Terms of use

Effective October 25, 2026 · Last updated October 25, 2026 (version 2026-10-25.3) · What changed · Usage Policy · Privacy policy

The important parts

Owndom is run by one person in Massachusetts, not a company. A Massachusetts company (LLC) is planned; when it exists, these terms move to it with the same promises, and we'll tell you first.
You must be 13 or older. AI chat, agents and the studios are for 18 and older. Teens (13 to 17) can use Messages and friends, with a parent's or guardian's agreement.
Follow the Usage Policy. It lists what you may not use Owndom for and the extra care some uses need.
Your inputs and outputs are yours. You chat with your own model: your own API key (you are that company's customer) or a model on your own computer.
Free plan: chats are deleted 30 days after you last use them. If you are 18 or older, your messages, and the AI's replies when the model's maker allows it, are copied (common personal details filtered out, not perfectly) to train Owndom's own AI. You can choose to share more, or (in the EEA, the UK or Switzerland) none. Subscribers' chats stay private and are never used for training unless they choose to share.
The subscription renews every month until you cancel under Your profile. Cancel any time; it runs to the end of the month you paid for.
AI can be wrong, and you are responsible for the actions you let agents take.
No arbitration and no class-action waiver. Massachusetts law applies, and your consumer-protection rights stay in place.

The summaries on this page help you read it. The full text is the agreement, and it never takes away something a summary gives you.

1. Who we are and what these terms cover

"We" means the one person who runs Owndom; these terms, the Usage Policy and the Privacy policy work together.

Owndom is run by its owner, an individual in the Worcester area of Massachusetts, USA ("we", "us", "the owner"). It is not a company yet. When the planned Massachusetts limited liability company is formed, these terms, your account and your data move to it under the same promises, and we will tell you by email and in the app before it happens.

"You" means the person using an Owndom account. For the AI receptionist, "you" means the business that runs the phone line. These terms cover owndom.alk.homes, the Windows desktop app, the phone companion, Messages, the studios, the developer API and the receptionist, together "Owndom".

These documents form the agreement, in this order if they ever disagree: the terms for specific features (for that feature), then these terms, then the Usage Policy. The Privacy policy, which explains how we handle your data, is part of the agreement too; where it promises you more about your data, it wins. By creating an account or using Owndom, you agree to them.

2. Words we use

These words mean the same thing everywhere: here, in the Usage Policy, the Privacy policy and the app.

Guest: An account whose email address is confirmed but that the owner has not approved yet. A guest can use Messages and their account, and, at 18 or older, chat with their own model.
Member: An account the owner has approved. Members can also keep files; adult members also get the studios and tasks.
Agent: An AI assistant inside Owndom. It answers you and, if you allow it, takes actions.
Action: Something an agent does outside the chat itself: running a command, changing a file, sending a message, controlling a computer you connected. An approval is your OK for an action.
Model: The AI system that writes the replies, for example a Claude, GPT, Gemini, DeepSeek or Qwen model.
Provider: The company that runs a model and receives the chats sent to it, such as Anthropic, OpenAI, Google or Groq.
Your key: An API key you got from a provider and added to Owndom. You stay that provider's customer and pay it; Owndom uses the key only for you: your chats, agents, studios and catch-ups.
Model on your computer: A model running in an app on your own device, such as Ollama or LM Studio. Your browser talks to it directly, and Owndom then saves the chat.
Owndom's own AI: The AI model the owner trains. It is not offered for members' chats.
Input: What you give an agent or model: your messages, files you attach, instructions.
Output: What a model or agent produces for you: replies, code, images, designs, summaries.
Content: Your inputs, outputs, Messages posts, files, designs, images, tasks and settings.
Training copy: A cleaned text copy of a free-plan chat, stored under a random name instead of your account, used to train Owndom's own AI (see Training).
Space: A group chat area in Messages. Everyone in a space sees what is posted there.
Free plan / subscription: Using Owndom without paying, or the paid monthly plan billed through Stripe.
Adult / teen: Adult means 18 or older. Teen means 13 to 17.

3. Accounts and access

13 and older for an account, 18 and older for AI features; one account per person; keep your sign-in safe.

