Terms & Conditions

1. About AlaricForge

AlaricForge develops commercial and free software products for businesses, including software for WordPress and WooCommerce.

References to "AlaricForge", "we", "us" or "our" in these Terms refer to the provider of the applicable AlaricForge software and services.

2. Software Licenses

Commercial AlaricForge products are licensed, not sold. A valid commercial license permits you to install and use the software on the number of websites or installations covered by the license purchased.

Current AlaricForge commercial licenses may be offered for one site, five sites, twenty sites or other quantities stated on the applicable product page.

You may not resell, sublicense or share a commercial AlaricForge license or access credential with third parties except where expressly permitted.

Nothing in these Terms is intended to restrict rights separately granted under an applicable open-source software license.

3. Subscriptions

Certain commercial AlaricForge products or services are provided through recurring subscriptions.

Unless cancelled or otherwise stated at purchase, a recurring subscription may renew automatically at the applicable renewal price.

Cancellation prevents future renewal but does not normally shorten a subscription or license period already paid for.

4. What Happens When a Software License Expires

Expiration, cancellation or deactivation of a commercial software license does not automatically disable open-source software already installed where the applicable software license permits continued use.

An active commercial license or subscription may nevertheless be required for continued access to software updates, new releases, support or separately provided external services.

We strongly recommend maintaining current software where compatibility, security, tax, regulatory or third-party systems may change over time.

5. Software Updates

Active commercial licenses may include access to software updates during the applicable subscription period.

Updates may include compatibility improvements, bug fixes, security improvements, regulatory changes, performance changes, new functionality or removal of obsolete functionality.

We do not guarantee that every software version will remain compatible indefinitely with every version of WordPress, WooCommerce, PHP, browser, theme, plugin or third-party service.

6. Support

Active commercial licenses may include support according to the applicable AlaricForge support terms or product description.

Support does not include custom software development, accounting, tax, legal or regulatory advice, server administration, or correction of unrelated third-party software unless expressly agreed otherwise.

7. Payments and Billing

Commercial purchases may be processed by Freemius or another authorized Merchant of Record or payment provider.

The payment provider may handle checkout, payment collection, invoicing, subscription management, applicable sales taxes, VAT, refunds, chargebacks and payment-related communication.

Additional terms and privacy policies of the applicable payment provider may apply to the transaction.

8. Refunds

Refund eligibility is governed by the AlaricForge Refund Policy, the terms applicable at the time of purchase, and any mandatory consumer rights that apply under applicable law.

9. Free Software

Some AlaricForge products may be distributed free of charge, including through third-party directories such as WordPress.org.

Free software may differ from separately distributed commercial products or external services. Any limitations applying to an external AlaricForge service are separate from rights granted under the open-source license applicable to the plugin itself.

10. Product-Specific Terms

The following additional terms apply to particular AlaricForge products and services.

10.1 AlaricForge Store Assistant

AlaricForge Store Assistant is a WordPress and WooCommerce assistant designed to provide AI-assisted product discovery, shopping assistance and customer support.

Free AlaricForge Service Allowance

The free version of AlaricForge Store Assistant includes up to 50 customer conversations per calendar month processed through the AlaricForge-hosted AI service.

The Free allowance renews automatically at the beginning of each calendar month based on UTC. Unused conversations do not roll over to subsequent months.

A conversation may include multiple messages exchanged within the same customer conversation. AlaricForge may use reasonable technical measures to identify and count conversations for service-capacity purposes.

When the monthly Free allowance has been consumed, additional AlaricForge-hosted AI conversations are unavailable until the allowance renews or the merchant activates an eligible paid AlaricForge service.

The Free edition does not support merchant-provided AI API credentials.

Paid AlaricForge AI Services

AlaricForge may separately offer paid subscriptions that provide managed AI processing and a defined conversation capacity during each subscription period.

The conversation capacity, billing period, price and other service entitlements are determined by the subscription purchased by the merchant.

Paid AlaricForge plans provide the conversation capacity specified for the selected plan during each applicable subscription period. Paid plan capacity replaces the Free monthly service allowance while the paid subscription is active.

AI-Generated Responses

Store Assistant uses artificial intelligence and automated systems. AI-generated responses may occasionally be incomplete, inaccurate or outdated.

Merchants are responsible for configuring their assistant appropriately and for ensuring that important commercial, legal, safety or policy information presented to customers is accurate.

Store Assistant should not be relied upon as a substitute for professional legal, medical, financial or other regulated professional advice.

Product and Store Information

Store Assistant may obtain information from the merchant's WooCommerce store.

The merchant remains responsible for the accuracy of product descriptions, prices, stock availability, variations, shipping information, taxes and other store data.

The merchant remains responsible for orders, payments, fulfilment, refunds, returns, warranties and other obligations arising from transactions conducted through the merchant's store.

Merchant Knowledge Content

Merchants may provide Knowledge content for use by Store Assistant. Merchants remain responsible for that content and must have the necessary rights and authority to use it.

Merchants must not knowingly use Store Assistant to store or transmit unlawful content or unnecessary highly sensitive personal information.

