Trees for the Future
Plants food forests with smallholder farmers across Sub-Saharan Africa, restoring soil and local income.
Visit partnerFull Transparency
Does IdleForest actually plant trees?
Yes, and you can check every step. Named partners plant the trees, and their public records back the live counter.
How IdleForest plants trees
Money has to come from somewhere and end up somewhere, and both ends are public. See how idle bandwidth funds trees.
Idle bandwidth does small public tasks
Sessionless requests to public web pages for one vetted client. No personal data, cookies or browsing history.
Those tasks generate revenue
The client pays for the web-data work. That payment, not your money, funds the trees.
The revenue funds verified planting
It goes to established partners who plant and record the trees. The rest of this page lets you check it.
Who plants the trees
IdleForest funds organizations chosen for published records and long-term survival, not cheap volume.
Tree-Nation
Restores native forests across dozens of countries, prioritizing native species over monoculture for stronger survival.
Visit partner
1ClickImpact
Funds planting with traceability across certificates, project records, and impact reporting.
Visit partnerThe receipts: real projects you can open
Project records live on the partners' own sites. These cards link straight to them.
466 treesKisumu 7 – Awach, Kenya
Trees for the Future helps smallholder farmers build food forests that restore soil, capture carbon, and create long-term local income.
Trees for the FutureKenya
Open the project records
400 treesReplanting the burnt Mkussu Forest
Tree-Nation supports native forest recovery in the Mkussu Nature Forest Reserve after fire damage.
Tree-NationLushoto District, Tanzania
Open the project records
900 treesPlant to Stop Poverty
Tree-Nation helps rural communities implement agroforestry for ecological recovery and local income.
Tree-NationTanzania
Open the project recordsHow to check this yourself
- Open a partner project page. The counts are published on their sites, not just here.
- Compare those totals with the live counter, the report and the map.
- Audit the code: the extension and desktop app are open source.
- Check the client at olostep.com to see who pays for the bandwidth work.
Where the money comes from
A vetted client pays to use idle bandwidth for public web tasks. That revenue funds the planting.
Olostep
Web Data API for Applications
How Your Bandwidth Is Used:
- No cookies, login credentials, or personal information are ever sent
- Only publicly available web pages are accessed (the same content anyone can see)
- Requests are isolated from your browsing session and personal data
- Your IP address is used only to make standard web requests, similar to normal browsing
The details
Environmental impact, what tasks run, legal protections and security. Open what you need.
Why Distributed Networks Are Greener
Yes, companies need data. But how they get that data matters for the environment. Distributed networks like Olostep are significantly more eco-friendly than traditional data centers.
Traditional Data Centers
- Massive energy consumption: Data centers use 1-2% of global electricity
- 24/7 cooling systems: Up to 40% of energy goes to cooling alone
- Dedicated infrastructure: Servers running solely for web scraping
- Water usage: Millions of gallons per day for cooling
- E-waste: Hardware replaced every 3-5 years
Distributed Networks
- Zero new infrastructure: Uses existing devices already running
- No additional cooling: Devices use ambient cooling
- Idle resource utilization: Bandwidth that would otherwise be wasted
- No water consumption: Zero dedicated cooling infrastructure
Estimated Environmental Savings
- ~85%
- LESS ENERGY PER REQUEST
- ~95%
- LESS WATER USAGE
- ~75%
- LOWER CARBON FOOTPRINT
No dedicated servers or cooling infrastructure needed
No water-intensive cooling systems required
Reduced manufacturing and operational emissions
The bottom line: Modern systems rely on web data. With IdleForest, we reduce the costs of traditional data center systems by 80–90% through distributed networks like Olostep, then plant more trees than needed to offset the remaining footprint—making the entire process net negative.
What Types of Searches Are Performed
Business Intelligence
Gathering publicly available company information, contact details, and market data for sales and research purposes.
Price Monitoring
Tracking product prices across e-commerce websites to help businesses stay competitive and consumers find the best deals.
Deep Research
AI powered deep research for healthcare, pharma and financial industries.
