DroidCoin: how DroidSquad's reciprocity loop works
DroidCoin is DroidSquad's internal points system. You earn ~700 DroidCoin per completed campaign by testing another dev's app for 14 days, then spend that DroidCoin to fund your own future campaign. It's not cash; it's the reciprocity that keeps the community sustainable.
Last updated: 2026-04-30 · Written by Gabriel · founder of DroidSquad
How you earn DroidCoin
- 1. Sign up and connect a Google account at
/tester/accounts. Up to two accounts allowed per user (a secondary one is recommended for privacy). - 2. Browse live campaigns in the community feed and opt in to one you want to help test.
- 3. Check in once a day for 14 days — about a minute each, opening the app on your actual device.
- 4. On day 14 you earn ~700 DroidCoin. Engagement below threshold (missed days, short-session check-ins) reduces the payout proportionally.
How you spend DroidCoin
- Posting your own campaign costs ~700 DroidCoin — the same amount one round-trip earns.
- One round-trip = one launch. Test someone, then ship your own. The math is honest.
- If you can't wait, the $5 expedited path lets you skip the earn step entirely. Same testers, same dashboard, faster fulfillment.
Why DroidCoin exists (and why it isn't cash)
The obvious alternative was "just pay testers a few dollars." We didn't do that, on purpose, for four reasons:
- Cash invites gaming. Any payout denominated in dollars attracts fake-account farms from low-cost-of-living regions. We'd be playing whack-a-mole with VPNs and emulators forever — exactly the game Fiverr testing services lose, every quarter.
- Reciprocity creates skin-in-the-game. Testers care because they remember being stuck at the 12-tester wall themselves. They show up because next month that's them on the other side, hoping someone shows up for them.
- No platform-fee economics. A points system means we don't need VC, we don't need to take a cut, we don't need to monetize at the expense of the community. The whole thing runs on a home server in my apartment.
- Honest about what it is: DroidCoin is non-transferable, has no monetary value, and isn't withdrawable. It's a scorecard for reciprocity, not a currency. We'd rather say that out loud than dress it up.
FAQ
Can I sell my DroidCoin?
No. DroidCoin is non-transferable between accounts and has no monetary value. It only works as credit toward your own future campaign on DroidSquad.
What if I lose access to my account?
Sign-in is via magic link to your registered email — if you still have email access, you have account access. If you've lost the email, contact [email protected] and we'll help recover it.
Can I get a refund of DroidCoin?
If a campaign you posted is cancelled before any tester opts in, the DroidCoin spent to post it is refunded automatically. If testers have already opted in, the spend is committed — those testers showed up expecting a campaign to test.
What if no campaigns I want to test are available?
The community feed updates as new campaigns go live. You can also subscribe to email notifications for new campaigns matching your interests. If you're in a hurry to ship and don't want to wait for earn cycles, the $5 expedited path skips DroidCoin entirely.
How is this different from a paid testing platform?
Paid platforms have transactional incentives — testers optimize for fast payout, devs optimize for cheapest gig, the platform optimizes for take-rate. DroidCoin replaces that economy with reciprocity: every tester is a future dev, every dev was a tester last cycle, and the math only works if everyone shows up honestly.