We've changed the focus of Branchable, away from being a for-profit corporation. Branchable's parent company, Braawi Ltd is closing down. Branchable will continue as a service run by Joey Hess and Lars Wirzenius.

This change will be reflected in the bills we send our users going forward. The PayPal buttons on the control panel will make payments directly to Joey.

message from Joey

The above is the essence of the change, but I wanted to say something personal as well.

When Lars and I started working on Branchable two years ago, our goal was not to get rich quick. We hoped to provide ourselves with a small income that would supplement our other work and add some flexability to our lives, and we wanted to build a service for people who valued freedom from proprietary lock-in, while wanting something easy to use. I think we've succeeded well at the latter goal; as to the former, we've only made enough money to pay for operating expenses, but not for our time.

And to me, that's ok. I'd rather build something that is done right than make money. And I'm proud that there's a very easy hosting service for Ikiwiki available now, in Branchable.

So I plan to contine operating Branchable, and hope that the users keep paying its operating expenses. And if our current slow growth in new users continues, then who knows, it may still put some food on my table. Until and unless that happens, Branchable isn't a business venture for me, it's a labor of love.

message from Lars

I originally started Braawi as a backup service company, and then did several years of consulting through it. However, I'm now working in a normal job, and it takes a bit of time and money to keep the company alive, so that's why it's shutting down.

I love Branchable. It is wonderful to have a sensible hosting service for my own web/wiki/blog sites, and I enjoy being able to help others host their stuff the same way. I plan to help Joey keep Branchable alive for a long, long time to come.