Age

You must be at least 13. Sign-up asks for your month and year of birth; we keep only those two numbers.
AI chat, agents and the studios are for adults (18+). Most AI providers allow only adults, so a teen account, or an account with no age on file, can't send chats to a model or use the studios. Teens can use Messages, friends, their files and their account.
If you are 13 to 17, use Owndom only with a parent's or guardian's permission; they agree to these terms for you and are responsible for your use of Owndom. Teen accounts start with safer settings: the profile shows to friends only, the online status to nobody, and only friends can send direct messages.

Your profile

Give accurate information and a real email address you can receive mail at. One account per person; don't share it or sell it.
After you confirm your email, your account is a guest account until the owner approves it. The owner decides which accounts to approve.
Keep your password, sign-in links and API keys private. You are responsible for what happens under your account; tell us at once if you think someone else has used it.

Where Owndom is offered

Owndom is run from the United States and is open to people elsewhere. If you use it from another country, you are responsible for following the laws that apply to you there. You may not use Owndom if United States law forbids it, for example if you are in a country under a U.S. embargo or on a U.S. government list of people barred from receiving services.

4. Using Owndom

Use Owndom for lawful purposes, within the Usage Policy and its limits.

What you may do. We let you use Owndom for your own purposes, personal or for your work, under these terms. This permission is personal: you can't transfer it.
The Usage Policy. You must follow the Usage Policy, which lists what you may not use Owndom for, the uses that need extra care, and the rules for agents and Messages.
What you may not do. Break the law or anyone's rights; get into accounts, data or parts of Owndom that aren't yours; get around its limits, safety checks or a model's safety features; overload or disrupt it; copy, scrape, decompile or reverse-engineer it (except where the law allows that despite this sentence); resell or share access to it or to the models it reaches; or use Owndom itself to build a competing service. (This doesn't limit what you do with your own outputs.)
Early access. Owndom is in early access. Features change often, some will break, and some may be removed (section 17 says how we handle removals that affect your data or a paid plan). Features marked as a preview or experiment may be less reliable than the rest.
Other services and links. Owndom can connect to other companies' services (AI providers, search engines, websites agents open, Stripe, your own computer's apps). Their own terms apply, and we are not responsible for them.

5. Inputs, outputs and actions

What you put in and get out is yours; outputs can be wrong or similar to others'; you answer for the actions you approve.

Ownership

As between you and us, you own your inputs and, as far as the law allows, your outputs. We give you any rights we have in your outputs. The provider whose model you used may have its own rules about outputs, which you must follow (section 6).

What we may do with your content

You let us store, copy, process and show your content as needed to run Owndom for you: for example, to send a chat to the model you picked, to keep your files, or to show your post to the people in a space. This permission is worldwide and free of charge, and it ends when the content is deleted, except as the Privacy policy describes (backups, logs, and training copies already made).
On the free plan, if you are an adult, you also let us make training copies (section 7).
The owner can open content when needed to keep Owndom working, to deal with abuse or a security problem, or to answer a valid legal request (see the Privacy policy).
Posts you made in a shared space stay in that space if you leave it or delete your account, because they are part of other people's conversations. Email us to have them removed.

Outputs can be wrong or similar to others'

AI outputs can be wrong, incomplete, out of date, biased or offensive, and may not be unique: other people can get similar outputs. Check anything important before you rely on it, and don't present an output as checked fact unless you checked it.
Nothing Owndom or its agents say is legal, medical, financial or other professional advice.

Actions

Agents can take actions you allow. Read what you approve. You are responsible for the actions you allow, for the devices and accounts you connect, and for how you use the results.
Auto mode approves some actions in advance for one chat; use it only when you are comfortable with that. Owndom asks before actions it treats as risky, and it may refuse or stop an action that looks dangerous.

6. AI models, your keys, your computer

You use your own model; the provider's terms and charges apply to what you send it.

