Grass 101: What is Grass?

Before we get into Grass 101, let’s start with an analogy to understand what ‘unused internet’ means. Think of your home internet like a big highway with multiple lanes. Most of the time, many of those lanes are empty—this is your unused internet bandwidth, or what we call ‘unused internet’, for short. Grass acts like a digital tollbooth, an effortless way to earn rewards for sharing those unused lanes with verified institutions. So don’t worry, this has nothing to do with your personal data; it’s just your unused internet.

What is Grass?

Grass rewards you for your unused internet.

Our goal at Grass is to make the internet a place where everyone benefits — companies and users alike. It achieves this by allowing verified institutions and research institutions to reward you directly for supplying the bandwidth they need to enhance their products and services. Rest assured, your personal data is never shared.

Installing Grass takes just a few clicks. Today, Grass is available as a desktop app, an Android app on Google Play, and as a browser extension. No matter how you connect, Grass runs quietly in the background, making it one of the most accessible bandwidth-sharing apps available. 

Once you install Grass, you’ll be rewarded in network ownership for contributing your unused internet to the Grass network.

What makes Grass so important is that, for the first time ever, network ownership is in the hands of individual users like you. By building a user-owned network, Grass gives you real influence in the internet economy. This is a shift from existing tech giants, where users do not have direct ownership in the products they use.

The Grass network makes it possible for companies to reward you for supplying the bandwidth they need to make better products and services. The tasks companies perform with your unused bandwidth might include checking local prices, viewing regional ads, or academic research. Unlike the existing software on your devices that automatically shares your bandwidth, Grass lets you pause sharing whenever you want.

And don’t worry, Grass will never interrupt your Internet experience. If you’re wondering whether this is safe, the answer is yes. We wrote a whole blog about how seriously we take your security and privacy here.

How Do Grass Points Work?

When you run Grass, your contributions to the network are tracked through Grass Points. This is the system that determines the rewards you’re eligible to receive.

Grass Points break down into two types:

• Uptime Points are earned simply by keeping your device connected to the Grass network. Think of it as credit for showing up. The longer your device stays online and makes your unused internet bandwidth available, the more Uptime Points you accumulate. You also earn Uptime Points when users you’ve referred stay active on the network. 
• Network Points are earned when the Grass network actually routes web data requests through your connection. Each day, Grass distributes a fixed pool of 1,000,000 Network Points among users based on how much of their bandwidth was actively used. Factors like your geographic location, connection stability, and prior network activity all influence whether your connection gets selected.

Together, these two point types give you a clear picture of both your availability and your active contribution to the network. You can track both types of points on the Grass Dashboard. 

What Are Grass Tokens?

Grass Tokens are one the rewards that Grass distributes to its users in part based on their Grass Points. These Tokens are the network's native cryptocurrency which is currently live and liquid and trades on many major exchanges.

The Grass Foundation distributes Tokens via airdrops at intervals. In October 2024, the Grass Foundation airdropped 100 million Grass Tokens to more than 2 million Grass users.

Your Grass Points, which include both your Uptime and Network Points, factor into your eligibility for Tokens, along with how your bandwidth and location have been used. At the end of the day, the more consistently you contribute, the stronger your position heading into the next distribution.

Why Should You Care?

Large corporations are already using your network without rewarding you.

Did you know your internet bandwidth is being used by large corporations every day? Without you ever noticing, large companies use your idle internet to read information from public websites from your network’s perspective. Companies use your internet connection to access websites and gather information as if they were regular users, helping them check prices, monitor ads, and research content in different regions. It allows them to see websites the same way you would from your home.

In the tech world, the product of allowing businesses to access the public web from the perspective of millions of internet connections such as yours is referred to as a “residential proxy network”.

The catch? While corporations benefit from your network, you don’t see a dime.

Most of us don’t read the Terms and Conditions for popular apps on our phones, computers, or Smart TVs, and companies take advantage of this by including specific language that allow them to use your devices "unused network resources." Companies profit from most of us not reading these long and boring legal documents. We believe that’s unfair.

Why Didn’t a Solution like Grass Exist Sooner?

Two reasons: the technology is new, and large corporations had no way of building it.

The Internet as we know it prioritizes the interests of large corporations over you, the everyday internet user.

Large corporations are using our resources to make money, not because they’re bad, but because the technology that makes Grass possible didn’t exist when they started decades ago.

And that’s exactly why Grass was created - to give users a way to benefit directly from the network and ensure the value of the Internet goes back to where it belongs: in your hands.

The Future of the Internet: Empowering Users with Grass

In this article, we’ve explored how the Grass network transforms unused bandwidth into a valuable asset. We’ve looked at how companies have historically benefited from your internet connection without giving you anything in return and how Grass is turning this “take-but-no-give” model on its head by putting you back in control. 

The future of the internet doesn’t have to just be about corporate profits. It can also be about empowering individuals. When millions of Grass users connect together, we create a fairer internet where everyone can be rewarded for their contribution. We think this shift represents a fundamental reimagining of internet incentive structures.

Rest assured the Grass app prioritizes your security and privacy. We’ve said it before, but we’ll say it again: your private data is never shared or accessed. The only thing you’ll share with us is your unused bandwidth.

So, what are you waiting for? Take control of a resource you didn’t even know you had.

Download the Grass app today.

Grass FAQs

What is bandwidth sharing?

Bandwidth sharing means allowing a portion of your unused internet connection to be used by others. In this case, you share your excess internet with the Grass network in exchange for rewards. You’re not giving up your personal data or browsing history.

Does Grass slow down my internet?

No. Grass only uses the bandwidth you’re not already using. Your streaming, gaming, and browsing should never be affected.

What devices can I run on Grass?

Grass is available on Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android. 

Is Grass safe to use?

Grass is certified by AppEsteem and whitelisted by major antivirus providers, including Avast, Microsoft Defender, and McAfee. Grass will never access your personal data, browsing history, or device activity.