Service Capacity and Abuse Prevention

AlaricForge may use reasonable technical controls to enforce the capacity associated with an AlaricForge-hosted service and to protect that service against abuse, fraud, unauthorized access and excessive automated traffic.

Users must not attempt to circumvent external service capacity controls, obtain unauthorized access to AlaricForge infrastructure, resell AlaricForge-hosted AI capacity without authorization, or deliberately interfere with the operation or security of the service.

Open-Source Plugin Rights

The WordPress plugin is distributed under the open-source license stated in the plugin package. Nothing in these Terms is intended to restrict rights granted under that license.

Restrictions relating to AlaricForge-hosted AI service capacity apply to access to the external AlaricForge service and do not alter the open-source license applicable to the WordPress plugin itself.

10.2 AlaricForge EU VAT

AlaricForge EU VAT products provide tools intended to assist WooCommerce merchants with VAT-related store workflows.

VAT Assistance

Depending on the applicable product and configuration, AlaricForge EU VAT may assist with functionality such as VAT-number collection and validation, VAT-related checkout workflows, business-customer handling, tax treatment, record-keeping or other features described in the applicable product documentation.

AlaricForge EU VAT is a software tool. It does not provide tax, accounting, legal or regulatory advice and does not guarantee compliance with EU VAT law or the tax requirements of any particular jurisdiction.

VIES Validation

Where VAT-number validation through the European Commission VAT Information Exchange System (VIES) is enabled, the VAT number being checked is transmitted to the VIES service.

Validation results depend on information and service availability provided by VIES. AlaricForge does not control VIES and cannot guarantee its availability or the accuracy, completeness or acceptance of information returned by that service.

Merchant Tax Responsibility

Merchants remain responsible for determining the VAT and tax rules applicable to their business, products, customers and transactions.

This includes responsibility for registrations, tax rates, customer classifications, evidence requirements, invoices, returns, filings, payments and record retention.

Where appropriate, merchants should obtain advice from a qualified tax, accounting or legal professional.

Free and Commercial EU VAT Products

AlaricForge may distribute both free and commercial EU VAT products.

Commercial products may include additional software, functionality, updates, support or services as described on the applicable product page and at the time of purchase.

Open-source rights applicable to a free WordPress.org plugin are not altered by a separate commercial license or subscription.

11. Third-Party Services

Some AlaricForge functionality may rely on third-party systems, APIs or services, including WordPress, WooCommerce, artificial-intelligence providers, payment providers, licensing platforms, government systems or validation services such as the European Commission VIES service.

Use of third-party services may also be subject to those providers' terms, privacy policies, availability, restrictions and pricing.

AlaricForge is not responsible for outages, incorrect responses, policy changes, availability failures or other problems caused by third-party services outside our reasonable control.

12. Tax and Compliance Disclaimer

AlaricForge software may assist with tax, VAT, reporting, accounting or compliance-related workflows. It does not constitute tax, legal, accounting or regulatory advice.

You remain responsible for determining the laws and rules applicable to your business, including registrations, product tax classifications, invoices, returns, filings, payments and record-retention obligations.

Where necessary, you should obtain advice from a qualified tax, accounting or legal professional.

13. Customer Responsibilities

You are responsible for maintaining appropriate backups, securely administering your website and systems, testing updates where appropriate, configuring the software correctly and monitoring the results produced by automated systems.

You must not use AlaricForge software or services for unlawful activities, fraudulent transactions, unauthorized access, abuse of third-party systems or any activity that violates applicable laws or rights.

14. Service Availability

Where AlaricForge provides an external or hosted service, we aim to provide reliable availability but do not guarantee continuous or uninterrupted operation.

Services may occasionally be affected by maintenance, technical problems, third-party service interruptions, security events or circumstances outside AlaricForge's reasonable control.

15. Intellectual Property

Except for open-source components distributed under their respective licenses, AlaricForge names, branding, documentation, proprietary services, designs and related intellectual property remain the property of their respective rights holders.

Nothing in these Terms transfers ownership of AlaricForge intellectual property to the customer.

Nothing in this section limits rights expressly granted under an applicable open-source license.

16. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, AlaricForge is not liable for indirect, incidental, consequential or special losses, including loss of profit, revenue, data, business opportunity or anticipated savings arising from use or inability to use the software or services.

Where liability cannot legally be excluded, our aggregate liability relating to a commercial product or service will generally be limited to the amount paid for that product or service during the preceding twelve months, except where applicable law requires otherwise.

17. No Guarantee of Regulatory Acceptance

Tax authorities, courts, payment providers and other regulators may interpret laws, evidence or reporting requirements differently.

Use of AlaricForge software does not guarantee acceptance of any filing, tax treatment, calculation, VAT-number validation, record or other result by a government authority or other third party.

18. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms where necessary to reflect changes in our products, services, commercial arrangements, technology, third-party providers or legal obligations.

The latest version published on the AlaricForge website will apply from its stated effective date, subject to rights or terms that cannot lawfully be changed retroactively.

19. Contact

Questions about these Terms may be sent through the contact or support details published on the AlaricForge website.