Content Monitoring
Tracking changes to websites, job postings, news articles, and other public content for business and research purposes.
What We DON'T Do:
- Access password-protected or private content
- Perform illegal activities or access restricted websites
- Send spam, conduct DDoS attacks, or engage in malicious behavior
- Access or transmit your personal data, cookies, or login credentials
- Violate website terms of service or engage in unauthorized scraping
Your Legal Protections
We take your legal protection seriously. Here are the safeguards in place to protect you.
1. Contractual Liability Protection
IdleForest assumes full legal responsibility for all traffic generated through our network. Our Terms of Service explicitly state that:
- You are not liable for the content or nature of requests made through your connection
- IdleForest indemnifies users against any legal claims arising from network usage
- We maintain comprehensive liability insurance to cover potential legal issues
2. Strict Client Vetting Process
We only work with Olostep, a legitimate business that has been thoroughly vetted:
- Olostep is a registered company with verified business credentials
- Their use cases are limited to legitimate web data collection for AI and business intelligence
- We have a legal agreement that prohibits illegal activities and ensures compliance with all applicable laws
- Olostep's code is open source and can be audited for security and compliance
3. Traffic Monitoring & Compliance
We actively monitor all network traffic to ensure compliance:
- Automated systems flag suspicious or unauthorized traffic patterns
- All requests are logged and can be audited if needed
- We maintain a blocklist of prohibited websites and activities
- Any violation of our acceptable use policy results in immediate termination of the client relationship
4. GDPR & Data Protection Compliance
As a European-based service, we comply with GDPR and other data protection regulations:
- No personal data is collected, stored, or transmitted through the network
- All web requests are sessionless and isolated from your personal browsing
- You can opt out at any time by uninstalling the extension or desktop app
- We maintain detailed privacy policies and data processing agreements
Additional Security Measures
🔒 Encrypted Connections
All traffic is encrypted using industry-standard TLS/SSL protocols to prevent interception or tampering.
🛡️ Isolated Execution
Requests run in isolated environments with no access to your cookies, local storage, or browsing history.
📊 Transparent Logging
All network activity is logged and available for your review. You can see exactly what requests are being made.
🔍 Open Source Code
Our extension and desktop app are open source, allowing independent security researchers to audit our code.
View on GitHub⚡ Bandwidth Controls
You have full control over how much bandwidth is used. Set limits or pause sharing at any time.
🚫 Instant Opt-Out
You can stop sharing your bandwidth immediately by pausing or uninstalling the app—no questions asked.
Tree-planting proof: common questions
Does IdleForest actually plant trees?
Yes. Funding goes to Trees for the Future, Tree-Nation, and 1ClickImpact, each with public project records, and the live counter on this page is drawn from those records.
How does IdleForest plant trees?
Your idle bandwidth performs small public web tasks for a vetted client, that client pays for the work, and that revenue funds verified planting. Your money is never involved.
How do I know the trees are real?
Every project links to the partner's own page, where the counts and details are published independently. You can also see the breakdown on the report and map pages.
How many trees has IdleForest funded?
The current community total is shown on the live counter, updated from partner records.
Where are the trees planted?
In partner projects across regions such as Kenya and Tanzania, chosen for native species, food forests, and long-term community benefit.
Do these apps really plant trees, or is it a gimmick?
The credible ones publish records and let you verify. IdleForest names its partners, links each project, and open-sources its code so the whole chain is checkable.
Where does the money come from if it is free for me?
From the client that pays to use your idle bandwidth for public web tasks. You pay nothing; the revenue funds the trees.
Is sharing my bandwidth safe?
Yes. Requests are sessionless, carry no personal data, run in isolation, and you can pause or uninstall any time. For independent user reviews of IdleForest, see the reviews page.
Can I audit the code?
Yes. The extension and desktop app are open source on GitHub for independent review.
Keep exploring
Our guide to planting trees for free also covers search engines, local tree giveaways and volunteering.
Still Have Questions?
We're committed to complete transparency. If you have any concerns or questions about how your bandwidth is used, we're here to help.