CrabNebula Cloud is free starting 19 June. Not free for a trial period, not free on a limited tier. Free.

CrabNebula has always been here for Tauri

CrabNebula exists to ensure Tauri continues to be a framework worth reaching for, and to look after the people who build with it. That has been the point from the start.

We’re moving the services we run for the Tauri community into a foundation. It’s a more durable home, one with a mandate to keep Tauri healthy regardless of any single company’s future decisions, including ours. A commercial roadmap is provisional; a foundation is not.

Making Cloud free is the first step. We aren’t ready to reveal the full shape of the foundation yet, but we wanted to say this now rather than wait.

The CRA is reshaping software distribution

What finally set the timing for us was the EU’s Cyber Resilience Act (CRA). It didn’t change our destination, but it did force our hand on when we arrived. Since this matters for anyone shipping software to Europe, here’s a brief overview of what you need to know right now:

The Cyber Resilience Act sets cybersecurity requirements for software and connected products sold in the EU. To assign responsibility, it sorts everyone in the supply chain into roles, and each role carries different obligations:

• Manufacturers build the product and carry the most responsibility.
• Importers and distributors move the product from where it is built to where it is used. They have to verify the upstream compliance steps were taken and pass problems along.
• Open-source stewards are a role the CRA created for the organisations that keep open-source projects alive. Their obligations are lighter, and they cannot be fined.

The detail that matters for us is how the CRA defines “making available on the market.” It applies when you supply software as part of a commercial activity, and it says so whether you charge for it or hand it over for free. The trigger is the commercial activity itself, not the price tag.

As a paid product, Cloud counted as a “commercial activity” under the CRA. This meant we were acting as a distributor, and for some releases, even an importer. In those roles, every build moving through the platform carried its own verification and reporting duties.

This isn’t the role we want. We maintain Tauri and keep it viable, that’s the steward work. A foundation is built for that purpose. Removing the commercial layer from Cloud clears the path.

The CRA didn’t change our destination. It helped us get into gear.

What you get, and what we ask

Every account moves up to our top plan: advanced insights and our essential Tauri product, DevTools, at no cost.

Two fair-use rules keep the platform fast for everyone:

• Storage cleanup for unused releases. A release is removed if it gets no downloads for 90 days. Your latest release on every channel is always protected. This rule starts counting on 1 July, meaning there will be no deletions before the end of September.
• A general fair-use policy on download and update rates. No fixed number. We watch for traffic well outside the ordinary, for example sudden spikes or patterns that don’t match typical usage. If your account crosses into that zone, we contact you first and explain what we’re seeing before doing anything else. Throttling only happens when genuinely needed, handled case by case.

If you’re building something that pushes past any of this, talk to us and we’ll work out an arrangement that fits.

Frequently asked questions

Is CrabNebula Cloud really free now? Yes. From 19 June, Cloud is free for everyone, and every account is upgraded to our top plan with advanced insights and DevTools. The only exception is extreme usage that runs well past fair use. If that describes you, we’ll reach out to work out a custom arrangement. For everyone else, there is nothing to pay and nothing to subscribe to.

Do I need to do anything now that Cloud is free? No. Your service continues without interruption. If you have a paid account, watch your inbox for a short note regarding your billing details. Everything else stays exactly as it is.

Does the CRA apply to open-source software? Publishing open-source software on its own generally falls outside the CRA. The regulation targets software made available on the market as part of a commercial activity. The deciding factor is the commercial nature of the distribution, not whether money changes hands, which is why a paid distribution service is treated differently from a freely published project.

What is an “open-source steward” under the CRA? It’s a role the CRA created for organisations dedicated to sustaining open-source projects. Stewards carry lighter obligations than manufacturers, importers, or distributors, and cannot be fined for infringements. By making Cloud free and moving toward a foundation, CrabNebula operates squarely in this steward role for Tauri.

What’s the difference between an importer and a distributor? A distributor makes software available on the market without altering it. An importer is an EU-based party that places software from outside the EU on the market for the first time. Both roles carry verification and reporting duties, obligations that running Cloud as a paid product would have required of us.

Where this is going for Tauri and the foundation

This is the first step on our CRA space walk, and many others will be following. We’ll share more on the foundation as it takes shape: how it’s structured, what it means for Tauri’s roadmap, and how decisions get made. Thanks for being part of this. We can’t wait to see the new shapes the Cloud takes as it drifts deeper into the Tauri galaxy.

The CrabNebula Team