How it works

For startups

You are paying for observations, not for praise. Ask for what you actually want to learn, and be precise in the checklist.

1. 1

   Describe the task

   Title, a short summary, a category, the devices people need, how long it takes, how many people you want and what you pay each of them (at least $2.50). Then the detailed instructions and an acceptance checklist: the concrete things a report must contain to be approved. The checklist is what you will judge against, so it is required before you can pay.
2. 2

   Pay up front

   The total is seats × (reward + $2.50 fee). Ten people at $5 cost $75. Rewards are held in escrow until you approve each report; the fee is the platform's. Any balance you have from earlier campaigns is applied first.
3. 3

   Recruiting

   Your campaign goes live on the home page the moment the payment is confirmed. Early users join first come, first served. You can edit instructions and access details while recruiting, but not the reward, the seats or the title. If it does not fill, you can start early with the people who joined (unfilled seats come back to your balance, fee included) or cancel (reward pool refunded to your card, fee kept).
4. 4

   The campaign fills

   When the last seat is taken, every participant receives your detailed instructions and access details by email and in their dashboard. The clock starts: they have 10 days to send a report.
5. 5

   Review each report

   A report is a written account, the checklist ticked item by item, and evidence files. You have 6 days per report to approve it (with an optional 1–5 rating), ask once for more information (which adds 72 hours), or reject it with a written reason. A report you do not review in time is approved automatically.
6. 6

   Money settles

   Approved rewards go to the user's wallet. Rewards for rejected or expired seats return to your platform balance in full and pay for your next campaign. The fee for taken seats is not returned. A rejected user may appeal once; an administrator reads everything and decides.

For early users

Short tasks, fixed rewards, real money. The only thing asked of you is honesty and detail.

1. 1

   Create an account and your profile

   Confirm your email, add a display name and your country. Your country decides whether Stripe can pay you; if it cannot, you can still take part, and earnings wait in your wallet.
2. 2

   Join a campaign

   Each card shows the reward, the estimated time, the devices needed and the seats left, plus the acceptance checklist so you know exactly what a valid report needs. Joining is a commitment: once the campaign fills you cannot leave. Until then you can. New members can have up to 5 campaigns in progress at once, until 10 reports have been approved.
3. 3

   Wait for the instructions

   When the last seat is taken you get the detailed instructions and any credentials by email and in your dashboard. Nothing is expected from you before that.
4. 4

   Do the task and write it up

   You have 10 days. Write what you did in order, what worked, what did not, what surprised you. Tick the checklist and add notes where something could not be done. Attach evidence: screenshots (JPG or PNG) or PDFs, up to 10 files of 10 MB. Drafts save as you write. Once sent, a report cannot be edited.
5. 5

   Get the decision

   The startup has 6 days. Approved: the reward is in your wallet. Rejected: you see the reason and can appeal once within 7 days. No decision in time: approved automatically. If you miss the deadline the seat expires unpaid, and 3 expiries in 90 days block you from joining for 30 days.
6. 6

   Withdraw

   From $20 you can request a payout of your whole available balance. Connect a Stripe account once (identity and bank details stay with Stripe). An administrator approves payouts, usually within two working days, and Stripe sends the money to your bank.

The rules in one table

Platform fee

$2.50 per seat, paid by the startup. Not refunded for seats that were taken.

Minimum reward

$2.50 per person, so the cheapest seat costs a startup $5.00.

Report deadline

10 days after the campaign fills.

Review deadline

6 days per report, then automatic approval. One request for more information adds 72 hours.

Rejections

Need a written reason. No resubmission. One appeal per report, decided by an administrator.

Appeal window

7 days after the rejection.

Unused rewards

Return to the startup's platform balance in full and are applied to the next campaign. Not paid out to a bank.

Cancelling

Only while recruiting. The reward pool goes back to the card (or balance); the fee is kept. Never after the campaign fills.

Starting early

Allowed with at least one person joined. Unfilled seats return reward and fee to the balance.

Withdrawals

From $20, whole available balance, approved by an administrator, paid through Stripe Connect.

Active seats

5 at once for new members, until 10 approved reports.

No-shows

3 expired seats within 90 days block joining for 30 days.

Evidence

PDF, JPG or PNG, 10 MB each, 10 per report. Private: only you, the startup and administrators can open them. Deleted 12 months after the campaign ends.

Trust and disputes

Money moves on an append-only ledger: every reward, fee, refund and payout is a balanced entry that cannot be edited. Rewards sit in escrow until a report is approved, so a startup cannot walk away with the work and an early user cannot be paid for nothing.

Startups rate the people they approve or reject; that track record is visible to other startups. People who miss deadlines repeatedly are blocked for a while. A startup that rejects reports without cause faces appeals, and an administrator can overturn a rejection, hide a campaign or suspend an account.

Campaigns that ask for real money, personal documents, passwords or anything the terms forbid are flagged for review and hidden when confirmed. If something looks wrong, write to hello@earlyusers.io.

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