How much money do I need to start my own faucet?

[ethantaylor]

What's the minimum amount of money I need to prepare in order to start a faucet?

[1715030329]

1715030329

[Kema]

It depends on what skills you bring to the table.
Can you do all the heavy lifting yourself?
IMHO the big expenses comes from being hacked or raided by bots.
If you can keep security tight and do all the work yourself, you can start a faucet with pretty modest resources.
Buy-in is low enough that transfer- and conversion fees will be noticeable.
However, if you’re starting on the cheap, remember to keep a quick turnover. It’s no fun to run dry while you’re waiting for payouts.

[faucetuser007]

Nobody can really answer this question, it all depends on how big you see it... 

I started my own faucet (direct payout to FaucetHub) with some claims I made and the referral earnings I have. Both can be used to cover that initial "gap" between you paying your users and you getting your first payment from shortlink providers and/or ad networks. That "gap" is the minimum amount of funds you need!

Buying a script can also be very costly... or you can use a free one, or code it yourself?

I use a free script on free hosting and did the promotion myself. You could start that way and later on "upgrade" everything to minimize the initial cost?

BTW: I consider myself an amateur faucet owner and do this just for fun, maybe pro faucet owners see things different?

Success! 

[felicita]

Firstly you need knowlege in web security and also in webdevelopment like html,php,mysql,javascript.
They you dont need much budget to start. Otherwise you have to pay a coder !



kind regards

[ethantaylor]

Thanks. And sorry for not being clear. I was not talking about the technical part.

The amount of money I was asking will be for paying my faucet claimers. In other words, how much money should I prepare in order to deal with the payouts?

[coin_curious]

they still answered your question.

I'd say to get at least double the withdrawal amount of whatever source you use to earn your money back.

If your ad network pays out at BTC 0.001 you start with BTC 0.002

except you (like very many of us) will see that it wont be enough once the bots target your faucet.

[ethantaylor]

they still answered your question.

I'd say to get at least double the withdrawal amount of whatever source you use to earn your money back.

If your ad network pays out at BTC 0.001 you start with BTC 0.002

except you (like very many of us) will see that it wont be enough once the bots target your faucet.

Thanks for your input. Is it really okay to starting with only BTC 0.002 ($13.08 now)?? I thought I need at least $100 or $200 to start with.

Regarding bots, we have various captchas, especially Google's reCaptcha. Isn't that enough to block bots?

[coin_curious]

they still answered your question.

I'd say to get at least double the withdrawal amount of whatever source you use to earn your money back.

If your ad network pays out at BTC 0.001 you start with BTC 0.002

except you (like very many of us) will see that it wont be enough once the bots target your faucet.

Thanks for your input. Is it really okay to starting with only BTC 0.002 ($13.08 now)?? I thought I need at least $100 or $200 to start with.

Regarding bots, we have various captchas, especially Google's reCaptcha. Isn't that enough to block bots?

nope, and that amount was just an example.

there are a lot of captcha solving programs and services around bots can use to solve on your page. add a macro to input claim request at set intervals and you have a bot claiming. let someone multiply that and you will be drained fast without getting actual visits so no ad impressions.

[ethantaylor]

they still answered your question.

I'd say to get at least double the withdrawal amount of whatever source you use to earn your money back.

If your ad network pays out at BTC 0.001 you start with BTC 0.002

except you (like very many of us) will see that it wont be enough once the bots target your faucet.

Thanks for your input. Is it really okay to starting with only BTC 0.002 ($13.08 now)?? I thought I need at least $100 or $200 to start with.

Regarding bots, we have various captchas, especially Google's reCaptcha. Isn't that enough to block bots?

nope, and that amount was just an example.

there are a lot of captcha solving programs and services around bots can use to solve on your page. add a macro to input claim request at set intervals and you have a bot claiming. let someone multiply that and you will be drained fast without getting actual visits so no ad impressions.

So, these days, how do faucets block bots? If bots are so smart, all faucets would have already bankrupted, wouldn't they?

[Kema]

It's a constant struggle.
You can check out my faucets to see how I've solved it. (See sig...)
*Spoiler alert*
No Captcha! 

