The Business of Blender | Why Blender Wants You to Make Money

"That's YOUR business" -Ton Roosendaal on the Blender Economy

“Blender should stay out of business so that the community can do better.” That’s Ton Roosendaal, founder of Blender, in a recent interview with Bad Decisions Studio. And it’s the kind of statement that makes you stop and rethink what “free” really means.

The conversation turned toward a familiar misconception: because Blender is free to download, the work Blender artists produce should also be free. Ton didn’t miss a beat. His response? A firm reminder that the point of Blender being free is not to undercut creators, but to open the door for them to build sustainable businesses.

Free Doesn't Mean Devalued

At around the 2:50 mark in the interview, you can hear the hosts bring up this tension. Shouldn’t everything made with Blender also be free? Ton’s reply lands like a record scratch. No — Blender being free doesn’t make your work any less valuable. In fact, he wants you to make a living with it.


Specifically, Blender is stepping back from any of these business opportunities where they would have an unfair advantage in order to make space for the community to build their own economy and collect earnings with their work surrounding Blender.  In fact, he points out that the Blender YouTube channel is not monetized, which allows for these particular hosts to get more views, recommendations and monetization by the algorithm choosing their monetized content over the official Blender channel.

Making Space for Creators

One of Ton’s examples is subtle but powerful: the Blender YouTube channel isn’t monetized. Why? Because if it were, it would unfairly compete with independent channels. By staying ad-free, Blender allows creators like Bad Decisions Studio to get more views, more recommendations, and more ad revenue. It’s a deliberate choice to leave space for the community.

Blender has codified this intention of their mission in this years' recently released annual report.

The Blender organization does not wish to sell either products or services, which means it isn’t in competition with its community of users. This allows for a flourishing ecosystem of creatives and businesses to develop around the Blender organization.

Where Superhive Fits

This approach is exactly why Superhive exists. Over ten years ago, we launched it as an experiment: would people pay for Blender products? Could a real economy form around a free tool? The answer turned out to be yes — and the community has been proving it every day since.

Superhive (formerly Blender Market) was built by the Blender Community for the Blender Community.  After more than a decade we are still innovating new ideas and opportunities for the Blender economy.  Superhive has grown into a place where Blender creators can earn a living and where customers can support the artists they love. And we’re grateful: to the creators who trust us, the customers who keep showing up, and Ton himself, for making sure Blender doesn’t take up all the oxygen but instead clears space for independent markets to thrive.

If you would like to join us, you can learn more in this video about applying to become a creator.

Free...and Funded

One last thing Ton reminds us of: Blender isn’t truly “free.” It costs real money to build and maintain. Most of that funding comes from donors. If you’ve made money with Blender — or just believe in what it represents — consider joining the people who keep it alive: fund.blender.org.

Autotroph, that parent company of Superhive, is proud to be a Gold Level donor to the Blender Development Fund.

Watch the Full Interview 

We encourage you to watch the full interview.  For this portion of the conversation around the Blender community economy, zoom in to timestamp 2:50 through 5:30.