Try
About Compare Development Testimonials FAQ Buy Discord

Terms of Service

Last updated: August 27, 2026

These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your use of Penpoint, a desktop writing application developed by Tophat Creative, LLC ("we", "us", "our"). By purchasing, downloading, installing, or using Penpoint, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the software.

License

When you purchase Penpoint, we grant you a perpetual, non-exclusive, personal license to install and use the software on your personal computers for any lawful purpose. "Perpetual" means your license does not expire. You own the right to use the version you purchased indefinitely.

This license is for your personal use. You may install Penpoint on multiple devices that you own and personally use, regardless of operating system. You may not redistribute, resell, sublicense, or share your license with others. In the event of death or permanent incapacity (such as legal guardianship), the license may be transferred to a member of your household or estate.

Updates

Your purchase includes free updates to the major version you bought (for example, every 1.x release) as they become available. Updates are delivered automatically through the app and are optional; you can skip or defer any update. Updates add new capabilities and fix issues; they do not remove existing functionality from the version you purchased.

We reserve the right to introduce separately priced upgrades, add-ons, or subscription-based features in the future (for example, cloud synchronization or collaborative editing). Any such offering would be clearly identified as a separate purchase. Your existing license and all features included at the time of your purchase will remain fully functional regardless of whether you choose to subscribe to or purchase additional services.

Updates may include database schema changes that are applied to your project files when you open them in the updated version. These changes add support for new features and do not alter or remove your existing data. Once applied, these changes cannot be reversed by downgrading to an older version of Penpoint. We strongly recommend keeping backups of your project files, particularly before updating.

Payment

Penpoint is sold as a one-time purchase. Payment is processed by our payment provider, Lemon Squeezy (Lemon Squeezy, LLC), which acts as the Merchant of Record. By completing a purchase, you also agree to Lemon Squeezy's terms of service.

Refunds

We offer no-questions-asked refunds within 30 calendar days of purchase. To request a refund, contact us at support@penpoint.app. Refunds are processed through Lemon Squeezy. If you experience any difficulty obtaining a refund through Lemon Squeezy, contact us directly and we will work to resolve the issue. Upon refund, your license is revoked and you must uninstall the software. Nothing in this policy limits statutory consumer refund rights that may apply in your jurisdiction.

Your Content

Everything you create in Penpoint (your stories, characters, worldbuilding, notes, manuscripts, and all other content) belongs entirely to you. We claim no ownership, license, or rights to your work. Period.

Penpoint is a desktop application. Your projects are stored as local files on your computer. We never have access to your writing unless you voluntarily send us a file (for example, when reporting a bug). If you do send us a project file for support, we use it only to diagnose the issue and delete it when we're done.

Diagnostic Logs

Penpoint generates diagnostic logs on your computer to help troubleshoot issues. These logs may contain metadata such as entity names (e.g., a character's name), navigation paths, and error messages. Logs do not contain a copy of your book, manuscript, or project database. However, certain user-initiated actions (such as searches, copy/paste operations, entity renames, or content edits) may cause small, incidental fragments of your writing or worldbuilding to appear in log entries as part of the diagnostic context. These fragments are limited in scope and are never a reproduction of your work.

Diagnostic logs are stored as plain-text files on your device and can be opened and reviewed in any text editor at any time. We encourage you to review your logs before sharing them.

Logs stay on your device unless you voluntarily choose to share them with us when requesting support. We treat all shared diagnostic materials, including any incidental content fragments they may contain, as confidential. We will use shared logs and project files solely to diagnose and resolve your support request, and we will delete them when the inquiry is resolved.

By sharing diagnostic logs or project files with us, you acknowledge that: (a) this is your voluntary action; (b) the shared materials may contain incidental fragments of your content as described above; and (c) you grant us a limited, non-exclusive right to access and use the shared materials solely for the purpose of diagnosing and resolving your support request. The presence of incidental content fragments in voluntarily shared logs does not constitute unauthorized disclosure or misappropriation of your intellectual property by Tophat Creative, LLC.

Community Analytics & Privacy

Penpoint includes optional, pseudonymous community analytics that are disabled by default. Our Privacy Policy explains in detail what data is collected, how it is used, and how you can opt in or out at any time. By using Penpoint, you also agree to our Privacy Policy.