But really, if you manage to foil the bots, organic traffic will be manageable and you'll be able to top up again before running dry.
Come to think of it, I've done exactly what you're not supposed to do? I've removed the timer, removed the captcha, increased the reward and I use instant payouts to Faucethub. 
Maybe I'm naive but I hope my visitors will click enough ads to keep me afloat. It's been over a year now and I'm still alive...

[ethantaylor]

It's a constant struggle.
You can check out my faucets to see how I've solved it. (See sig...)
*Spoiler alert*
No Captcha!  

But really, if you manage to foil the bots, organic traffic will be manageable and you'll be able to top up again before running dry.
Come to think of it, I've done exactly what you're not supposed to do? I've removed the timer, removed the captcha, increased the reward and I use instant payouts to Faucethub.  
Maybe I'm naive but I hope my visitors will click enough ads to keep me afloat. It's been over a year now and I'm still alive...

Hi. I just tried your Bitcoin faucet. And I still saw reCaptcha on a link shortener page. And after I went through the link shortener, I saw this message: "It appears you're using a proxy, No proxy allowed here!" That's disappointing. I was not using any proxy. Please let me know which service you are using for proxy-detection so that I can avoid using that inaccurate service.

[cubershottt]

Hi im sell domain with good adnetworks bitmedia,coinzilla,adsense alexa rank 95000 you are interesting?

[ethantaylor]

Hi im sell domain with good adnetworks bitmedia,coinzilla,adsense alexa rank 95000 you are interesting?

Thanks for the offer. I will register a new domain and host my faucet on my existing web hosting service. Thank you anyway.

[Kema]

It's a constant struggle.
You can check out my faucets to see how I've solved it. (See sig...)
*Spoiler alert*
No Captcha!  

But really, if you manage to foil the bots, organic traffic will be manageable and you'll be able to top up again before running dry.
Come to think of it, I've done exactly what you're not supposed to do? I've removed the timer, removed the captcha, increased the reward and I use instant payouts to Faucethub.  
Maybe I'm naive but I hope my visitors will click enough ads to keep me afloat. It's been over a year now and I'm still alive...

Hi. I just tried your Bitcoin faucet. And I still saw reCaptcha on a link shortener page. And after I went through the link shortener, I saw this message: "It appears you're using a proxy, No proxy allowed here!" That's disappointing. I was not using any proxy. Please let me know which service you are using for proxy-detection so that I can avoid using that inaccurate service.

Hmm, I thought that was handled by now. I actually made a serious revision a while back regarding that very thing.
Could you shoot me a pm with your IP so that I can look into it?
I changed service, specifically to avoid false positives, and if the new one is doing it as well, I need to handle it.

I'd be happy to take suggestions on this matter. Without prior knowledge you're flying blind and online reviews aren't all that helpful.

Edit. I've made a quick patch while looking into this.

[ethantaylor]

It's a constant struggle.
You can check out my faucets to see how I've solved it. (See sig...)
*Spoiler alert*
No Captcha!  

But really, if you manage to foil the bots, organic traffic will be manageable and you'll be able to top up again before running dry.
Come to think of it, I've done exactly what you're not supposed to do? I've removed the timer, removed the captcha, increased the reward and I use instant payouts to Faucethub.  
Maybe I'm naive but I hope my visitors will click enough ads to keep me afloat. It's been over a year now and I'm still alive...

Hi. I just tried your Bitcoin faucet. And I still saw reCaptcha on a link shortener page. And after I went through the link shortener, I saw this message: "It appears you're using a proxy, No proxy allowed here!" That's disappointing. I was not using any proxy. Please let me know which service you are using for proxy-detection so that I can avoid using that inaccurate service.

Hmm, I thought that was handled by now. I actually made a serious revision a while back regarding that very thing.
Could you shoot me a pm with your IP so that I can look into it?
I changed service, specifically to avoid false positives, and if the new one is doing it as well, I need to handle it.

I'd be happy to take suggestions on this matter. Without prior knowledge you're flying blind and online reviews aren't all that helpful.

Edit. I've made a quick patch while looking into this.

