Aito Software License

TL;DR — plain English

Free for:

• Personal use, hobby projects, anything non-commercial
• Software development, testing, CI
• 90-day evaluation
• Education and academic research
• Open-source projects (no commercial use)
• Companies with fewer than 250 employees AND less than $10M annual revenue

Licensed for everyone else, including:

• Companies above either threshold
• Government use
• Anything that serves your paying customers or generates revenue

To get a Production License, email sales@aito.ai or start the process at console.aito.ai.

What we collect

Every Aito Docker instance phones home with:

• A random instance ID
• Version, row count, table count
• Your IP address
• Java/OS version

We do not collect: row contents, query text, schemas, table data. Telemetry is the mechanism by which we identify production use of unlicensed Software. See §5 below and the privacy policy for full details.

You may not disable telemetry — that's a material breach.

FAQ

My company has 1000 employees but our CI runs Aito to test our app — do we need a license?

No. CI is permitted under Section 2(b) regardless of company size.

We're a 200-person startup using Aito in production. Free?

Yes, if your revenue is under $10M. Both thresholds in Section 2(f) must be met.

Can I run it for a side project that earns me €50/month?

Yes, personal use is allowed.

What about an internal tool at my 500-person company?

That's production use at a company above the threshold — licensed.

What happens if I block your telemetry endpoint?

You're in breach of the license (Section 4(b)). If you later need support, the missing telemetry is evidence in any commercial dispute.

Why these specific thresholds?

They're Docker Desktop's exact thresholds. We chose them because they're the most-tested numbers for this commercial model. If you've used Docker Desktop at work, you already understand them.

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Full legal text

The bundled /EULA.txt file inside every image is the authoritative copy. Reproduced below for convenience.

AITO FREE-TIER LICENSE AGREEMENT
Version 1.0 — Effective 2026-05-24

This agreement ("Agreement") is between you ("Licensee") and Episto Oy
(Business ID FI34337429), Putouskuja 6 a 2, 01600 Vantaa, Finland,
operating under the trade name "Aito" ("Aito"), and governs use of
the Aito predictive database container image and obfuscated Java
archive distributed at ghcr.io/aitohq/aito and public.ecr.aws/aitoai/aito
("Software"). By downloading, running, or otherwise using the Software,
Licensee agrees to be bound by this Agreement.

This Agreement governs the self-hosted Software only. Aito's cloud
service at console.aito.ai and similar endpoints is governed by the
separate Aito Terms of Service at https://aito.ai/terms-of-service/.

1. DEFINITIONS

   "Software" means the container image and any JAR, scripts,
   documentation, or related materials Aito distributes under the
   names "ghcr.io/aitohq/aito" or "public.ecr.aws/aitoai/aito".

   "Production License" means a paid subscription license obtained
   from Aito at https://console.aito.ai.

   "Government Entity" means any national, state, provincial,
   regional, county, city, or other governmental body or agency, or
   any contractor primarily working on behalf of such a body.

2. FREE-TIER USE (NO PAYMENT REQUIRED)

   The use of the Software without a Production License is permitted
   for:

   (a) personal use, including hobby projects with no commercial purpose;

   (b) software development, testing, debugging, and continuous
       integration that does not directly serve paying customers or
       end-users;

   (c) up to ninety (90) days of evaluation for the purpose of
       deciding whether to acquire a Production License;

   (d) members of an educational organization enrolled in a classroom
       learning environment for academic or research in not-for-profit
       projects;

   (e) non-commercial open source projects; and

   (f) use in a commercial undertaking with fewer than 250 employees
       and less than US $10,000,000 (or equivalent local currency) in
       annual revenue.

   Government Entities shall not use the Software without a Production
   License.

3. PRODUCTION LICENSE REQUIRED

   All use of the Software not permitted under Section 2 requires a
   Production License. This includes, without limitation:

   (a) deployment to systems that serve end-users, customers, or
       employees of Licensee's business;

   (b) deployment to systems that participate in a revenue-generating
       workflow;

   (c) any use by a commercial undertaking that does not meet the
       Section 2(f) thresholds; and

   (d) any use by a Government Entity.

   To acquire a Production License, visit https://console.aito.ai
   or contact sales@aito.ai.

4. RESTRICTIONS

   Licensee shall not:

   (a) use the Software in a manner that exceeds the permissions
       granted by Section 2 without a Production License;

   (b) move, change, disable, or circumvent the row-limit
       enforcement, license-validation, telemetry, or any other
       technical measure in the Software, by any means including but
       not limited to overriding the container entrypoint, modifying
       environment variables that the Software reads, running the
       embedded JAR directly, reverse-engineering the obfuscated
       bytecode, or modifying the Software;

   (c) alter, remove, or obscure any licensing, copyright, or other
       notices of the licensor in the Software;

   (d) sublicense, sell, rent, lease, or otherwise transfer the
       Software to a third party except as part of a Production
       License agreement with Aito.

