nostr:npub10pensatlcfwktnvjjw2dtem38n6rvw8g6fv73h84cuacxn4c28eqyfn34f is actively supporting Nostr development. We could definitely stand to have more similar non-profits that support Nostr devs. However, grants are not a sustainable way to keep Nostr going.

The way non-Nostr apps generally make money is via advertising. Most around here want to avoid that model like the plague because, while easy to make profitable, it creates perverse incentives for developers to harvest user data and make their apps addictive to keep people doom-scrolling. I am very interested to see how nostr:npub17vscfmnmshfdw68llhduxtr4h0kkmyhzm4phzs40t3gqsmguz7lsak66ne may bring us an advertising model that bucks this trend. We'll see.

Another means of monetizing for client devs is paid subscriptions for premium features. The tough part about this one is, a lot of those "premium" features are often available for free on other clients, so you end up getting undercut by devs willing to provide the same value for free. Nevertheless, there are clients that are trying to make it work, including #Damus and #Primal.

Value-4-Value is really popular here on Nostr, so it shouldn't be surprising to see that there are devs testing out if they can support their work in this way. #Amethyst, for example, displays a donation card at the top of your Notifications each time you install a new version of the app. It also displays the profile pictures of all the folks who contributed to that version of the app. The hope is that users will choose to support the clients they use voluntarily. #Coracle does something similar, very occasionally showing an opportunity to donate to the continued development of the client in the user's main feed.

Any app, Nostr or otherwise, that is on the nostr:npub10r8xl2njyepcw2zwv3a6dyufj4e4ajx86hz6v4ehu4gnpupxxp7stjt2p8 has the opportunity to receive V4V zaps each time they release a new version of their app.

An interesting method of having ongoing passive income for your client that I have seen a couple of them implement is the option to have a percentage of your zaps go to the client dev as a zap split. Say you regularly zap 21 sats, you can have 10% go to Coracle each time you use that client to zap someone. The user you zapped still receives 21 sats, but you pay an additional 2 sats to Coracle, for a total of 23 plus Lightning fees. You can also adjust this higher if you want to give the dev more support. Obviously, this is barely anything if you aren't a prolific zapper, but it can add up quickly if you zap a lot.

A couple other client devs are building their clients with the ability to have a custom instance, such as #Ditto and #Flotilla. There is an opportunity for monetization there for offering to host that instance for those who don't want to or can't host it themselves, but still want a custom version for their community.

The same could be done by relay devs. They could offer hosting services for their relay implementations, similar to what nostr:npub10npj3gydmv40m70ehemmal6vsdyfl7tewgvz043g54p0x23y0s8qzztl5h has done with relay.tools, for those who want to have their own relay, but don't know how to set one up to host themselves, or don't want to host it on their own device for privacy reasons. They could also provide easy means of exposing a self-hosted relay to clearnet for those who don't own a domain and charge for that service.

Clients could also charge a small amount for a NIP-05 service and the ability to turn it into your Lightning address via Nostr Wallet Connect.

So yes, there are a ton of ideas for monetization out there, and many more I haven't listed, I am sure. Moreover, client devs are not sleeping on them. Many of them have implemented a means of receiving income for their work in some form or another, and some of them are using more than one. Therefore, I think it is a mischaracterization to suggest they aren't taking this challenge head on. Many most certainly are testing out various ideas to monetize their work, including simply trying to build apps that folks would be happy to pay for, or at minimum donate toward.