Everything AI on Owndom runs on your own model: your key or a model on your computer. That covers chats, agents, Design Studio and Messages catch-ups (catch-ups need a provider that isn't based in China, because other people's posts go with them); Image Studio needs a key from a provider that makes images (OpenAI, xAI, Together, or Cloudflare and NVIDIA, which are free); voice uses your browser's own speech features. Several providers give free keys (Your profile → Plan & models lists them, with their limits and what they do with your data). The owner's own models, hardware and keys are not offered to members.
With your key you are the provider's customer: you accept its terms and pay its charges. Some providers have their own age limits and rules about how their models and outputs may be used; following them is your responsibility. Use a key just for Owndom, with a spending limit, if your provider offers one.
Your key is stored encrypted on Owndom's server and used only for you. It is never lent, shared or used for anyone else. Remove it under Your profile → Plan & models at any time, and revoke it with the provider if you think it leaked.
A model on your computer answers on your computer, unless that app sends your chat to its own online service (some apps, such as Ollama's cloud models, do). Then that company's terms apply.
Your chat never switches to another model on its own. If your model doesn't answer, the chat tells you, unless you switch on Carry on with another of my free keys (Plan & models): then a chat whose free limit runs out continues on a free model on another of your own keys, and the chat says which.

7. Training Owndom's own AI

On the free plan, adults' chats help train Owndom's AI: your words, and replies whose makers allow it. You can share more or less; subscribers and teens share nothing unless an adult chooses to.

If you are on the free plan and 18 or older, you let us copy your chats as training data for Owndom's own AI models: what you write, and the AI's replies only when the company behind that model allows its replies to be used to train other AI (the Privacy policy lists which). This covers only what you write after you first accepted terms dated October 25, 2026 (any version), and only while the chat is kept. This permission is part of the free plan; to keep your chats out of training, subscribe, or, if you live in the EEA, the UK or Switzerland, switch it off without paying.

Choosing to share more. Under Your profile → Plan & models → Help improve Owndom, any adult (subscribers too) can choose to share their chats, and can choose to share everything, every reply included. You can also send one chat to the owner on purpose (the send button under a reply, or /share): the owner gets a readable copy and the whole chat goes into the training data. Some AI companies, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and xAI, don't allow their replies to be used to train other AI. Owndom's standard copies never include those replies. If you choose to share them, you are choosing that yourself, after being told; whether it fits your agreement with that company is between you and that company.

We never use chats from teens or from accounts with no age on file, and never a subscriber's chats unless they chose to share.

8. Feedback

Ideas you send us can be used to improve Owndom, with no payment or obligation.

If you send us suggestions, bug reports or other feedback, we may use them to improve Owndom without paying you or owing you anything. Feedback doesn't give us any rights in your content beyond what these terms already say.

9. Content moderation and reports

We may check and remove content that breaks the rules; you can report problems and appeal our decisions.

Automatic checks may screen content (for example image requests) to enforce the Usage Policy, and the owner may review content that is reported or flagged.
To report a post, a person, a space or an output, email [email protected] with a link or a screenshot.
Depending on how serious it is, we may warn the person, remove the content, suspend the account for a time, or close it. Serious harm (such as threats or child sexual abuse material) leads straight to closing the account and, where required, a report to the authorities, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
If we act on your content or account, we tell you why, unless the law forbids it or telling you would put someone at risk. You can ask us to look again by replying to our email within 30 days; we answer within 14 days.
Space owners can remove posts and people from their own spaces.

10. Plans, fees and payment

Free, or a monthly subscription you can cancel any time under Your profile.

Free plan

Chats you start after accepting these terms are deleted 30 days after you last use them (older chats: 183 days); files after 183 days without use. "Use" means sending a message in that chat. Adults' free-plan chats are used for training as described above.

Subscription

Price. Before you enter any payment details, Owndom shows the total monthly price, including any tax or fee you must pay, and asks you to confirm that the plan renews every month. Stripe takes the payment; your card details never reach us.
It renews every month until you cancel. Each month Stripe charges the same price on the same day of the month you subscribed (or the last day of a shorter month), and sends you a receipt with the amount and how to manage or cancel.
Cancel any time under Your profile → Plan & models → Manage subscription. Cancelling stops all future charges at once. You keep the subscription to the end of the month you already paid for; then your account moves to the free plan, and your chats follow the free plan's rules from that day, each with at least 30 days. Nothing you wrote while subscribed is used for training unless you chose to share it. Deleting your account cancels the subscription at once.
Failed payments. If a payment fails, Stripe tries again and we tell you. If it still fails, your account moves to the free plan; nothing is charged after that.
Refunds. Payments for a month that has started are not refunded, except where the law requires it, if we charged you by mistake, or if we end your subscription or stop its features for any reason other than you breaking these terms. Then we refund the unused part of the month within 14 days.
EU and UK. If you live in the EU or the UK, you can cancel a new subscription within 14 days of starting it and get a refund for the days you didn't use.
Price changes. We tell you at least 30 days before by email and in the app. A new price applies only from a renewal after that notice, never in the middle of a month you paid for, and you can cancel before it applies.
Your provider's charges are separate. What a provider charges for your key is between you and that provider.

