Terms of Service

The short version

Tolstoy Compose is a local-first writing app for long documents. It helps you keep drafts, notes, sources, comments, versions and exports together.

Your documents are yours. Compose does not automatically upload your documents to us just because you write in the app. That also means you are responsible for saving, exporting and backing up important work.

Paid plans are annual. We do not offer a free trial at launch. If you cancel, you keep paid access until the end of the billing period. If you upgrade, Stripe may prorate the change. We offer a 30-day refund window for first purchases, subject to these Terms and your legal rights.

Compose is a writing tool. It does not replace your judgement, your professional responsibilities, or your duty to check final work before submission, publication or client delivery.

1. Agreement

These Terms govern your use of the Tolstoy Compose website, app and related services.

Tolstoy Compose is operated by Bhavesh Prabhakar, trading as Tolstoy Compose. We are based in the United Kingdom and currently operate as a sole trader business, not as a limited company.

By using Compose, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the service.

2. Who may use Compose

Compose is not intended for children under 13.

If you are 13 to 17, you may use Compose only with permission from a parent or guardian, or through an organisation that is responsible for your use.

Compose may be used by individuals, students, education users, freelancers, businesses and organisations. If you use Compose for work, a Team, school, university, business or other organisation, you confirm that you have authority to do so.

3. What Compose is

Compose is a browser-based writing app for long documents. It may include tools for:

• writing and editing;
• Shelf notes;
• sources and citations;
• review comments and suggestions;
• version history;
• recovery;
• import and export;
• appearance and language settings;
• accounts, paid plans and Teams.

Compose is not a cloud document custody service unless a future feature clearly says otherwise.

Compose does not include AI writing, rewriting, summarising, citation-generation or document-analysis features at launch.

4. Local-first documents and backups

Compose is designed so your documents can stay with you.

Your drafts, notes, sources, review comments, versions and recovery data may be stored in your browser or in files you save or open yourself.

You may choose to save .compose, DOCX, PDF or other files into your own cloud-synced folder through your operating system, file picker or cloud storage provider. That is your own storage choice. It is not Tolstoy Compose cloud document storage.

You are responsible for saving, exporting and backing up important work.

Local-only work may be lost if you:

• clear browser storage;
• use private browsing;
• change browser profiles;
• uninstall the app;
• reset, lose or damage your device;
• rely on browser settings that delete site data;
• use storage-cleaning or security tools;
• exceed storage limits or encounter browser/device failure.

We may not be able to recover local-only documents, drafts, notes, sources, comments, versions or recovery data if they were never saved, exported or otherwise available outside the affected browser or device.

Browser storage, version history, recovery entries, installed-app behaviour and service worker cache are not a substitute for your own backups.

5. Your content

You keep ownership of the content you create, import, write, save or export using Compose.

You are responsible for your content, including its accuracy, legality, confidentiality, permissions, citations, sources and suitability for its intended use.

You must not use Compose to create, store, import, export or share content that unlawfully infringes someone else’s rights or violates applicable law.

We do not claim ownership of your documents.

If you choose to send us content for support, you give us permission to use that content only as needed to understand and respond to the support request, unless another lawful reason applies. Please do not send document content unless it is needed to solve the support issue.

We do not use customer documents to train AI models.

6. Accounts

Some features may require an account.

You are responsible for keeping your account access secure and for all activity under your account. You must provide accurate account information and keep your email address current.

Accounts are provided through our authentication provider. Sign-in methods may include secure email links, one-time passwords or other supported authentication flows.

The app may store session information in your browser so you can stay signed in. If you clear browser storage or use private browsing, you may need to sign in again.

You may request account deletion by emailing hello@createdbybhavesh.com. We may keep records where needed for legal, tax, accounting, billing, security, fraud-prevention or dispute reasons.

7. Free, Pro and Teams plans

Compose may offer Free, Pro and Teams plans.

Free features are available without payment, subject to current product limits and available functionality.

Pro gives an individual account access to paid features available under that plan.

Teams gives a Team owner or authorised Team manager paid seats and account-level team administration features. Teams does not automatically make your documents cloud-shared with us or with other Team members.

We may change plan names, feature packaging, limits or pricing over time. If a change materially affects an active paid subscription, we will take reasonable steps to tell affected users.

8. Billing, cancellation and refunds

Paid subscriptions are annual at launch and are handled through Stripe.

Stripe is responsible for checkout, payment processing, payment methods, invoices, subscription status, failed payment handling, billing portal, tax calculation where configured, prorations where applicable, and other billing operations.

Your paid access depends on successful payment and server-side account records that confirm your plan. A Stripe success screen, email, browser message or local UI state is not by itself proof of paid access.

