Terms, Privacy & Refunds

Last updated: April 2026 · Substrate Systems OÜ · Estonia

Overview

Endstate is a product of Substrate Systems OÜ, registered in Estonia. By downloading or using Endstate, or by subscribing to any of its paid services, you agree to these terms.

Endstate is offered in three forms:

—The free local product — the Endstate engine (CLI) and GUI, free to download and use forever, with no account required.
—Hosted Backup — an optional paid subscription to Endstate's managed encrypted backup service. Currently in early access; not yet generally available.
—Supporter License — an optional one-time payment that supports development. It does not unlock additional features.

How these tiers behave is governed by the Endstate Principles, which are public commitments about what Endstate will and will not do. Where these terms appear to weaken a principle, the principle wins.

Terms of Service

Free local product

The free local product (engine and GUI) is provided at no cost, on an unlimited number of machines, without an account. It is yours to use, share, and run offline. The engine is licensed under Apache 2.0; the GUI is provided as a pre-built desktop application under these terms. You may not redistribute the pre-built GUI binaries commercially, but the underlying engine remains freely available under its open-source license.

Hosted Backup subscription

A Hosted Backup subscription grants access to Endstate's managed backup service for the term you have paid for (monthly or annual). Subscriptions renew automatically until cancelled. Cancelling stops future renewals; access remains active until the end of the paid period.

Data uploaded to Hosted Backup is encrypted on your machine before it leaves using keys that you control. Endstate stores only ciphertext and metadata necessary to operate the service (account email, billing identifiers, object sizes, timestamps). Endstate cannot read or decrypt your backup data.

Supporter License

The Supporter License is a one-time, non-exclusive, non-transferable acknowledgement that you have contributed to the development of Endstate. It does not grant additional features beyond what the free product offers. With your explicit opt-in, your name may appear on the public supporters page and in the project repository. You can ask for removal at any time.

Acceptable use

You agree not to use Hosted Backup to store unlawful content, to store data you do not have the right to store, or to attempt to circumvent the encryption or storage limits of the service. Endstate may suspend service for violations of acceptable use after written notice, except where immediate action is legally required.

No warranty & limitation of liability

Endstate is provided “as is” without warranty of any kind, express or implied. Substrate Systems OÜ shall not be liable for any damages arising from the use or inability to use the software or services, including but not limited to data loss, system damage, or lost profits. For paid services, total liability is limited to the amount you paid in the twelve months preceding the claim.

Privacy Policy

Endstate's local product is designed to work offline. We do not collect usage analytics, crash reports, or behavioural data by default. Paid services necessarily process some personal data; we keep that to the minimum needed to operate them.

Local product

—Scanning, saving, and restoring your setup works entirely offline. No data leaves your computer.
—The local product does not connect to Endstate servers in the background. Network connections happen only when you take an action that requires them.
—App installation downloads packages via winget directly from publishers. We are not involved and do not proxy or log those downloads.
—No analytics, telemetry, or tracking. If telemetry is ever added it will be opt-in, anonymous, clearly described, and disable-able with a single toggle.

Hosted Backup

—Backup data is encrypted on your machine before upload. Endstate stores ciphertext and the metadata required to operate the service.
—We process: your account email, billing identifiers from our payment provider, object sizes, upload timestamps, and the IP address of your most recent connection (for abuse prevention).
—We do not read or decrypt your data. We cannot do so under subpoena, breach, or internal request — the keys live with you.
—Data retention after cancellation: when you cancel a Hosted Backup subscription, your encrypted data is retained for 30 days to allow reactivation, then permanently deleted. You can request earlier deletion at any time.

Payment processing

Subscription and Supporter License purchases are processed by Paddle, which acts as merchant of record. Paddle handles your payment card details under its own privacy policy; Endstate receives transaction identifiers and your email address, not payment card data.

Your rights (GDPR)

EU residents have the right under GDPR to access, rectify, export, or delete their personal data, including data held by Hosted Backup. Because backup payloads are encrypted with keys we do not hold, “access” and “export” cover metadata and ciphertext only — you must use your local Endstate client to decrypt the contents. Contact founder@substratesystems.io to exercise these rights.

Refund Policy

Hosted Backup subscription

You can cancel a Hosted Backup subscription at any time from your account or by email. Cancelling stops the next renewal; access continues until the end of the current paid period.

For monthly subscriptions, we do not pro-rate mid-period refunds — cancel before the next renewal to avoid further charges. For annual subscriptions, we offer a full refund within 14 days of purchase or renewal, no questions asked. EU consumers retain any statutory withdrawal rights they may have under local law.

Supporter License

Supporter License purchases are refundable within 30 days of purchase, no questions asked. After 30 days, refunds are at our discretion.

To request a refund, email founder@substratesystems.io with your order number. Refunds are typically processed within a few business days.