Separately, the app sends a single anonymous activation signal, once per installation: when you first install Penpoint and accept these Terms, or, if you already had it installed, automatically the first time you open the update that introduced this. It notes only that an installation exists and whether you are using the trial or a purchased copy, contains no identifiers and no content, and is described in full in our Privacy Policy.

Community Contributions

Penpoint lets you suggest words for the Authors Dictionary, a shared community spelling list. Submitting a word is entirely voluntary and optional. By choosing to submit a word, you intentionally contribute that word to the collective community dictionary, and you agree that the single word you submit, together with any note you attach and the associated metadata described in our Privacy Policy, may be stored, reviewed, and, if suitable, included in the Authors Dictionary distributed to other Penpoint users.

This consent is scoped only to the specific word you choose to submit. It does not extend to any other content, and it does not change the ownership of your work: everything you write remains yours as described in "Your Content" above. You grant Tophat Creative, LLC a non-exclusive, royalty-free right to use each word you submit for the purpose of building and distributing the community dictionary. Please do not submit words that are confidential or that you do not have the right to share.

Age Requirement

You must be at least 13 years old to use Penpoint (or 16 in jurisdictions where GDPR applies). If you are between 13 and 18 (or the age of majority in your jurisdiction), you must have permission from a parent or guardian. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.

Acceptable Use

You agree not to:

We write this not out of distrust but because our lawyers tell us we should. You're here to write stories. Go do that.

Intellectual Property

Penpoint, including its code, design, name, logo, and documentation, is the intellectual property of Tophat Creative, LLC and is protected by copyright and other laws. Your license grants you the right to use the software, not to claim ownership of it.

Third-Party Services

Penpoint integrates with the following third-party services. Your use of these features is subject to the respective provider's terms:

Disclaimer of Warranties

Penpoint is provided "as is" without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.

We work hard to keep Penpoint reliable, but we cannot guarantee that the software will be error-free, uninterrupted, or compatible with every system configuration. We recommend keeping regular backups of your project files.

Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Tophat Creative, LLC shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or any loss of data, profits, or goodwill, arising out of or related to your use of Penpoint.

Our total liability for any claim related to Penpoint shall not exceed the amount you paid for the software.

Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Tophat Creative, LLC from any claims, damages, or expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising from your violation of these Terms or your unlawful use of Penpoint.

Termination

Your license continues indefinitely as long as you comply with these Terms. If you materially breach these Terms (for example, by redistributing the software), we will provide written notice and at least 14 days to cure the breach before terminating your license. Upon termination, you must stop using Penpoint and delete all copies.

Since Penpoint is a local application with no account or cloud dependency, "termination" in practice means you lose the right to use the software; your local files and data always remain yours.

Service Continuity

Penpoint operates entirely on your device and does not require an internet connection, account, or activation to function. If Tophat Creative, LLC ceases operations, your installed copy of Penpoint and all local data remain yours to use. Update delivery may become unavailable, but the software you have installed will continue to work without restriction.

Business Transfers

In the event that Tophat Creative, LLC or Penpoint is acquired, merged, or sold, your license and the terms under which it was granted will transfer to the successor entity. The successor is bound by the license terms in effect at the time of your purchase. If a successor entity wishes to materially change these Terms (for example, by introducing mandatory cloud services, accounts, or subscription requirements), such changes will be subject to the notice and consent provisions described in the "Changes" section below and will not apply retroactively to your existing license.

Penpoint Cloud

This section applies only if you subscribe to Penpoint Cloud (either Penpoint Backup or Penpoint Sync). If you use Penpoint only as a local desktop application, this section does not apply to you, and nothing in it changes your existing rights or obligations under the Terms above.

Subscription & Billing

Penpoint Cloud is an optional paid subscription, separate from your one-time Penpoint license. It is available in two tiers:

Subscriptions are billed on a recurring basis (monthly or yearly) and renew automatically until you cancel. All billing, invoicing, and tax collection are handled by Lemon Squeezy, which acts as the Merchant of Record for Penpoint Cloud subscriptions. By subscribing, you also agree to Lemon Squeezy's terms of service.

Prices are listed in USD and may change. If we change prices, the new price takes effect at your next renewal; you will be notified at least 30 days before it applies.

Cancellation & Refunds

You may cancel your subscription at any time through your billing portal (accessible from Penpoint's settings). No phone call or email is required. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the billing period you have already paid for. Penpoint Cloud subscriptions are non-refundable. Monthly and yearly plans are not refunded or prorated if you cancel part way through: your plan simply runs to the end of the period you have already paid for. By subscribing, you consent to the service beginning immediately and acknowledge that you waive any applicable right of withdrawal once the service has started. Nothing in this section limits statutory consumer rights that cannot be waived under the laws of your jurisdiction.

