Founders

Founders are users who have purchased special packages that include platinum (the secondary in-game currency of Warframe) and special forum emblem specific to the package that was purchased. Three packages include special "Prime" equipment. Packages could be upgraded once purchased. The Founders program served as a form of initial funding for Warframe. The Founders program ended on 1st November 2013.

The Founders program can be seen here on the official Warframe website.

If you are a founder, you may have your badge applied to your user page.

Founders Program
There were 4 packages:

Disciple is the lowest level at only $20 USD (€18). It comes with the fewest bonuses.

Hunter is the next tier at $50 USD (€45) and comes with a substantial Platinum bonus. It is also the lowest level to gain a Prime item, Excalibur Prime.

Master is the third tier for $100 USD (€90), and comes with enough plat to purchase all warframes and slots for them. It also includes another Prime Item, Skana Prime. The master is the first package to come with the privilege to view the design council forums and vote on features for the game.

Grand Master for $250 USD (€225) is the final tier and comes with enough platinum to purchase nearly everything in the game that can be bought with platinum. This package also includes all the Prime equipment and any player with this level has his or her name placed in the game as a Solar Landmark.

Platinum
Each of the packages came with platinum. The ratio of dollars to platinum is lower than paying for just platinum (not taking platinum discounts into account).

Badge
Badges are visible in the bottom right corner of the avatar on the forums to indicate the players founder package. You can also use the badge in game by selecting Appearance and then selecting Event Badges. All preceding lower tier badges are also unlocked for use in game.

Prime Equipment
Prime Equipment includes an Excalibur Prime, Skana Prime, and Lato Prime. They have slightly adjusted statistics from their non-prime counterparts, and special skins that stand out from the design of the rest of the game.

Beta Keys
Beta keys were given to 3 of the tiers for the player to give to other potential players to participate in the closed beta program.

Design Council
Design Council privileges are given to the top two tiers. This includes the ability to view design council forums (hidden to other players) and vote on designs, features, and names in the game. The staff is significantly more involved in the design council forums. Many announcements about the game are released there before announced to the free community. This feature is now given to a selected 30 players a month, as well as Master and Grandmaster founders. In order to gain access to the Design Council you must be an active contributor to the forums.

Council Chat
Members with a "Master" or "Grand Master" status have access to a special chat in game, that is only accessible to these tier players, separate for Global and Clan chat. Access the chat by pressing the "Council" tab on the chat window located in the bottom right corner of the main game page (after you log in).

Solar Landmark
The Solar Landmark is a descriptor of every mission in the game. It is displayed in a text ticker in the lower right of the info box of planets when the mouse is hovered over any available (i.e. not locked) mission node. The symbol is that of the Grand Master and the text is the user name of a Grand Master. If a player is a Grand Master, the shortcut to the left of the game mode selection button in the form of the Grand Master star symbol, will take the Grand Master to their own Solar Landmark as well as displaying one of the following messages, voiced by the Lotus:
 * "Now the Tenno are stronger by your hand, Grandmaster."
 * "The Lotus is pleased to be in the presence of a Grandmaster."
 * "We are in your debt, Grandmaster. Thank you."
 * "The Tenno have gained great strength thanks to you, Grandmaster."
 * "With your support Grandmaster, the Tenno will rise again."

With 207 missions and every mission having 6-9 Solar Landmarks (as of 5-10-2013), over $388,000 USD has been donated from the Grand Master program alone.

Deployable Resource Drones
As of update 11.5.0, all Founders/Prime Access get +1 max deployable resource drone.

Availability
It was supposed to end before the game went from closed beta to open beta. However, it was extended partly to allow the new users brought in by the game's Steam release to be able to buy it, but also to give the developers more time to "nail down an incredible follow up offer to the Founders program", according to an administrator. The program officially ended on November 1st, 2013 (forum post).

Upgrading
Once a player had purchased one of the lower three packages, he or she could later upgrade to one of the other higher tiers for the difference of the price. Doing this earned the difference of the rewards (e.g. going from Disciple to Hunter will earn the user 850 platinum, as well as Excalibur Prime).

Special Gifts
All Founders have received an additional special gift from DE. Disciples and Hunters will receive a Warframe ninja headband while Masters and Grand Masters will receive a Warframe ninja headband and a limited edition t-shirt (see below). Founders have been contacted on November 2nd with a request for shipping information and can claim their gift here. Founders must fill in the form with their shipping information before 9 AM EST November 18 otherwise they will not receive their gift.

The following regions are known to have received their T-shirts and headbands already: If you lived in one of these regions and haven't received your special gifts yet, you may expect it soon.
 * Argentina
 * Australia
 * Austria
 * Brunei
 * Brazil
 * Canada
 * Croatia
 * Czech Republic
 * Denmark
 * Finland
 * France
 * Germany
 * Hong Kong
 * Indonesia
 * Italian Republic
 * Netherlands
 * New Zealand
 * Norway
 * Philippines
 * Poland
 * Portugal
 * Russian Federation
 * Singapore
 * Sweden
 * Switzerland
 * UK
 * Ukraine
 * US East, West, and Central

Additional Perks

 * Excalibur Prime Profile Icons were unlocked for Hunter, Master, and Grandmaster Founders with the Update 11 patch for Hotfix 11.1.1.


 * Founders receive an additional 2 trades per day with a Trading Post as part of Update 11.