Terms of Service

Effective: September 26, 2026 · Last updated: September 27, 2026

Welcome to OrchidNote. These Terms of Service (the “Terms”) are an agreement between you (the “user” or “you”) and the developer of OrchidNote (“we” or “us”), governing your download, installation and use of the OrchidNote software and the orchidnote.com website (together, the “Service”). Please read these Terms carefully before use, especially the disclaimers and limitations shown in bold. By downloading, installing or using the Service, you confirm that you have read and agree to all of these Terms; if you do not agree, do not install or use it.

1. Definitions

• Software: the OrchidNote desktop program and its installer, updates, and accompanying scripts, documentation, icons and similar materials.
• Free version: the set of Software features available without payment.
• Pro: the set of paid features available by monthly or yearly subscription, as listed on the pricing page.
• Account: the account created on our servers when you sign in with your email address; Pro subscriptions are tied to your Account.
• User Content: the files you open with the Software and the annotations, thoughts, notes, outlines, exported files and other material you create.
• Third-party Services: services provided by third parties that you configure in the Software yourself, such as AI model API providers and model download sources.

2. License

Subject to your compliance with these Terms, we grant you a limited, personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable license:

• Free version: you may install and use the free version for personal or work purposes, with no limit on the number of installations or duration.
• Pro (subscription): during a paid subscription period, you may sign in to your Account and use Pro features on computers you personally use. Accounts are for your own use only, and we may restrict accounts that show unusual sharing among multiple people.
• Trials and promotions: we may offer free trials or limited-time promotions of paid features. When they end, those features are turned off and the Software returns to the free version; your data is not affected.

The Software is licensed, not sold. All rights not expressly granted in these Terms are reserved by us.

3. Restrictions

Except as expressly permitted by law, you may not:

• reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble the Software, or attempt to obtain its source code;
• crack, bypass or interfere with license verification, or create or distribute key generators or cracks;
• rent, lend or resell your Account, or share it with others;
• modify or translate the Software, or create and distribute derivative works based on it;
• remove or alter copyright notices, trademarks or third-party license notices in the Software;
• use the Software for any activity that violates laws or regulations or infringes others' copyright or other lawful rights, including without limitation removing attribution, copyright information or technical protection measures from others' works without authorization.

The “Remove ads / watermarks” feature is only for files you have the right to modify (for example, removing promotional content added by a distribution channel). You are responsible for confirming that you have the right to modify the files concerned, and you bear sole responsibility for any infringement of third-party rights arising from your use of this feature.

4. Purchases, subscriptions and renewal

• Our order process is conducted by our online reseller Paddle.com. Paddle.com is the Merchant of Record for all our orders. Paddle collects payment, issues receipts, handles refunds and related taxes, and provides the payment-related parts of customer service. Payments are subject to the Paddle Buyer Terms.
• Prices are those shown on the pricing page and at checkout at the time of purchase, in US dollars; applicable taxes are calculated for your region and shown at checkout. We may change prices; changes do not affect periods you have already paid for, and we will notify you in advance of any change to your renewal price.
• Subscriptions renew automatically at the end of each period. You can cancel at any time via “Manage subscription” in the Software's user menu, or email us to cancel on your behalf; after canceling, you can keep using Pro until the end of the current period and will not be charged again.
• Refunds are governed by the Refund Policy.

5. User Content

All rights in User Content belong to you or the original rights holders. The Software processes and stores User Content locally on your computer, and we do not obtain, view or use your User Content. You are responsible for the lawfulness of the content you open, process, export and share, and for backing up your data.

6. Third-party Services and open-source components

• Features such as “Ask AI” and LLM translation send the content you select to the AI provider that you configure yourself. That service is provided by a third party; its availability, accuracy, fees and data handling are governed by the provider's own terms and privacy policy, and we are not responsible for it.
• Answers, translations, mind maps, outlines and other AI-generated content may contain errors or omissions. They are for reference only and do not constitute professional advice; please check them against the source material.
• OCR, layout, table and translation models are obtained from third-party download sources using the scripts provided with the Software, and are subject to their respective open-source licenses.
• Open-source components included in the Software are licensed to you under their respective licenses; see Third-party licenses. If an open-source license conflicts with these Terms, the open-source license prevails for that component.

7. Updates

We may release updates from time to time to fix issues, improve features or meet compliance requirements. We may add, change or discontinue features; if we make a materially adverse change to paid features, we will notify you in advance and offer affected users a reasonable remedy (including a pro-rata refund).

8. Intellectual property

Copyright, trademarks (including the “OrchidNote” name and logo) and other intellectual property rights in the Software and websites belong to us or the relevant rights holders. You may not use these marks without our written permission.

9. Disclaimer

To the maximum extent permitted by law, the Software is provided “as is” and “as available”. We do not warrant that the Software will be error-free or uninterrupted, or that OCR, table recognition, translation or AI results will be fully accurate. You understand that the PDF format is complex and varied, and that operations which write files — such as page management, ad removal and export — may produce unexpected results on some files. The Software moves an original file to the Recycle Bin before modifying it, but you should still back up important files before processing them.

10. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, we are not liable for any indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages (including loss of data, loss of profits or business interruption). Our total liability for the Service will not exceed the amount you actually paid us in the 12 months before the event giving rise to the liability; for users of the free version, it will not exceed RMB 100. This section does not exclude or limit any liability that cannot be excluded or limited by law, including liability for losses caused by our intentional misconduct or gross negligence.

11. Termination

You may terminate these Terms at any time by uninstalling the Software. If you materially breach these Terms (for example by cracking license verification, or reselling or sharing your Account), we may disable Pro on that Account without a refund. You may also ask us by email to delete your Account at any time. Sections 5, 8, 9, 10 and 12 survive termination.

12. Governing law and disputes

The formation, validity, interpretation of and disputes under these Terms are governed by the laws of the People's Republic of China (for the purposes of these Terms, excluding the laws of the Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions and Taiwan). The parties shall first try to resolve any dispute arising from these Terms amicably; failing that, either party may bring a lawsuit before the competent people's court at our location.

13. Changes to these Terms

We may revise these Terms. The revised version will be posted on this page with an updated “Last updated” date, and we will notify you of material changes through an in-app notice, a website announcement or similar means. By continuing to use the Service after the changes take effect, you accept the revised Terms.

14. Language versions

This agreement is provided in Chinese and English. You may read the version in the language of your choice, and both versions have equal effect. If the two versions are inconsistent, the English version prevails.

15. Contact us

If you have any questions about these Terms, please contact support@orchidnote.com. We will reply within 5 business days.