5. TELEMETRY

   5.1 The Software transmits operational metadata to Aito on
       startup and periodically thereafter ("Telemetry"), in the
       following categories:

       (a) Software identification — for example: a randomly
           generated installation identifier (UUID), Software
           version, image digest, build hash.

       (b) License status — for example: whether an
           AITO_LICENSE_KEY is configured, whether the key
           validates successfully.

       (c) Aggregate usage — for example: total row counts,
           table counts, query counts, request rates. Aggregate
           figures only; not individual rows, queries, or
           identifiers contained in Licensee's data.

       (d) Host environment — for example: Java runtime version,
           operating system name, CPU count, total memory, disk
           size, container runtime, orchestrator hints, process
           uptime.

       (e) Connectivity — for example: the originating IP address
           of the Software as observed by Aito's servers, and
           geographic / network metadata derived therefrom.

   5.2 The specific fields currently transmitted in each category
       are published at https://aito.ai/privacy-policy/. Aito may
       add or remove fields within these categories from time to
       time; material changes will be reflected in that document
       and, if they alter the categories themselves, in a new
       version of this Agreement.

   5.3 Telemetry is processed for the following legitimate
       business interests of Aito within the meaning of GDPR
       Article 6(1)(f):
       (a) license enforcement and pricing determination,
           including verifying that the instance shape (size,
           capacity, usage volume) matches any acquired Production
           License tier;
       (b) detection of Production Use of unlicensed Software;
       (c) contact regarding licensing or support opportunities;
       (d) improvement of the Software.

   5.4 Aito does NOT collect through Telemetry, under any
       category: the contents of rows or columns; query text or
       parameters; schema names; user-provided table or column
       names; usernames; API keys; or any data stored by Licensee
       in the Software.

   5.5 Telemetry data is retained for thirteen (13) months from
       collection. Licensee may request deletion of records
       associated with a particular IP address or instance UUID by
       emailing privacy@aito.ai (alias to support@aito.ai).

   5.6 Licensee may not disable, intercept, or modify Telemetry
       collection (see Section 4(b)).

6. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

   The Software is licensed, not sold. Aito retains all right, title,
   and interest in and to the Software, including all intellectual
   property rights therein. Third-party open-source components
   incorporated in the Software are licensed under their respective
   terms; see the NOTICE file bundled in the Software.

7. NO WARRANTY

   THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
   EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE WARRANTIES OF
   MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND
   NON-INFRINGEMENT.

8. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

   TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT
   SHALL AITO BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL,
   CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS OR
   REVENUE, ARISING FROM OR IN CONNECTION WITH USE OF THE SOFTWARE.
   AITO'S AGGREGATE TOTAL LIABILITY UNDER THIS AGREEMENT SHALL NOT
   EXCEED THE AMOUNT PAID BY LICENSEE TO AITO UNDER THIS AGREEMENT
   DURING THE LAST SIX (6) MONTHS, AND, FOR FREE-TIER USE WHERE NO
   AMOUNT HAS BEEN PAID, SHALL BE LIMITED TO ONE HUNDRED EUROS
   (EUR 100). NOTHING IN THIS AGREEMENT LIMITS LIABILITY FOR
   (i) DEATH OR PERSONAL INJURY CAUSED BY NEGLIGENCE; (ii) FRAUD OR
   FRAUDULENT MISREPRESENTATION; OR (iii) ANY OTHER LIABILITY WHICH
   CANNOT BE LAWFULLY EXCLUDED.

9. TERMINATION

   This Agreement is effective until terminated. It terminates
   automatically and without notice upon any breach by Licensee of
   Sections 2, 3, 4, or 5. Upon termination, Licensee shall cease all
   use of the Software. Sections 4, 6, 7, 8, and 10 survive
   termination.

10. GOVERNING LAW AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION

    This Agreement is governed exclusively by the laws of Finland
    without reference to its choice of law rules. Any dispute,
    controversy, or claim arising out of or relating to this
    Agreement, or the breach, termination, or validity thereof, shall
    be finally settled by arbitration in accordance with the Rules
    for Expedited Arbitration of the Finnish Central Chamber of
    Commerce. The seat of arbitration shall be Helsinki, Finland, and
    the language of arbitration shall be English. Notwithstanding the
    foregoing, either party may pursue claims for outstanding
    receivables in the courts of the other party's domicile. This
    Section is subject to any mandatory consumer-protection rules in
    Licensee's country of residence that cannot be waived by
    agreement.

11. ENTIRE AGREEMENT

    This Agreement is the entire agreement between the parties
    regarding the Software and supersedes all prior agreements,
    communications, and representations regarding it.

Commercial licensing: sales@aito.ai (or support@aito.ai)
General contact:       support@aito.ai
Privacy requests:      privacy@aito.ai (alias to support@aito.ai)

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Questions: support@aito.ai