Legal

Merit AC License

The Merit AC software is free for personal, non-commercial use. Any business use needs a separate written commercial license from us.

In plain English

Plain writing, before you rely on it. The formal version is in LICENSE and says the same things in the language a court reads. If the two ever disagree, that is a mistake and this file is what was meant. (Operator OS has its own separate license and its own plain version -- operator-os/LICENCE-PLAIN.md -- this file is about Merit AC only: backend/ and frontend/.)

Free: your own personal use

You can read this code, run it, and modify it for yourself, free, as long as you're an individual using it for your own purposes -- for example, self-hosting it to track your own AI spend. That stays free no matter how you modify it, as long as it stays personal: not on behalf of a company, not to make money, and not handed off to anyone else.

Not free: anything on behalf of an organization

The moment this code is doing something for a company or other organization -- internal use, a paid or unpaid service to others, evaluating it for a purchase decision -- that's commercial use, and it needs a separate written license from us first. That includes running your own hosted copy for your team. Reach out before you put it to that use.

What you can't do either way

Redistributing, sublicensing, or selling the code or a derivative of it isn't included in either grant above. Neither is representing a modified or hosted version of it as your own separate product.

The hosted product at usemeritai.com

Using the live dashboard is separate from this code license entirely -- that's covered by whatever's stated at signup, plus the terms on /pricing for a paid consultation or subscription. This file is about the source code in this repository, not about using the hosted service.

Warranty, honestly

The software is provided as-is. We're not promising it's bug-free, that its numbers are complete, or that it fits a particular purpose -- see the full disclaimer in LICENSE. This early prototype label on the dashboard means what it says: verify anything that matters against your own systems before acting on it.

This plain-language file, like LICENSE itself, isn't a substitute for legal advice -- have a lawyer review both before relying on them for anything high-stakes.

Full text

Copyright (c) 2026 A_ROCK. All rights reserved.

This is Merit AC's license: it covers Merit AC's own source code and
documentation in this repository (principally backend/ and frontend/) (the
"Software"), and is dual-licensed as follows. It does not cover
operator-os/, a separate product distributed under its own license --
see operator-os/LICENSE and operator-os/LICENCE-PLAIN.md.

1. PERSONAL USE

   You may use, copy, modify, and self-host the Software free of charge
   for your own personal, non-commercial purposes -- for example, running
   it locally to track your own individual AI-tool spend (see
   backend/personal.py). "Personal use" means: you are an individual, not
   acting on behalf of a company or other organization; you are not using
   the Software to generate revenue, provide a paid or unpaid service to
   others, or evaluate it for a purchasing decision on an organization's
   behalf; and you are not redistributing, sublicensing, or selling the
   Software or any derivative of it.

2. COMMERCIAL / BUSINESS USE

   Any use that is not Personal Use as defined above -- including but not
   limited to internal use within a company or other organization, use in
   the course of business, offering the Software (or a modified or hosted
   version of it) as a product or service to others, or evaluating it for
   an organizational purchasing decision -- requires a separate written
   commercial license from the copyright holder. Contact the copyright
   holder to obtain one before putting the Software to any such use.

3. NO OTHER RIGHTS

   Outside of the Personal Use grant in Section 1, no license, right, or
   interest in the Software is granted to any person or entity except as
   expressly authorized in writing by the copyright holder. In particular,
   distributing, sublicensing, or selling the Software or derivative works
   of it is not permitted under either Section 1 or Section 2 without such
   separate written authorization.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
SOFTWARE.

---

This is not a widely-audited standard license template and is not legal
advice -- it's a plain-language dual-use grant covering the common case
(free individual use, paid license for business use). Have a lawyer review
it before relying on it for anything high-stakes, like actually enforcing
it against a violator.

See also the site terms and privacy policy. Questions: contact us.