Monetize your developer tool

Earn revenue from your CLI tool, AI assistant, or IDE extension with native ads developers actually respect—backed by the ad network they already trust.

See How It Works Start Earning
$120,000,000+
Paid to publishers since 2010. Your tool could be earning too.
600+
Active advertisers competing for developer attention. High demand means high fill rates for you.
Est.2010
15 years of paying publishers on time. Every time.

What it looks like & how it feels

A single, short text ad at a natural breakpoint. No banners, no pop-ups, no interruptions—just a respectful sponsorship message your users won't mind seeing.

Terminal
$ npm install
added 847 packages in 12s
Fly.io — Deploy app servers close to your users. Run your full-stack apps on Fly Machines in 30+ regions. No ops required.
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ads via Carbon
$ npm run build
compiled successfully in 3.2s
AI Coding Assistant
You
Refactor this function to use async/await instead of callbacks
Assistant
Here's the refactored version using async/await. I've also added error handling with a try/catch block and replaced the nested callbacks with sequential awaits.
WorkOS — Your app, Enterprise Ready. Add SSO and SCIM support in minutes. Free up to 1M users.
Start building → workos.com
ads via Carbon
IDE Extension Panel
Test Results — 5 passed, 0 failed
PASS src/utils.test.js (0.84s)
PASS src/api.test.js (1.23s)
Datadog — Monitor your entire stack. End-to-end distributed tracing, metrics, and logs in one platform.
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ads via Carbon
Illustrative mockups. Actual ad presentation varies by integration.

Why publishers choose Carbon

Other networks ask you to wait while they find advertisers. Carbon already has the demand—you just plug in and start earning.

$

Real Revenue, Day One

600+ active advertisers are already buying developer attention through Carbon. Your tool gets access to that demand immediately—no waiting for a marketplace to build up.

>_

Lightweight SDK

A few lines of code to integrate. The SDK handles ad fetching, caching, formatting, and impression tracking. If the network is unavailable, nothing is shown—your tool is never slowed down.

:)

Ads Users Don't Hate

One short, text-only message at natural breakpoints. No tracking pixels, no cookies, no pop-ups. Your users see relevant developer tools—not car insurance.

15y

Trusted by Developers

Developers have seen Carbon on Bootstrap, Vue.js, and hundreds of open-source sites since 2010. That brand recognition means your users are more likely to engage, not block.

#

Proven Infrastructure

Built on the same BuySellAds platform that has delivered billions of ad impressions. Real-time reporting dashboard, reliable payouts, and infrastructure that actually works at scale.

%

You Control the Experience

Choose where ads appear in your tool's flow. Post-install, post-build, between responses—you decide the placement that feels right for your users.

How to get started

Integration takes minutes. Revenue starts as soon as you're live.

Integrate the SDK

Add our lightweight SDK to your CLI tool, AI assistant, or IDE extension. It's designed to be non-blocking—if Carbon is unreachable, your tool works exactly as before.

Choose Your Placements

Decide where ads appear: after an install, after a build, between AI responses, in a sidebar panel. You pick the natural breakpoints that fit your tool's workflow.

Earn Revenue

Ads are filled from Carbon's pool of 600+ active advertisers. Track impressions and earnings in your publisher dashboard. Payouts are reliable—we've paid $120M+ to publishers since 2010.

Supported surfaces

If your tool has a text interface and a developer audience, Carbon can monetize it.

CLI Tools
Post-install, post-build
AI Assistants
In-chat sponsorships
IDE Extensions
Panel integrations
Terminal Apps
TUI banner ads

Tool Authors

Monetize your developer tool with native ads that won't alienate your users. Integration takes minutes, revenue starts immediately.

Start Earning

Advertisers

Reach developers in the tools they actually use—CLIs, AI assistants, and IDEs—backed by the network they already trust.

Plan a Campaign
Publisher FAQ
How much can I earn?
Revenue depends on your tool's usage volume and audience geography. Carbon has 600+ active advertisers competing for developer attention, which means strong fill rates and competitive CPMs. Publishers on the Carbon web network have collectively earned over $120M since 2010.
What does integration look like?
You add our lightweight SDK to your tool. It handles fetching ads, local caching, formatting for your output, and impression tracking. The SDK is non-blocking—if the Carbon network is unreachable, no ad is shown and your tool runs normally. Most integrations take under an hour.
What surfaces are supported?
Any developer-facing tool with a text interface: CLI tools (post-install/post-build messages), AI coding assistants (in-chat sponsorships), IDE extension panels, and terminal UI applications. The ad format is a short, native text message—a company name, brief description, and a link.
Will ads slow down my tool?
No. The SDK fetches ads asynchronously and caches them locally. Ad display is non-blocking—your tool's performance is never impacted. If the network is unavailable or the request times out, nothing is shown. Ads are also suppressed automatically in CI/CD pipelines and piped output.
How are payouts handled?
Payouts run through the same BuySellAds publisher payment system used by the entire Carbon web network. You get a publisher dashboard with real-time impressions and earnings reporting. Payouts are monthly, on time, every time—we've been paying publishers consistently since 2010.
What about user privacy?
Carbon tracks anonymized impressions and clicks only. No personal data, no cookies, no fingerprinting. Users can opt out at any time. We hold CLI tools to the same privacy standards as our web network—respect for the user comes first.
Get started

Ready to monetize your developer tool?

Tell us about your CLI tool, AI assistant, or IDE extension and we'll get you set up.
Already an advertiser? Let us know you're interested in CLI placements.