Terms of Service
Last updated: June 4, 2026
These terms cover your use of the optional hosted PortBay account and Pro features, operated by Tribal House LLC, a limited liability company registered in Ghana (“Tribal House”, “we”, “us”). The PortBay desktop software itself is licensed separately as open source under AGPL-3.0-only — see the LICENSE. You can use, build, and run the app under that license without an account and without agreeing to these terms.
The software vs. the service
- Software (free, open source). The PortBay app is AGPL-3.0-only. Your rights to use, modify, and redistribute it are governed by that license, not by this document.
- Service (optional, hosted). A PortBay account, entitlements, and encrypted sync are hosted conveniences. These terms apply when you create an account or use those features.
Pro is a monthly subscription
- Price and renewal. Pro is sold as a monthly subscription at the price shown at checkout (currently US$10/month). Unless you cancel, it renews automatically each monthand your payment method is charged the then-current renewal price. We’ll notify you ahead of any price increase.
- Free trial. New subscriptions may include a free trial (currently 7 days), as shown at checkout. You’re charged when the trial ends unless you cancel before then — cancelling during the trial costs nothing.
- Paddle is the Merchant of Record. Purchases are processed by Paddle: your purchase contract for the transaction is with Paddle, which handles payment, taxes, invoices, and refunds under its buyer terms. Your card details never reach our systems.
- Cancel anytime. In the app, go to Settings → Account → Billing → Manage billing; or use the subscription-management link in your Paddle receipt emails, or email hello@portbay.app. Cancelling stops the next renewal; Pro stays active until the end of the period you’ve paid for. See the refund & cancellation policy.
- Earlier grants. Pro entitlements granted before subscription billing launched keep the terms under which they were granted. We may still grant Pro for merged, non-trivial contributions.
Buying Pro is not buying the software — the app is free under AGPL-3.0-only; the subscription pays for the hosted services and supports the project.
Acceptable use
- Don’t disrupt, overload, or attempt to gain unauthorized access to the service or to other users’ data.
- Don’t use the service to store or distribute unlawful content.
- Don’t resell or misrepresent the hosted service as your own.
You’re responsible for safeguarding your account credentials and your sync recovery key. Because sync is end-to-end encrypted, we cannot recover your data if you lose your recovery key.
Availability and changes
The hosted service is provided on a reasonable-effort basis and may change or be interrupted for maintenance. We may modify or discontinue hosted features; where a change materially reduces a paid feature, we’ll communicate it in-app.
Disclaimer and liability
The hosted service is provided “as is,” without warranties of any kind, to the maximum extent permitted by law. To the extent permitted by law, Tribal House LLC and the PortBay contributors are not liable for indirect or consequential damages arising from use of the hosted service. Nothing here limits the rights you have under the software’s open-source license, and nothing here limits rights that consumer-protection law gives you and that cannot be waived.
Applicable law
These terms do not displace the mandatory laws or consumer protections of your country of residence — including EU consumer law for EU/EEA consumers and UK consumer law for UK consumers. Purchases are contracts with Paddle as Merchant of Record under Paddle’s buyer terms.
Termination
You can stop using the service and delete your account at any time (see the privacy policy for how). We may suspend accounts that violate these terms. A lapsed or revoked entitlement only blocks new gated actions — projects already on your machine are never touched.
Changes to these terms
We’ll revise the date above when these terms change and surface material changes in-app.
Contact
Questions about these terms: hello@portbay.app. Security reports: security@portbay.app.