Software Alternatives & Startups

Foam VS flatpass

Compare Foam VS flatpass and see what are their differences

Foam

Personal knowledge management and sharing on VSCode & GitHub

Rating
0 reviews
Pricing
Open source
flatpass

Sell Discord roles as subscriptions on your own Stripe, set up in four steps. Free up to 15 paying members, then a flat fee. 0% of sales.

Rating
0 reviews
Pricing
Freemium
Note: These products don't have any matching categories. If you think this is a mistake, please edit the details of one of the products and suggest appropriate categories.

Which is more popular?

Based on our record, Foam seems to be more popular. It has been mentioned 49 times since March 2021.

social mentions
49 vs 0
Note Taking popularity
100% vs 0%
alternatives listed
240+ vs 10

Base details

Website, pricing, platforms and company facts side by side.

Foam
flatpass
Website foambubble.github.io flatpass.io
Pricing
Open source
Platforms —
Web
Company Startup from the United States Startup from Germany · 1 - 9 employees · 2026
Listed in

About Foam and flatpass

In their own words, as submitted to SaaSHub.

Foam
flatpass

No description of Foam yet.

flatpass sells Discord roles as subscriptions on your own Stripe account. Members pay on an invite page in your server's own look, or from a price card you pin inside Discord, and the bot gives them the role the moment they pay. Flat pricing, never a percentage. Free up to 15 paid members,...

Read more about flatpass

Features and specs

What each product offers, as listed by its team.

Foam 6 features
flatpass 21 features
  • Open Source
    Foam is an open-source tool, which means it is free to use and allows for community-driven development and contributions. Users can modify the source code to fit their specific needs.
  • Markdown Support
    Foam uses Markdown, a lightweight and easy-to-read syntax, making it simple to create and manage notes. This also allows for easy integration with other Markdown-based tools and platforms.
  • Integration with Visual Studio Code
    Foam is designed to work seamlessly with Visual Studio Code (VS Code). This provides users with a powerful and familiar text editor environment, complete with extensions and customization options.
  • Graph View
    Foam includes a graph visualization feature that helps users see and navigate the relationships between their notes, making it easier to understand and manage complex information.
  • Bidirectional Links
    Foam supports bidirectional links, allowing users to create connections between notes in both directions. This enhances the note-taking experience by enabling a more interconnected and dynamic information structure.
  • Community and Documentation
    Foam has a growing community of users and contributors, as well as comprehensive documentation. This support network helps users troubleshoot issues, share tips, and improve their knowledge of the tool.

Possible disadvantages

  • Limited to VS Code
    Foam relies on Visual Studio Code as its primary environment. Users who prefer different text editors or platforms might find this limitation restrictive and less convenient.
  • Learning Curve
    Although Foam leverages Markdown, users may still face a learning curve, especially if they are not familiar with VS Code or the specific features and extensions required to maximize Foam's capabilities.
  • Performance with Large Datasets
    Foam can struggle with performance issues when handling large datasets or a high number of notes. This can lead to slow response times and inefficient workflows.
  • Limited Mobile Support
    Foam is primarily designed for desktop use within VS Code, which means that mobile support is limited. Users looking for a seamless cross-platform experience might find this aspect lacking.
  • Customization Complexity
    While Foam offers a high degree of customization, setting up and configuring the tool to meet personal preferences and workflows can be complex and time-consuming for some users.
  • Automatic role assignment
    Members pay, the bot grants their Discord role instantly. A buyer who isn't in your server yet is added with it. No manual verification.
  • Automatic role removal
    The role comes off when a subscription ends, is refunded or charged back. It stays while Stripe retries a failed renewal.
  • Hosted invite page
    A subscription page in your server's own look (name, icon and colours) builds itself from your roles and pricing. No code.
  • Price card in Discord
    Post a card in any channel and pin it: each plan gets a button with its price, and the card updates when you change one.
  • Checkout links
    Every plan has its own link that opens checkout directly, for your website, bio or anywhere else you post.
  • Invite Page Analytics
    Visitors, page views, clicks on your checkout links and conversion rate, by referral source, region and device, plus taggable campaign links to track individual shares.
  • 0% of sales
    Never a percentage cut. You keep every dollar after Stripe's own processing fee.
  • Flat monthly tiers
    Free up to 15 paid members. $29 up to 80 paid members, $79 up to 200 paid members, $149 for up to 750 paid members, and uncapped for $399.
  • All features on every tier
    Tiers meter community size only. Nothing is gated behind a higher plan.
  • Multiple tiers per server
    Run a $5 supporter role and a $25 premium role from the same server.
  • Your own Stripe account
    Payments settle directly in your Stripe via Connect Standard, never a platform balance.
  • Flexible biling periods
    Monthly, quarterly, every six months or yearly, each priced as you choose.
  • Free trials
    Members get their role immediately, with the first charge days later. Set the length per server.
  • Promo codes
    Members type a code on your invite page before checkout.
  • Roles with no price
    Give a role away on sign-up. Those members never count toward the 15-member free cap.
  • Cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay
    Enabled automatically through Stripe — no separate payment setup.
  • Local currency checkout
    Members see and pay in their own currency where Stripe supports it.
  • You own your customer data
    Emails, payment history, and the customer relationship stay in your Stripe.
  • One-click OAuth, no API keys
    Authorize via Stripe Connect. flatpass never asks for or stores your Stripe secret key.
  • Worldwide sellers
    EU-based, works with Stripe accounts in any country Stripe supports.
  • Cancel anytime
    No setup fee, no contract. Keep access through the period you've paid for.

