In the Paddock at Racetrim - August 2026
The "In the Paddock at Racetrim" blog series communicates what I'm working on and where the platform is going.
Racetrim update
We're one month out from the pay-per-hour update to the Racetrim app. As far as I am aware, this is the only game server offering with usage-based pricing. My hopes were that this change would have two outcomes.
- Attract more people to sign up and enjoy running their own servers.
- Reduce unutilized server time and costs for me as well as customers.
Unutilized ACC server time is gone, because servers are being turned off when they're not in use. However, there have not been enough new sign ups or servers running.
I love what I have built, and I think there are a few of you that appreciate it too. Thank you, for running your races here! I appreciate you, and value all your feedback.
Collecting laps and session data for drivers is something I have always been personally excited to have for our Racetrim servers, because it feels like a feature missing from ACC. I think the experience of running an ACC dedicated server on Racetrim is simpler, less expensive, more flexible, and more reliable than GPORTAL, Nitrado, or any other provider. That's a huge accompishment! Nonetheless I must face the facts that there is very little demand for what I've built. Most players never give a thought to running their own servers, and if they do, they're technical enough or interested enough to DIY. The few potential customers I have are not finding Racetrim via search engines, reddit, or word of mouth.
Racetrim needs your help
The Racetrim app, databases, network infrastructure, and storage cost $200-250 per month to keep running. If 100 people ran a server an average of 4 days a month, I would just about break even on my current pricing. Unfortunately, we are nowhere near that. Player counts on ACC continue to decrease, and demand isn't going to increase. Therefore, I am facing a decision of whether to take Racetrim offline or continue forfeiting $200+ per month. To date, I've spent about $4000 to keep Racetrim on.
The financial cost is difficult. But, even more so, I'm not interested in continuing to build something players don't want. When I started this project, I anticipated the possibility of failure. From the start, I knew finding a market for this would be difficult. Most products fail without ever finding a paying customer, I've been fortunate to have dozens. It is still personally disappointing to arrive at a shut down decision, and to know it's the right decision.
The only thing that can change the math is you guys. If you aren't ready to see Racetrim go dark, if you want it to keep storing laps and race results, if you want to run your own servers around the world anytime you want, then I need financial help. My Patreon paid subscriptions need to grow to $200/mo by October 1st, and then stay there. If 20 people pitch in $10/month, then we're there.
If you don't have the money to spare, I understand. If you don't need Racetrim's app, I understand that too. Other things you can do to help are: boost my quips on Patreon, post about racetrim on social media or reddit, and spread the word about Racetrim's community and app when you're playing ACC.
I will begin the shutdown October 1st, 2026 if we don't hit our goals. At that time, there will be a 30-day grace period where I'll shutdown new credit purchases and give people time to burn the credits they have. On November 1, 2026 the https://app.racetrim.pro site would go offline.
Thank you all! No matter what the discord will keep on going and I'll continue providing race servers for the events we organize.