Why We Open-Sourced the TIP Protocol

Protocols compound. Apps compete.

This is the core insight behind our decision to open-source TIP (Threadline Identity Protocol) while keeping the managed Threadline Comments service proprietary.

The Strategic Rationale

When we started building Threadline, we faced a choice: build a walled garden or build infrastructure for the open web. We chose the latter - but with a twist.

TIP is the protocol. It defines how identity, reputation, and privacy work across sites. Anyone can implement it. Anyone can build on top of it. It's Apache 2.0 licensed and will never be relicensed.

Threadline Comments is the product. It's the best implementation of TIP - the one we pour our engineering effort into, the one we monetize, the one we're responsible for.

Why This Works

Think of SMTP for email. The protocol is open. Gmail, Outlook, and thousands of other implementations compete on quality. Nobody owns email. Everybody benefits.

We want the same for web identity. If TIP becomes the standard, publishers win (no vendor lock-in), readers win (portable reputation), and we win (best-in-class implementation).

What We Kept Proprietary

The managed service. The analytics dashboard. The moderation tools. The ad network. The infrastructure that makes it all just work with one script tag.

If you want to self-host TIP, go ahead. You'll get the protocol. You won't get the 99.99% uptime, the global CDN, the real-time moderation queue, or the optimized ad auction engine.

The Long Game

We believe the next decade of the web will be defined by protocols, not platforms. TIP is our bet on that future.

If you're building on the open web, we'd love to have you as a partner.