Okay, here we go!
Today we’re officially launching the Captain’s Club. It’s a membership that lets you support our daily work of bringing you the latest updates from the MSFS community. In return, we offer you discounts from partner developers across the industry, a cleaner website with fewer ads, and a live, curated feed of the “micro-news” that we’re calling the Captain’s Scope.
With this membership, you are directly supporting independent flight sim media in a world of “sponsored content” and algorithmic chaos.
It will cost $3.99 a month or $39.99 a year. For a lot of you, the math is a “no-brainer”: if you buy just one or two addons a month through our partners, the membership effectively pays for itself.
Let me explain why we’re doing this, and why now.
The Algorithmic War on Hobbies
You know how things have been weird on the internet lately. Search engines seem less useful, social media platforms are increasingly hostile to external links, and finding what you’re looking for around a very specific niche is many times a chore.
A few years ago, just when Microsoft Flight Simulator was launching in 2020, I decided to bet against that. I bet that if I built a reliable, daily home for the MSFS community, you would keep coming back. I wanted to make a site that was worth your time, every single day, regardless of what Google or Facebook decided to do that morning.
I’m happy to say that bet worked.
Over the last 12 months, over 1 million simmers have used MSFS Addons to check the latest on Microsoft Flight Simulator. But here is the stat I’m most proud of: 30% of you come here directly. You don’t find us through a search engine or a social media ad; you type msfsaddons.com into your browser because you trust us.
We’ve maintained a massive, loyal audience despite the “death of the small website” because we’ve remained stubborn. We stayed loyal to the mission of being here, every day, to keep you updated on the latest and greatest releases, scoop that hidden freeware gem no one else talks about, or check what the hell is going on behind the scenes of our favorite flight simulator.
Open Skies for Everyone
We’ve seen many sites retreat behind paywalls, hiding their coverage behind a fee. It’s sad that rigorous information is being locked away while nonsense spreads for free.
So we are doing things differently. The core of MSFS Addons remains completely free. Our daily news, our ultra-popular aircraft lists, industry analysis, interviews, freeware spotlights… they are not going anywhere. If you don’t want to pay to join the Captain’s Club, the site is still be here for you, past, present, and future.
However, for our “Power Users”, the ones who visit us every morning with their coffee, we’ve built something a bit better as a “thank you” for their support.
What Captains Get
Partner discounts that help your membership pay for itself
We’ve spent the last few weeks talking to our favorite developers to ensure this membership has real-world value. From day one, Captains get:
- 15% off at the Contrail Store
- 10% off SayIntentions.AI
- A monthly “Captain’s Gift” from the legends at Got Friends.
This is just the start! We are actively negotiating additional discounts that will be regularly added to the list.
The Captain’s Scope: our daily intelligence feed
The flight sim world moves fast! Between Discord leaks, minor patches, and forum conversations, it’s impossible to keep up. The Captain’s Scope is a direct view into our daily research. It’s a live, curated feed of the “micro-news” we find during our daily rounds: our raw research log, shared directly with you in real-time.
A cleaner reading experience with fewer ads
The modern web is covered in ads, which are essential to fuel the work behind many websites like ours. We dislike them as much as you do. When you join the Captain’s Club and log in, that noise vanishes. We’re stripping away the programmatic ads (those that have nothing to do with flight simulation) and leaving only a few high-quality, non-intrusive placements dedicated to actual MSFS developers. It makes the site easier to read, faster, and 100% focused on the simulation. This article is an example of that new experience.
On to the next 5 years
MSFS Addons is more 5 years old now. We’ve persisted every day because we’re stubborn as hell. We care deeply about this hobby and how it makes us feel when we leave the runway. Launching the Captain’s Club is the foundation that will help us to stay stubborn and stay independent!
If you value our daily mission and want to enjoy a cleaner site with exclusive member rewards, click here to become a Captain.
I hope you can help support us – and if you can’t, I’ll keep working hard every day to earn your support in the future.
