is unavailable.
* Read the date and source: figures can be delayed, estimated, or unavailable. **Unknown usage is not zero usage.**

Activity counts cover recorded events: creators are not all visitors, cloud saves exclude local-only drafts, and successful exports exclude failed attempts.

## Pricing

| Term | Meaning |
| - | - |
| Budget or monthly running cost | An estimate of the services and tools needed each month. |
| Paid expenses | Bills recorded as paid, counted in the calendar month of payment. |
| Funding source | The amount paid from community funds or the founder's own money. |

Compare the budget with paid expenses; do not add them together. Usage figures alone do not establish a cost. A contribution is linked to a bill only when that payment is recorded.

Founder payments and uncovered budgets do not create a debt for supporters or the project.

## Support

**Received contributions** are confirmed payments before deductions. Recurring support counts when each payment succeeds.

**Net support** is the amount after processing fees, refunds, recorded losses, and confirmed adjustments. If deductions have not been reconciled, the net amount remains pending or unknown.

Check whether totals are monthly or all-time, and received or net, before comparing them with running costs.

### Available money and reserve

The **free reserve** is the community money left after allowing for the current month's running costs that community funds have not yet covered.

For example, with **$150 of net support**, no opening balance, and **$80 of running costs**, the free reserve is \*\*$70**. Before payment, $80 is set aside; after payment from community funds, \$70 remains.

A founder-paid bill leaves community money untouched, but the reserve calculation still allows for that month's running needs.

**Runway** estimates how many months the free reserve covers at the current running cost. Missing or unreconciled data prevents a reliable calculation.

See [Stages and funds](/docs/commons/stages-and-funds.md) for reserve goals and how support is allocated.


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