I has just sent you my IP.

[Kema]

Thanks to ethantaylor, I could track down the issue and fix it.

[ethantaylor]

Thanks to ethantaylor, I could track down the issue and fix it.

You're welcome. I'm glad that I could help.

[felicita]

just wanted to notify that sktipt advertises not blocking automated softwares/bots .....
Most bots nots solving captchas by them selfs the captchas still do humans with services like http://2captcha.com


regards

[ethantaylor]

just wanted to notify that sktipt advertises not blocking automated softwares/bots .....
Most bots nots solving captchas by them selfs the captchas still do humans with services like http://2captcha.com


regards

I can't understand your first line.

I tried your faucet and saw you are using Solve Media captcha. Isn't that easy to solve for bots?

[felicita]

as i sad one post above XD The bots send the captchas to real humans adn they solve the captcha
So solvemedia is same secure as skript ads or recaptcha or any math captcha or any other captcha ......



regards

[ethantaylor]

as i sad one post above XD The bots send the captchas to real humans adn they solve the captcha
So solvemedia is same secure as skript ads or recaptcha or any math captcha or any other captcha ......



regards

I still don't understand. Do you mean bots can't solve Solve Media captchas?

[Aveatrex]

as i sad one post above XD The bots send the captchas to real humans adn they solve the captcha
So solvemedia is same secure as skript ads or recaptcha or any math captcha or any other captcha ......



regards

I still don't understand. Do you mean bots can't solve Solve Media captchas?

Bots can solve all kind of captcha.There is services like 2captcha that permit to bots solve the captcha without any problem,In fact there is humans behind these services that solve the captchas in behalf of the bots.Ofcourse it's a paid service,it's not worth it to use it on a faucet that pays pennies anyways.

Quick tip:Just make payments manual instead of instant to avoid cheaters and don't go bankrupt.

[ethantaylor]

as i sad one post above XD The bots send the captchas to real humans adn they solve the captcha
So solvemedia is same secure as skript ads or recaptcha or any math captcha or any other captcha ......



regards

I still don't understand. Do you mean bots can't solve Solve Media captchas?

Bots can solve all kind of captcha.There is services like 2captcha that permit to bots solve the captcha without any problem,In fact there is humans behind these services that solve the captchas in behalf of the bots.Ofcourse it's a paid service,it's not worth it to use it on a faucet that pays pennies anyways.

Quick tip:Just make payments manual instead of instant to avoid cheaters and don't go bankrupt.

I see.

How does "making payments manually" detect cheaters?

[Aveatrex]

as i sad one post above XD The bots send the captchas to real humans adn they solve the captcha
So solvemedia is same secure as skript ads or recaptcha or any math captcha or any other captcha ......



regards

I still don't understand. Do you mean bots can't solve Solve Media captchas?

Bots can solve all kind of captcha.There is services like 2captcha that permit to bots solve the captcha without any problem,In fact there is humans behind these services that solve the captchas in behalf of the bots.Ofcourse it's a paid service,it's not worth it to use it on a faucet that pays pennies anyways.

Quick tip:Just make payments manual instead of instant to avoid cheaters and don't go bankrupt.

I see.

How does "making payments manually" detect cheaters?

Well,if the payments have to be requested first by the users done manually processed by you,the faucet owner you can easily detect if there is fraudulant activity related to the user in question or not.I mean if you see someone requesting a big payment while he didn't register long ago it's obvious he's using bots right?

[ethantaylor]

Well,if the payments have to be requested first by the users done manually processed by you,the faucet owner you can easily detect if there is fraudulant activity related to the user in question or not.I mean if you see someone requesting a big payment while he didn't register long ago it's obvious he's using bots right?

That can be a way of telling who is bot, at the beginning. But after a long time, that way no longer works because every user has become a long-term user. And some long-term users may even sell their accounts to bots.

[Aveatrex]

Well,if the payments have to be requested first by the users done manually processed by you,the faucet owner you can easily detect if there is fraudulant activity related to the user in question or not.I mean if you see someone requesting a big payment while he didn't register long ago it's obvious he's using bots right?

