Why we built MODII (and why we made it free).
The story behind our flagship inclusive communication platform — and the unfashionable reason we chose to give it away instead of monetizing it.
When we started building MODII in 2018, the question we kept asking was simple: why is the best guidance on inclusive language locked behind paywalls, scattered across PDFs, or buried in someone's institutional intranet?
Communicators across the development sector — from grassroots organizations in Lima to UN agencies in Geneva — were asking us the same questions over and over. How do we write about disability without being patronizing? What's the current best practice for talking about migration? Is "vulnerable populations" still acceptable, and if not, what is?
## The case for closed
We could have built MODII as a paid product. The market existed. Several investors suggested it. The financial case was clear: lots of organizations would pay for centralized, expert-curated guidance on inclusive language.
Here's the problem: the organizations who needed it most could afford it least. Local women's rights groups. Refugee-led collectives. Disability advocacy networks operating on shoestring budgets. Pricing them out would have defeated the whole point.
## The case for free
> The communities whose representation we're trying to get right shouldn't have to pay for the privilege of being represented well.
Once we framed it that way, the decision made itself. MODII is free. No signup. No paywall. No premium tier hiding the actually useful content. We funded it through our consulting work — clients who pay for bespoke services subsidize the public good.
## What we learned
Free doesn't mean low-quality. The opposite, often. There's no upsell to design around.
Communities contributed back. We get suggestions, corrections, and new entries from users who'd never have engaged with a paid product.
It became a credibility signal for us. Clients see MODII and understand what we stand for — without us having to explain it.
It's the work we're proudest of. Even when revenue would say otherwise.
MODII won't make us rich. That was never the point. The point is that better communication shouldn't be a privilege of the well-funded. We hope you'll use it.