How does the new members counter count, and over what window?
How Nomads.com changed, before and after.
Nomads.com went from paid to $1 to join after a decade.
Join Nomads.com Join Nomads.com free
nomads.com
Loading both captures…
Use arrow keys to compare. Home shows before; End shows after.Before & afterDrag to compare
The before capture is rendered in a wider browser window (2320 pixels, against 1920 for after), so its button sits further right and both labels read in full at the middle. In the same window size the button is in the same place.
01 / What changed
Nomads.com went from paid to $1 to join after a decade.
In the August 28 capture the signup button on the homepage reads “Join Nomads.com →”. In the September 7 capture the same button, in the same place on the page, reads “Join Nomads.com free →” (the two captures were rendered at different widths; see the note under the comparison). Nothing else in the signup card changed.
BeforeJoin Nomads.com
AfterJoin Nomads.com free
Archive capture dates, not the release time; Pieter’s post is dated September 5, 2026. The button says free, but Pieter says it is $1 to sign up. The looping background video behind the card was not loaded in either render.
A price limits how big a community can get.
Pieter gave two reasons in his post: he has made enough money from Nomads.com, and charging for a community artificially limits its size. He said the higher the price, the fewer new members join each month, and that he did not want that limit but needed it to make money. It is not completely free: he said the $1 signup is there to avoid lots of spam. He also wrote that sponsors may be a better model for the future.
BeforeA paid membership.
The button read “Join Nomads.com →”. Pieter says it had 43,252 paid members.
After$1 to sign up.
The button reads “Join Nomads.com free →”. Pieter says the $1 is there to avoid spam.
Sep 5, 2026
After a decade, I have made nomads.com free for everyone now! Well almost free, it's $1 to sign up to avoid getting lots of spam
Public post on X, verified September 26, 2026, and mirrored on levels.io. The same post gives his reasons and the paid member count. It does not report any result of the change.
Read the post on XWhat happened after the change?
THE RESULT SO FAR
- Third-party archive
New members a month, per the counter on nomads.com, as archived by the Wayback Machine
- 497/moAug 28, 2026 (UTC)Before
New members (497/mo)
- Sep 5, 2026 (UTC)The change
- 2,808/moSep 7, 2026 (UTC)After
New members (2,808/mo)
- 3,650/moSep 17, 2026 (UTC)After
New members (3,650/mo)
Wayback MachineEach point opens its source on Wayback Machine
- 497/moAug 28, 2026 (UTC)Before
- Founder stated
43,252 paid membersStated by Pieter on Sep 5, 2026, the day of the change
Right now for the record it has 43,252 paid members (so about 300/mo for 12 years!), so it will be interesting to see what it can grow too
Pieter Levels · X · Sep 5, 2026As of Sep 5, 2026
The paid membership built up before the change, not a result of it.
Read on X
The three counter figures are in the text of the archived pages; the counter widget itself does not render in the archive. The counter is the site’s own widget and the site does not say how it counts (the “/mo” label suggests a monthly window). Before September 5, new members were paid members; after, they are $1 signups, so the numbers are not like for like. None of the sources says what caused the rise.
THE OPEN QUESTION
How many of the new $1 members stay active, and what did dropping the price do to revenue?
We need Pieter’s perspective to connect this change to the results.Want the story behind these numbers?
What would you ask Pieter?
Go deeper into this decision. Ask the maker, or share this page with your audience.
About: What changed
Q&A · THE CONVERSATION
Ask Pieter about this change.
The story does not have to end here. What would help you learn from this decision?
Questions for PieterMaker, Nomads.com · No replies here yet
Questions
3Has the $1 fee kept spam signups down?
How will you know if sponsors can replace membership revenue?