Analysis

An editorial look at what each product does well and who it suits.

Foam
flatpass

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Foam is a good tool for those seeking an open-source environment for note-taking and knowledge management, particularly if they appreciate an approach based on markdown files and integration within a powerful text editor like Visual Studio Code. Its flexibility and user-driven customization make it suitable for users who enjoy tweaking and optimizing their workspace according to their workflow.

Why this product is good

  • Foam is a personal knowledge management and sharing system inspired by Roam Research, offering an open-source solution built on top of Visual Studio Code. It provides users with capabilities to create and interlink notes using markdown files, offering flexibility and customization suited to personal preferences. Foam supports features like backlinking, graph visualization of notes, and integration with VS Code extensions, making it a robust tool for managing interconnected information effectively.

Recommended for

  • Individuals preferring markdown-based note-taking systems
  • Developers familiar with Visual Studio Code
  • Users who appreciate open-source software and community-driven projects
  • People interested in managing complex, interconnected knowledge bases

No analysis of flatpass yet.

Videos

Walkthroughs and reviews on video.

Foam 3 videos + Add
flatpass 0 videos + Add

These panels DESTROYED my STUDIO....REVERB? - ArrowZoom Foam Review

More videos

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No flatpass videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

Category popularity

How often each product is chosen within a category, 0–100% relative to the other.

Score bands 0–20 21–40 41–50 51–60 61–100
Foam
flatpass
100% 100%
0% 0%
0% 0%
100% 100%
100% 100%
0% 0%
0% 0%
100% 100%

Questions & Answers

As answered by people managing Foam and flatpass.

What makes your product unique?

flatpass's answer:

flatpass is built on the premise that the payment relationship belongs to you, not the platform.

Payments settle into your own Stripe account through Stripe Connect Standard. Not a platform balance you withdraw from on someone else's schedule — your account, your balance, instant settlement, no rolling reserves or minimum payout thresholds. Your customers, their payment history, and your ability to email them are yours from the first sale. Revoke the connection whenever you like and you keep every bit of it.

Everything else follows from that. The invite page is a real hosted checkout, not a bot DM — members see your tiers, pay with cards, Apple Pay, or Google Pay in their own currency, and get their role instantly. Renewals, failed payments, and cancellations are handled without you touching anything.

And because flatpass isn't processing your money, it doesn't need a cut of it. Free up to 15 paid members, then a flat monthly tier metered on community size — never a percentage of your sales, at any volume.

How would you describe the primary audience of your product?

flatpass's answer:

Discord community owners who already have an audience and are monetizing access to it — trading and investing groups, creator and fan communities, coaching and cohort programs, professional and industry servers, gaming communities with supporter tiers, and study or skills groups.

The common thread is that members are already arriving through the owner's own channels: a following, a mailing list, a podcast, an existing free server. These owners don't need discovery — they need billing and role management that doesn't scale its price with their success.

flatpass is free up to 15 paid members, so it costs nothing to start — and past that, a flat tier replaces a percentage that would otherwise grow with every sale. It's built for owners who want to keep the Stripe account, customer data, and payment relationship in their own hands rather than on a platform. EU-based, with sellers in any country Stripe supports.

Why should a person choose your product over its competitors?

flatpass's answer:

Your Stripe, not a platform balance. Several competitors mention Stripe, but the account is often theirs. With Stripe Connect Standard the account is yours — instant settlement, no rolling reserves, no withdrawal fees, and the customer relationship stays with you if you leave.

No API keys. flatpass authorizes through Stripe Connect Standard — an OAuth grant you approve in your own Stripe dashboard and revoke there in one click. Some Discord payment bots instead ask you to paste your Stripe secret key into their dashboard. That key is unscoped: it can charge, refund, read your entire customer list, and change payout details, and the only way to revoke it is to rotate it. Stripe's own guidance is not to share secret keys with third parties. flatpass never asks for one and has nothing of yours to leak.

A product that feels finished. A hosted invite page rather than a bot DM flow, local-currency checkout, monthly, quaterly, six-monthly or yearly billing, with multiple role tiers per server, and a public status page. Every feature is on every tier — nothing is held back for a higher plan.

User comments

Share your experience with using Foam and flatpass. For example, how are they different and which one is better?

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Social recommendations and mentions

Recommendations tracked on public social media and blogs since March 2021.

Foam 49 mentions
flatpass 0 mentions
  • AI Coding Tip 020 - Create a Second Brain
    Choose a local Markdown tool like Obsidian, Logseq, Foam, or Tolaria to store all your knowledge as plain .md files you own and control. - Source: dev.to / 6 months ago
  • Migrating from DokuWiki to Obsidian
    I've been using foam instead of obsidian for my personal knowledge base. It works rather well. And it's completely free and ultimately just markdown. While I might wish it was djot, I don't wish hard enough to make that so myself... - Source: Hacker News / about 2 years ago
  • I Use Obsidian
    I gave up on Obsidian and just use Foam (https://foambubble.github.io/foam/) and/or vimwiki. I just can’t get into overwrought, arbitrarily designed organization schemes or proprietary apps (Foam-managed content is just plain Markdown,... - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago

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Tracking flatpass since Aug 2026.

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When comparing Foam and flatpass, you can also consider the following products.