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OrOrbit is in pre-launch. Downloads, accounts, and sponsorship open at launch.

Terms of Service

Last updated: May 14, 2026

These terms cover OrOrbit (the software). For Pulsar cloud services, see the Pulsar Terms of Service.

OrOrbit Software

In Plain English You can use, modify, and self-host OrOrbit for free under the ELv2 license. Friends splitting server costs? Great. Companies selling OrOrbit hosting? Not allowed. No warranties.

OrOrbit is source-available software, licensed under the Elastic License 2.0 (ELv2). You are free to use, modify, and self-host OrOrbit in accordance with that license. You may not provide OrOrbit to third parties as a hosted or managed service. Commercial entities may not offer OrOrbit hosting, whether as a standalone product or as part of an existing platform. Personal use, community servers, and informal cost-sharing among friends are welcome. The software is provided as-is, without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement.

Self-Hosted Servers

In Plain English If you run a server, you are responsible for everything on it — content, security, legal compliance. OrOrbit maintainers have zero access. You must not disable built-in user data rights (like account deletion).

When you run an OrOrbit server, you are solely responsible for that server and everything on it. This includes:

  • The content posted by you and your users.
  • Compliance with applicable laws in your jurisdiction.
  • Securing your server, database, and network configuration.
  • Managing your users, enforcing your own rules, and handling disputes.

OrOrbit's maintainers have no access to, control over, or responsibility for self-hosted servers or the data stored on them.

Server operators must preserve users' ability to delete their accounts and associated data. Disabling, circumventing, or refusing to honor built-in user data management features is a violation of these terms. Server operators are independently responsible for complying with privacy laws applicable to their users and jurisdiction.

Pulsar Services

In Plain English Pulsar is a separate, optional cloud service with its own terms.

Pulsar (pulsar.ororbit.com) is a separate, optional cloud service that provides convenience infrastructure for OrOrbit server operators — DNS subdomains, identity backup, email relay, and more. Pulsar has its own Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Use of Pulsar is governed by those terms, not these.

Sponsorship & Donations

In Plain English Sponsorship is a thank-you. Subscriptions and donations help fund the project but do not buy any features. Cancellation is one click through Stripe — no retention prompts, no required reason, no win-back emails. Showing up on the public supporter wall is opt-in.

OrOrbit's sponsorship tiers (Spark, Star, Supernova) and one-time donations are voluntary contributions to fund development, code-signing, and infrastructure. They are processed through Pulsar and Stripe under Pulsar's Terms of Service §5a.

No entitlement. Sponsorship grants no service-level guarantee, no feature unlocks, no premium support, and no priority access. Paid Pulsar service tiers (Plus, Pro, Capsule, Station, Constellation) are different — they do provide feature-tied entitlements and are governed by Pulsar's terms.

No-friction cancellation commitment. Cancellation through the Stripe Customer Portal is a single click. We commit, as a matter of policy, that the cancellation flow will not include retention prompts, mandatory cancellation reasons, or "are you sure" upsell screens, and we will not send automated win-back / "we miss you" emails. Sponsor subscription fees are non-refundable except as required by applicable law.

Sponsor wall display. Being listed on the public supporter wall is opt-in — default off. You can edit your display name, change your URL, or remove yourself from the wall at any time from Settings → Support in the OrOrbit app or via your Pulsar account billing page. Sponsor display names and URLs are user-supplied content; abusive, harassing, illegal, or infringing content may be removed.

Acceptable Use

In Plain English Do not use OrOrbit or any forked or derivative work for illegal activity, spam, harassment, or to attack systems.

The following applies to all use of OrOrbit and any forked or derivative work, including this website, GitHub repositories, community channels, and self-hosted instances:

  • Do not use OrOrbit infrastructure to distribute illegal content.
  • Do not spam, harass, or abuse other users or contributors.
  • Do not attempt to circumvent rate limits, authentication, or security controls.
  • Do not use automated tools to scrape, crawl, or overload OrOrbit services.

Intellectual Property

In Plain English You can use the code, but you cannot use our name or logo to imply we endorse you.

The OrOrbit name, logo, and brand assets are trademarks of the OrOrbit project. The license grants you rights to the software code, but does not grant rights to use OrOrbit trademarks in a way that suggests endorsement or affiliation without permission.

Limitation of Liability

In Plain English OrOrbit is provided as-is. If something goes wrong, we are not financially responsible for the consequences.

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, OrOrbit's maintainers and contributors shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising from your use of the software or services, including but not limited to data loss, downtime, security breaches on self-hosted servers, or loss of profits.

The software is provided as-is. You assume all risk associated with running, configuring, and maintaining your own server.

Indemnification

In Plain English If someone sues us because of something you did with your server or violated these terms, you agree to cover the costs.

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless OrOrbit's maintainers, contributors, and affiliates from and against any claims, damages, losses, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or related to: (a) content hosted on or transmitted through your self-hosted server; (b) your violation of these terms or any applicable law; or (c) your infringement of any third-party rights. This obligation survives termination of your use of the software.

Governing Law & Jurisdiction

In Plain English These terms are governed by Pennsylvania law. Any dispute is handled in the courts of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.

These terms and any dispute arising out of or relating to them or the software are governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, USA, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles. You agree that any legal action or proceeding arising out of or relating to these terms or the software shall be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, and you consent to the personal jurisdiction and venue of those courts.

Severability

If any provision of these terms is found to be unenforceable or invalid, that provision shall be limited or eliminated to the minimum extent necessary so that the remaining terms remain in full force and effect.

Changes to These Terms

In Plain English We can update these terms. The date at the top tells you when they last changed. Because OrOrbit does not collect user emails, notice goes out through GitHub rather than email.

We may update these terms from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated "Last updated" date. Changes are effective immediately upon posting. Because OrOrbit does not collect user contact information, individual notice is not possible; for significant changes, we will make reasonable efforts to notify the community via the project's GitHub repository.

Contact

If you have questions about these terms, contact us at: