Citizenship
Citizenship — read your way in.
There is no paid plan. Every reader becomes a Citizen — a free member with their own wallet of study tokens. You earn tokens by doing the work: read an article, pass a quiz, come back tomorrow.
One tier
Citizen
Free, forever.
Sign up and you start with 200 tokens. Earn more by reading.
Become a Citizen →Everything included
- · All 58 courses
- · All chronicles & podcasts
- · Library longreads
- · Tracks (business, humanities, math)
- · Spaced-repetition review (SRS)
- · Personal AI feed
- · Course chat (Maieutics)
- · Adaptive quizzes & crash-tests
Earn
How tokens come in.
- Sign-up bonusonce+200
- Daily visitevery day+30
- Reading an articlefirst time only+15
- Quiz at ≥60%once / 24h+5…+20
Daily cap: 300 tokens. You can't farm — you can only learn.
Spend
What tokens buy.
- Ephemeris article (AI longread)2
- Maieutics dialogue (course chat)3
- Elenchus crash-test (Socratic test)5
- Personal feed long-read10
Every spend is logged in your wallet — nothing happens off-book.
Aretē · Two declarations
§ I
We do not sell knowledge.
Stoa charges no money for reading, for tracks, for the library, for the chronicles, for the podcasts. The tokens metered against AI features are earned by doing the work, not bought.
§ II
Aretē is membership by practice.
The five rungs below are not paid tiers — they are descriptions of practice. You are at the rung your reading puts you on. The Eponym of the year is elected from the Leontes; the year of the movement carries their name.
§ I
Wanderer
The rāwī newly out of the desert, still listening. Accumulates, does not speak.
Threshold
First 90 days. First 10 articles read.
§ II
Apprentice
The Babylonian scribe copying tablets. Has understood that knowledge requires precision and repetition.
Threshold
Three schools studied, first track begun, first Anamnesis launched.
§ III
Citizen
A Greek with a voice in the ecclesia. Has been through the Elenchos at least once and knows: his ideas did not survive the first test — and became better.
Threshold
One track completed.
§ IV
Leon
Here. The lion stage. Said no to the noise, cleared the ground. Formulates, no longer only receives.
Threshold
Several tracks, regular Maieutics, at least one Chronicle held by heart.
§ V
Eponym
In the Greek polis the archon-eponym was the one whose name was given to the year. His name became the marker of time for everyone.
Threshold
Active participation on the Agora, citations of Chronicles in public posts. One eponym per year.
Why no money?
Stoa is a school. A school sells nothing — it teaches. The token wallet exists for one reason: AI features cost real compute, and we'd rather meter them honestly than wall off the catalogue. Read the articles, pass the quizzes, and you'll always have enough tokens for the AI.
Every reader becomes a Citizen.
Every Citizen who stays becomes a Leon. Leontes are the Aretē movement — the people Stoa makes.
Membership is not purchased. It is earned by attention.
A Leon is not a user. A Leon is a person who chose to think — and did not stop.