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# Hangar Addons launches with 'free means free' as its founding rule
- URL: https://magentadebrief.com/hangar-addons-launches-with-free-means-free/
- Published: 2026-09-13T02:29:23.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-13T02:29:23.000Z
- Description: A new free addon platform for MSFS 2024, MSFS 2020, and X-Plane promises no download timers, no ad walls, and no premium tier — with creators keeping ownership and removal rights. Got Friends is among the first developers on board.
- Author: Alan Soon
- Tags: Briefs

A new home for flight sim addons opened this month for MSFS 2020, MSFS 2024, and X-Plane, built on a rule its founder says the dominant platforms drifted from: no download timers, no ad walls, no premium tier. Everything on the site is free.

**What the rule means**  
The [about page](https://hangaraddons.com/about?ref=magentadebrief.com) is explicit: the site will never force an ad before a download, never throttle speeds to push a paid tier, and there is no paid tier. The most it will ever run to cover infrastructure costs is plain inline ads — sidebar or between posts, no pop-ups or pre-roll, and no countdown timers.

**Creator terms**  
The founder went to creators before builders, with an [open call on the official MSFS forums](https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/calling-flight-sim-addon-creators-help-build-hangar-addons/775771?ref=magentadebrief.com) that set the terms in plain language. Creators keep ownership, get credit and a link to their own site or Discord, keep their licensing and distribution requirements, and can withdraw anything on request. Only content a creator explicitly authorizes gets hosted.

**Who's behind it**  
Hangar Addons is Michael Geise, a principal engineer who ran NFSCars for over 15 years — one of the largest Need for Speed modding hubs, hosting more than 50,000 community cars and drawing over 20 million page views a month at its peak, by his account. He frames the older addon model as treating the community as something to be monetized rather than served; this site exists because he wanted a version that doesn't.

**Early signs**  
Got Friends, which pulled content during the 2023 Flightsim.to boycott over its premium membership and revenue-sharing program, is one of the first developers to sign on — describing the move as supporting a community project rather than leaving any existing home. The library is young but moving: 139 addons and 797 total downloads in its first week of public life.

Sources: [hangaraddons.com/about](https://hangaraddons.com/about?ref=magentadebrief.com), [MSFS Addons](https://msfsaddons.com/2026/09/11/hangar-addons-launches-as-a-creator-first-alternative-to-flightsim-to/?ref=magentadebrief.com), [official MSFS forums](https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/calling-flight-sim-addon-creators-help-build-hangar-addons/775771?ref=magentadebrief.com)