This project runs on donations. Here is an honest account of where things stand — what has been spent, what has been received, and how much of my time has gone into it. I'll update this page as the numbers change. If you'd like to help, a contribution is always welcome.
| Domain — piercetheshadow.com Registered via Cloudflare, 2026. Renews annually. | ~€10 / year |
| Cloudflare Pages & Workers Hosting, API proxy, database (D1). Free tier — no cost while traffic stays within limits. | free tier |
| Resend Magic link email delivery. Free tier — up to 3,000 emails/month. | free tier |
| Anthropic API — production Powers the Dig Deeper experience and the collective article pipeline. Charged per use in USD, converted to EUR at time of reporting (rate used: 1.14). | €4.52 (May) + €8.66 (Jun) + €8.03 (Jul) + ~€0.94 (Aug, MTD) = €22.15 |
| Claude Pro — development My AI development partner, used to build the product. Charged to the project at full monthly cost. | €21.96 / month × 3 = €65.88 |
| Claude Pro — extra usage Usage beyond the monthly subscription limit, billed by Anthropic. | €4.99 |
| Total to date | ~€103.02 |
Pierce the Shadow has been built across roughly 74 sessions between May and August 2026. Total logged time: ~108 hours of design, development, writing, and thinking — one person, with AI as the only collaborator. Hours are tracked from the session ledger and updated each session.
This is what the project is currently paying me. It will update honestly as the numbers change — up or down.
No external contributors yet. If and when creative work is commissioned — illustrations, writing, design — it will be listed here with the contributor's name, what they produced, the amount paid, and any personal relationship to me.
If Pierce the Shadow is worth something to you, a contribution — however small — covers costs and tells me it's worth continuing.
Every contribution is noted here within a few days.
Last updated: August 2026