You subscribed on March 10. You are charged on April 10, May 10 and so on. To avoid the May 10 charge, cancel by the end of May 9; you keep the subscription until May 10, then move to the free plan.

11. Terms for specific features

A few features carry extra rules of their own.

The AI receptionist (for businesses)

Owndom handles calls on the business's behalf, using a phone carrier to connect them and the owner's own language and speech models to answer. The caller information belongs to the business, which can change how long it is kept within the limits in the Privacy policy (90 days unless it changes it; callers' contact details at most 12 months).
At the start of every call, before anything is recorded or transcribed, the receptionist says it is an AI and that the call is transcribed. Don't change, shorten or hide that notice.
The business is responsible for the laws on its calls. Massachusetts, for example, requires every party's permission before a call is recorded; the notice helps, but making sure calls meet the law is the business's job.
The receptionist can misunderstand callers or give wrong answers. Check important details with the caller.

Connected computers and phones

Connect only computers and phones you own or are allowed to control. Screen and mouse control works only while you allow it on that computer, and you can stop it there at any time.
A phone never runs commands for Owndom. Agents can send it notifications and links and ask it, with your tap, for its location or a photo.

Design Studio library

A design you share to the library may be viewed and used as a starting point by other members. You can remove it from the library at any time; copies other members already made stay with them. Share only designs you have the right to share.

Developer API keys

If you create an Owndom API key, keep it secret, use it only within the scopes it was given, and don't use it to resell access to Owndom or to the models it reaches. Keys are subject to rate limits, and we may revoke a key that is misused.

Contributions

Contributions on the Support page are voluntary gifts toward Owndom's hardware. A monthly contribution repeats on the same day each month until you stop it with the link in your Stripe receipt or by emailing [email protected]; stopping takes effect before the next charge. They are not purchases, investments, loans or shares, and they don't buy a product, a service or a vote. Owndom is not a charity, so they are not tax-deductible. They are not refundable, except where the law requires it or if we made a mistake processing your payment.

12. Owndom's software and names

Owndom itself stays ours; you get to use it, not own it.

Owndom's software, design and content (other than your content) belong to the owner or its licensors. These terms don't give you any rights in them beyond using Owndom as described here.
The desktop app is licensed to you for your own use on your own computers. It updates itself, choosing a quiet moment; an update can change or remove features. Parts of Owndom are open-source software, used under their own licenses, which those licenses' terms govern.
Don't use the Owndom name or logo in a way that suggests we made, endorse or are connected with something we aren't, without our written permission.

13. Copyright complaints

Think something here infringes your copyright? Email us and we'll act on it.

Send a notice to [email protected] naming the work, where it appears on Owndom, your contact details, a statement that you believe in good faith the use is not authorized, a statement that your notice is accurate, and your signature. If we remove content because of a notice, we tell the person who posted it, who may send a counter notice. We close the accounts of people who repeatedly infringe.

14. Disclaimers

Owndom is offered as it is, without promises it will always work or always be right.

Owndom, including all outputs, is provided as it is and as available. As far as the law allows, we make no warranties, express or implied, including that Owndom will be uninterrupted, secure or error-free, that outputs will be accurate, or that it fits a particular purpose. Where the law allows, we disclaim implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. Massachusetts law, and the law of many other places, doesn't allow those warranties to be excluded for consumers; if you use Owndom as a consumer, they apply to you as that law provides. Keep your own copies of anything important.

15. Limits on liability

If something goes wrong, what we owe is limited, but rights the law won't let us limit stay.

As far as the law allows, we are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for lost data, profits or business, caused by your use of Owndom, even if we were told they could happen. Our total liability for all claims together is limited to the greater of what you paid us in the 12 months before the claim, or $100.

Your rights stay. Nothing in these terms limits liability that the law doesn't allow to be limited (such as for fraud or for death or injury caused by negligence), or rights you have under consumer-protection laws that can't be waived, including Massachusetts General Laws chapter 93A.

16. Your responsibility to us

If your content or use breaks the rules and someone claims against us, you cover the reasonable costs.