If your payment fails or your subscription otherwise lapses, Penpoint Cloud pauses: no new backups are uploaded and syncing stops. Your local books and the Penpoint desktop app are completely unaffected. Your cloud data is kept for 30 days after your entitlement ends. We send at least three warning emails during that window. During that time, renewing your subscription picks up exactly where you left off, same password, nothing to re-upload. After 30 days, your cloud data is permanently deleted (crypto-shredded).

Zero-Knowledge Encryption & Unrecoverable Passphrase

Penpoint Cloud encrypts all of your book content on your device before it is uploaded. Tophat Creative does not have access to your encryption passphrase, your Recovery Kit, or any decrypted book content. This is by design.

If you lose your passphrase AND your Recovery Kit AND no longer have access to any device where Penpoint Cloud is unlocked, your cloud data is permanently unrecoverable. No one, including Penpoint, can decrypt it for you. This is the cost of the privacy guarantee: your data is truly yours, and only yours.

You are responsible for storing your passphrase and Recovery Kit securely. We strongly recommend using a password manager.

Service Availability

Penpoint Cloud is provided on a best-effort basis with no service-level agreement (SLA). The service operates from a single region (EU). An outage in that region may temporarily prevent backups and syncing, but your local books and the Penpoint desktop app always work offline, regardless of cloud availability.

We aim to keep Penpoint Cloud reliable, but we cannot guarantee that the service will be uninterrupted or error-free. Penpoint Cloud is designed as a secondary copy of your work, not a primary storage location. You should always maintain local backups of your project files.

To keep the service reliable, Penpoint Cloud sends us service health reports and anonymous crash reports while you are signed in on a device. These contain fixed status codes, counts, and opaque identifiers only, never your writing, titles, file names, or error message text. They are described in full in the Privacy Policy.

Fair Use & Device Limits

Penpoint Backup is limited to one active computer at a time. You may change your active backup computer up to 2 times every 30 days. Penpoint Sync supports up to 5 devices.

Penpoint Cloud is intended for normal use as a writing tool. We do not impose hard storage caps, but we reserve the right to throttle uploads for accounts exceeding 15 GB of total stored data. We will contact you at least 7 days before taking any action, and your existing cloud data will not be affected.

Cloud Warranties & Liability

The Disclaimer of Warranties and Limitation of Liability sections above apply equally to Penpoint Cloud. For Penpoint Cloud subscriptions, our total liability shall not exceed the subscription fees you paid in the 12 months preceding the claim.

Because Penpoint Cloud is an encrypted backup service with a zero-knowledge architecture, Tophat Creative is not liable for data loss resulting from a lost passphrase, a lost Recovery Kit, or the combination of both. The service is provided "as is," and we make no guarantee that cloud backups will be available, complete, or recoverable in all circumstances.

The following sections apply to all Penpoint users, whether or not you subscribe to Penpoint Cloud.

Dispute Resolution

Before filing any formal claim or legal proceeding, you agree to contact us at support@penpoint.app and attempt to resolve the dispute informally for at least 30 days. Most concerns can be resolved quickly this way.

Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Oregon, United States, without regard to conflict-of-law principles. Any disputes arising under these Terms shall be resolved in the state or federal courts located in Oregon.

If you are a consumer residing in the European Economic Area, United Kingdom, or any jurisdiction with mandatory consumer protection laws, nothing in these Terms limits or excludes any rights that cannot be limited or excluded under the laws of your jurisdiction. You retain the right to bring proceedings in the courts of your country of residence.

Entire Agreement

These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and Tophat Creative, LLC regarding Penpoint. They supersede any prior agreements, representations, or understandings.

Severability

If any provision of these Terms is found to be unenforceable, the remaining provisions will continue in full force and effect.

Changes

We may update these Terms from time to time. When we do, we'll update the date at the top of this page. For material changes (such as changes to your rights, how your data is processed, or the scope of your license), we will notify you within the app and provide at least 30 days' notice before the updated Terms take effect. Material changes require your active acceptance within the app before they apply. If you do not accept updated Terms, you may continue using your current installed version of Penpoint under the prior Terms. We may update these Terms immediately where required by law.

Contact

Questions about these Terms? Reach us at support@penpoint.app.