That can be a way of telling who is bot, at the beginning. But after a long time, that way no longer works because every user has become a long-term user. And some long-term users may even sell their accounts to bots.

If you want to do it the hardway,implement an anti-proxy/VPN, implement anti-bot links or other anti-bot means in addition to captcha,hire a coder to check your code and do penetration tests and you should be totally fine.

[ethantaylor]

Well,if the payments have to be requested first by the users done manually processed by you,the faucet owner you can easily detect if there is fraudulant activity related to the user in question or not.I mean if you see someone requesting a big payment while he didn't register long ago it's obvious he's using bots right?

That can be a way of telling who is bot, at the beginning. But after a long time, that way no longer works because every user has become a long-term user. And some long-term users may even sell their accounts to bots.

If you want to do it the hardway,implement an anti-proxy/VPN, implement anti-bot links or other anti-bot means in addition to captcha,hire a coder to check your code and do penetration tests and you should be totally fine.

Thanks. That seems to be more reliable.

[Kema]

When I started, I had virtually no clue about cyber security. And let me tell you, it’s an entire field of programming in itself. So, there are a lot of things you can do to limit attack vectors. On the flipside, there are so many different ways you can get hit if someone is really trying.
So, start reading up on it. You will need it at some point...

From my own experience I’ve noticed that once you start hunting bots and malicious code, it quickly becomes a game of judgement calls. Lots of browser compatibility issues to deal with and at the same time, the bots might not even be using a traditional browser. It’s very easy to trip yourself up when trying to lock the site down. I’m still learning new stuff all the time, lol.

[felicita]

as i sad one post above XD The bots send the captchas to real humans adn they solve the captcha
So solvemedia is same secure as skript ads or recaptcha or any math captcha or any other captcha ......



regards

I still don't understand. Do you mean bots can't solve Solve Media captchas?

haha how you cant understand this
What is to missunderstand on this ??
Captchas are the easy part for bots/automatied software s !!!!



regards

[ethantaylor]

When I started, I had virtually no clue about cyber security. And let me tell you, it’s an entire field of programming in itself. So, there are a lot of things you can do to limit attack vectors. On the flipside, there are so many different ways you can get hit if someone is really trying.
So, start reading up on it. You will need it at some point...

From my own experience I’ve noticed that once you start hunting bots and malicious code, it quickly becomes a game of judgement calls. Lots of browser compatibility issues to deal with and at the same time, the bots might not even be using a traditional browser. It’s very easy to trip yourself up when trying to lock the site down. I’m still learning new stuff all the time, lol.

Sounds complicated. But thanks.

as i sad one post above XD The bots send the captchas to real humans adn they solve the captcha
So solvemedia is same secure as skript ads or recaptcha or any math captcha or any other captcha ......



regards

I still don't understand. Do you mean bots can't solve Solve Media captchas?

haha how you cant understand this
What is to missunderstand on this ??
Captchas are the easy part for bots/automatied software s !!!!



regards

Sorry to say this, but I couldn't understand you because your English is not very good.

Your faucet uses captcha, too. Is your faucet being plundered by bots?

[felicita]

yes i got also attacked by bots and frauders !
But as i sad now 3 times here . Captchas wont stop bots or automated software !!
sorry  hope this english is better now XD


kind regards

[Kema]

Let me try to interpret.
There are companies in countries with cheap labor, that employ people to do nothing except solve captchas all day.
The bot software sends the captcha to the human workers and the human workers solve the captcha for the bot. If the reward is high enough it is still profitable to pay for this service.
I’m sure there are bots out there who are able to solve captchas on their own as well, but once they start using humans to solve them, there isn’t a whole lot you can do to stop them.

My personal tip would be to create your own custom captcha. You might not be able to stop them from solving it, but you can make it unique and force them to write custom code if they want to solve it. Writing custom code for every little faucet isn’t profitable, especially when you can change it any time you like.
Just my $0.02...

Another option is to create algorithms that limit profitability for automated claimers while not impacting real humans.

[ethantaylor]

yes i got also attacked by bots and frauders !
But as i sad now 3 times here . Captchas wont stop bots or automated software !!
sorry  hope this english is better now XD


kind regards

Thanks. I see.