If you use Owndom for a business (for example the receptionist) and your content, or your use of Owndom in breach of these terms or the law, leads someone to make a claim against us, you agree to cover the reasonable costs of that claim, including reasonable legal fees. We will tell you about the claim promptly and let you help defend it. This doesn't apply to claims caused by our own fault, or where the law doesn't allow it.

17. Suspending and ending

Leave any time; we warn before we act unless it's serious; if we shut something down, you get notice and your data.

You can stop using Owndom at any time and delete your account yourself under Your profile → Your data, or by asking us.
We may suspend or close an account that breaks these terms or the Usage Policy, puts other people or Owndom at risk, or when the law requires it. Unless the problem is serious or urgent, we warn you first, tell you why, and give you a chance to fix it.
Before we shut down Owndom or a feature that holds your data, we give at least 30 days' notice and a way to download your data, unless the law or a security emergency requires faster action. If it affects a subscription, we refund the unused part of the month.
When an account ends, what has to survive does: sections 5 and 7 (as to content and training copies already used), 8, 10 (amounts and refunds owed), 11 (contributions and the receptionist's caller records), 12 to 16, 18 and 19.

18. Disputes and the law

Talk to us first; then Massachusetts courts. No arbitration, no class-action waiver.

If you have a problem, email us first. We will try to resolve it within 30 days.
These terms are governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, USA, without regard to its rules on conflicts of law.
Disputes go to the state courts for Worcester County, Massachusetts, or the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. You can always use a small-claims court instead. If you live outside the United States, you may also have the right to bring a claim, and to rely on the consumer laws, where you live.
There is no arbitration clause and no class-action waiver in these terms.

19. General terms

The usual rules that make an agreement work.

Whole agreement. These terms, the Usage Policy, the feature terms and the Privacy policy are the whole agreement between you and us about Owndom.
Transfer. We may transfer this agreement to the planned Massachusetts company or to a successor that takes over Owndom, with the same promises about your data, and we will tell you first. You may not transfer it without our written consent.
Messages to you. You agree to receive notices from us by email to your account address and in the app. Notices to us go to [email protected].
Not waiving. If we don't enforce a part of these terms at once, we can still enforce it later.
If a part fails. If one part of these terms can't be enforced, it is changed as little as needed, and the rest still applies.
Events outside our control. We aren't responsible for delays or failures caused by things we can't reasonably control, such as power or network outages, a provider going down, or natural disasters.
Export rules. You must follow U.S. export and sanctions laws when you use Owndom.
No one else. Nobody else gets rights under these terms. Using Owndom doesn't make you our employee, partner or agent.
Language. These terms are written in English; a translation is only for convenience.

20. Changes to these terms

Changes that are worse for you get 30 days' notice and your acceptance in the app.

When a change is worse for you, we tell you at least 30 days before it takes effect, by email and in the app, unless the law, a provider's rule or a security problem requires it sooner. When the change matters, the app asks you to accept the new terms before you go on; you can download your data and delete your account instead.
A new use of your data applies only to what you add after you accept it.
Each version shows its effective and last-updated dates, and we keep a list of what changed.

What changed

October 25, 2026 (same version, better for you): standard training copies now keep only replies whose makers allow training; adults can choose to share more (Help improve Owndom) or send one chat on purpose, and subscribers can choose to share.
Version 2026-10-25.3: mainly a reorganization, with the sections people expect from an AI service's terms. Anything in it that is stricter than version .2 (the Usage Policy's sections on high-risk uses, agents and automation, and minors) applies from November 24, 2026, 30 days after this notice. New sections on inputs, outputs and actions (you own them), feedback, content moderation and reports, software and the desktop app, other services and links, terms for specific features (receptionist, connected devices, design library, API keys), Owndom's names, failed payments, and general terms (transfer, notices, export rules); the rules on what you may not do moved to the new Usage Policy. Members' studios and Messages catch-ups now run on their own keys, like their chats.
Version 2026-10-25.2: AI chat, agents and the studios became 18+; the training section matched the Privacy policy; added definitions, appeals, copyright complaints, refunds when we end a subscription, 30 days' notice of price changes and worse changes, a $100 minimum liability cap, the courts for disputes, and no arbitration.

21. Contact

Questions about these terms, reports, appeals and copyright notices: [email protected].