You're not just donating. You're building this with us.
Trades Reference runs on real work from real tradespeople — and on support from people like you. Every dollar goes straight toward keeping it running and growing with new trades, lessons, and tools.
Chip In via PayPalNo account needed. Give once, or whatever feels right — it all adds up.
Exactly what your support makes possible
Keeps it running
Hosting, the database, email, and everything else working behind the scenes so the site stays fast and stays up.
Funds new trades & lessons
Every new trade hub and Building a Better You lesson takes real research and writing time. Support buys that time back.
Keeps content current
Parts, tools, and vendor info change constantly. Your support helps keep pages updated instead of going stale.
What it costs to keep this online
No padding, no guesswork — this is what actually gets billed to keep the site up, before anyone spends a minute writing new content.
Web server
4GB RAM, 80GB disk, Ubuntu 24.04 — runs the entire app
$24.00/mo
Managed database
1GB RAM, 1 vCPU, 10GiB disk — stores every trade, lesson, and account
$15.15/mo
Email delivery
Sends every verification email, notification, and newsletter
$71.00/yr
Domain registration
Keeps tradesreference.com registered and pointed at this site
$22.00/yr
Total, right now
$46.90/mo($562.80/year)
That number only moves in one direction. More trades, more members, and more traffic mean bigger server and database tiers down the road — this is the starting point, not the ceiling.
Every bit of support moves this forward
This site exists to give tradespeople one real place for the knowledge the job actually needs. Supporting it isn't charity — it's an investment in a resource you, and the next person in your trade, get to keep using and keep benefiting from.
Ready to help it grow?
Whatever you can give goes straight back into the site — new trades, new lessons, and keeping everything running.
Donate via PayPal