Let me try to interpret.
There are companies in countries with cheap labor, that employ people to do nothing except solve captchas all day.
The bot software sends the captcha to the human workers and the human workers solve the captcha for the bot. If the reward is high enough it is still profitable to pay for this service.
I’m sure there are bots out there who are able to solve captchas on their own as well, but once they start using humans to solve them, there isn’t a whole lot you can do to stop them.

My personal tip would be to create your own custom captcha. You might not be able to stop them from solving it, but you can make it unique and force them to write custom code if they want to solve it. Writing custom code for every little faucet isn’t profitable, especially when you can change it any time you like.
Just my $0.02...

Another option is to create algorithms that limit profitability for automated claimers while not impacting real humans.

I'm really curious about how bot softwares "send" captcha to human workers. By any chance, do you know that?

Thanks for the tip of creating my own custom captcha. That's a good idea.

[Kema]

Don’t know any of the details really, I just read an article about how it’s done. It didn’t go into the technical stuff...

[Aveatrex]

I'm really curious about how bot softwares "send" captcha to human workers. By any chance, do you know that?

Thanks for the tip of creating my own custom captcha. That's a good idea.

It's simpler than you think,really.Each captcha have an ID,the bot scrapes the captcha ID he's facing and use the captcha solver service (Example:2captcha) API to "send" the ID to the service database,then it's solved by a human,that is paid for doing so.

[fufufuwu]

About the starting amount of money you should gather for the faucet, it's a pretty simple process to calculate.
Write down the biggest amount of Satoshi that the user will be able to collect daily. If you will advertise your faucet good enough, or just make an interesting promotion here on the forums or somewhere else, you should expect about 100 to 200 people coming in for the first 3 days.
Now calculate how much would it take to get the advertising revenue, let's say that you are getting the revenue monthly.
So now basically get the max amount of Satoshi per user daily, multiply it by 200 (or more, if you expect more people to come in) and multiply it by 30 days. Now you have the initial starting Satoshi balance to gather, and not run out of money fast!

Also make sure that your website is secure, so the bots and hackers will not drain it faster than you think.
If you are new into faucets and you are using FaucetHUB API, they have a nice feature to alert you, when a certain amount of Satoshi will drain in a specific time (like 30 minutes).

Good luck

[ethantaylor]

Don’t know any of the details really, I just read an article about how it’s done. It didn’t go into the technical stuff...

Okay. Thanks.

I'm really curious about how bot softwares "send" captcha to human workers. By any chance, do you know that?

Thanks for the tip of creating my own custom captcha. That's a good idea.

It's simplier than you think,really.Each captcha have an ID,the bot scrapes the captcha ID he's facing and use the captcha solver service (Example:2captcha) API to "send" the ID to the service database,then it's solved by a human,that is paid for doing so.

Thank you. Is there any way to avoid that?

About the starting amount of money you should gather for the faucet, it's a pretty simple process to calculate.
Write down the biggest amount of Satoshi that the user will be able to collect daily. If you will advertise your faucet good enough, or just make an interesting promotion here on the forums or somewhere else, you should expect about 100 to 200 people coming in for the first 3 days.
Now calculate how much would it take to get the advertising revenue, let's say that you are getting the revenue monthly.
So now basically get the max amount of Satoshi per user daily, multiply it by 200 (or more, if you expect more people to come in) and multiply it by 30 days. Now you have the initial starting Satoshi balance to gather, and not run out of money fast!

Also make sure that your website is secure, so the bots and hackers will not drain it faster than you think.
If you are new into faucets and you are using FaucetHUB API, they have a nice feature to alert you, when a certain amount of Satoshi will drain in a specific time (like 30 minutes).

Good luck

Thanks. So if each of my users can get 300 satoshis per day, my initial starting capital for the first month should be approximately: 300 * 200 * 30 = 1,800,000 satoshis ($116.85 now).

[Aveatrex]

-

Sadly,no there is no way to avoid that.Just to say that captcha alone isn't enough especially if you are offering a generous amount,so having another uncasual way for users to prove that they are humans is a must.