IdeaHub's business model is straightforward: subscription plans, optional add-ons and services, and disclosed marketplace/deal-related fees. Free tiers are available for Inventors, Buyers, and Vendors, so you can explore and start using IdeaHub without paying.

Posting an idea on IdeaHub does not give IdeaHub any ownership of it. SeePricing & Plans for current plan and fee details rather than relying on this page, which we keep intentionally general.

IdeaHub offers free and paid subscription levels for each major participant role. Some actions, services, credits, add-ons, and completed marketplace/deal activity may carry additional disclosed costs on top of your plan.

For current tiers, add-on credit pricing, and fee details, seePricing & Plans - we intentionally don't duplicate a full price list here so it can't go stale.

You do. Posting an idea on IdeaHub does not transfer ownership to IdeaHub or to anyone else. As the inventor, you retain ownership of your idea unless and until you enter into a specific agreement or completed deal that transfers rights to another party.

IdeaHub distinguishes between information you choose to make discoverable (like a public summary) and protected solution details, which stay private until you approve access. You control who can request and view your idea's protected information, and approved access is covered by an automatic NDA.

IdeaHub is not a substitute for a patent, a separately negotiated NDA, or professional legal advice, and cannot guarantee intellectual-property protection.

No. Protected solution details are not exposed to everyone browsing the marketplace. A prospective buyer or vendor must request access, which you review and approve, before they can see anything beyond your idea's public summary. Approved access is covered by an automatic NDA.

IdeaHub helps inventors connect with potential buyers and commercialization opportunities - through direct discovery, Buyer Challenges, and buyer Access Requests. If a connection leads somewhere, IdeaHub's workspace, negotiation, and agreement tools help the parties move toward mutually agreed terms.

The eventual business arrangement, if any, depends on the specific opportunity and the agreements the parties reach. IdeaHub cannot promise that any idea will sell or generate income.

Buyers can discover ideas by browsing public listings or searches, or through Buyer Challenges. An interested buyer submits an Access Request for a specific idea; once the inventor approves it, an automatic NDA applies and a secure workspace is created for the two parties.

From there, they can message, share files, and negotiate using an Agreement in Principle before finalizing a signed Final Agreement.

Buyer Challenges let buyers post a specific problem or need; inventors can submit matching ideas directly to that challenge.

Opportunities work the other direction: an inventor posts an opportunity describing help they need - prototyping, manufacturing, design, and more - and vendors search and apply to it. Both give participants an additional, targeted way to find relevant ideas, needs, or capabilities beyond general browsing.

IdeaHub provides structured workspace and agreement tools that can help parties progress from an initial interaction toward agreed terms. Inside a shared workspace, parties can negotiate an Agreement in Principle and then move toward a signed Final Agreement, with a record of key milestones along the way.

IdeaHub does not provide legal advice and cannot guarantee that a negotiation will succeed or that any agreement will be enforceable - parties should involve their own legal counsel as needed.

Trust Levels (Red, Yellow, Green, and Gold) reflect how much of IdeaHub's verification and trust-building process an account has completed. Your level can affect which capabilities are available to you - for example, some marketplace actions require Yellow or better.

You can review your current level and what's needed to reach the next one on your Trust Card. We don't reproduce the full qualification rules here since they can change.

IdeaHub is spam-free by design: all interactions happen through managed workflows, not unsolicited direct outreach. A buyer or vendor who wants to connect submits a request (an Access Request, or a challenge/opportunity application) rather than contacting you directly, and you decide whether to approve it. To keep requests deliberate rather than repeated attempts, a buyer's Access Request for a given idea is limited to one attempt, and a vendor may apply to the same opportunity at most twice.

Your account's private profile - name, login email, phone - stays private and is never shown to counterparties. Each business role you add (Inventor, Buyer, or Vendor) requires its own contact information, which is only revealed to a counterparty once a relationship is established through a shared workspace. You're never exposed to cold outreach, and no one sees your contact details until a real, mutually agreed connection is in place.