Unless stated otherwise at checkout:

• paid subscriptions renew automatically each year until cancelled;
• there is no free trial at launch;
• prices are shown before purchase;
• taxes may apply depending on your location and billing details;
• Stripe handles tax calculation where configured;
• failed payments may result in loss, suspension or downgrade of paid access;
• billing changes after purchase should be made through Stripe Customer Portal or another route we provide.

If you cancel a paid subscription, your paid access continues until the end of the current billing period. Cancellation stops the next renewal unless the billing flow tells you otherwise.

If you upgrade during a billing period, the change may be prorated through Stripe.

If prices change, the existing price applies until the end of the current billing period. Future renewal prices may change, and we will take reasonable steps to tell affected paid users before renewal where required or appropriate.

Refunds

We offer a 30-day refund window for first purchases.

To request a refund, contact hello@createdbybhavesh.com within 30 days of the first purchase and include the account email used for the purchase.

Refunds may be refused or limited where we reasonably believe the request is abusive, fraudulent, repeatedly made, connected to misuse, or outside the stated refund window, unless the law requires otherwise.

Renewals, upgrades and repeat purchases are not automatically refundable unless required by law or agreed by us.

Nothing in these Terms affects any statutory consumer rights you may have.

9. Teams

A Team owner is responsible for the Team subscription, seat quantity, billing, membership and authorised use.

By creating, buying or managing a Team, you confirm that you have authority to buy seats, manage billing and administer access for the relevant organisation or group.

Team access is based on the paid subscription and server-side records. If the subscription is unpaid, cancelled, over-seat or otherwise invalid, Team access may be limited.

Team owners and authorised managers are responsible for:

• adding and removing members;
• keeping seat quantities accurate;
• making sure members are allowed to use the Team;
• managing billing through Stripe Customer Portal;
• ensuring Team use complies with these Terms.

Team setup or welcome emails help members access the Team. They do not create paid access by themselves.

Teams is an account and billing feature. It is not a promise of shared document storage, real-time collaboration, a Data Processing Agreement, or central document recovery unless a future feature clearly says so.

We do not offer a standard Data Processing Agreement at launch unless separately agreed in writing.

10. Import, export and final checks

Compose supports import and export features such as .compose, Markdown, HTML, plain text, DOCX and browser print/PDF flows, depending on the current product version and plan.

Import and export features are provided to help you work with your documents. You are responsible for checking exported files before submission, publication, client delivery, professional use or filing.

You should check:

• formatting;
• citations and references;
• tables, images and captions;
• review comments and tracked material;
• file compatibility;
• page layout and print/PDF output;
• whether the final document meets your intended requirements.

We do not guarantee that any imported or exported file will be perfect, accepted by a third party, compatible with every app, or suitable for every submission system.

11. Citations, sources and review tools

Compose may help you collect sources, format citations, keep notes, review claims, save versions and prepare a document for delivery.

These tools support your work. They do not replace your judgement.

You are responsible for verifying source accuracy, citation style, legal permissions, academic integrity, confidentiality, factual claims, document quality and final suitability.

12. Acceptable use

You must not use Compose to:

• break the law;
• infringe intellectual property, privacy, confidentiality or publicity rights;
• harass, threaten, exploit, abuse or harm others;
• create, store, import, export or send unlawful, harmful or exploitative content;
• send malware or attack the service;
• attempt to bypass paid access controls;
• scrape, overload, reverse engineer or misuse the service except where allowed by law;
• interfere with other users, providers or infrastructure;
• upload or send us content you do not have permission to share.

13. Our intellectual property

Compose, the website, app design, code, brand, logos, text, product names, documentation and other materials belong to us or our licensors.

You may use Compose only as allowed by these Terms. We do not give you ownership of the app, website, code, brand or service materials.

Open-source or third-party components may be subject to their own licences and notices.

14. Third-party services

Compose uses third-party providers for parts of the service, such as hosting, account authentication, payment processing, email delivery and vendor libraries.

These providers may have their own terms, policies and availability limits. We are not responsible for third-party services beyond what applicable law requires.

15. Availability and changes

We aim to provide a reliable service, but Compose may be unavailable, interrupted or changed from time to time.

We may change, suspend, remove or limit features where needed for security, maintenance, legal compliance, provider changes, product development, misuse prevention or commercial reasons.

Because Compose is browser-based and local-first, some features depend on your browser, device, operating system, storage settings, network connection and provider availability.

16. No professional advice

Compose is a writing tool. It does not provide legal, financial, medical, academic integrity, tax, compliance, regulatory, publication or professional advice.

You are responsible for reviewing your work and getting professional advice where appropriate.

17. Disclaimers

Compose is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis, except where the law says otherwise.

We do not guarantee that Compose will be uninterrupted, error-free, secure, compatible with every browser or device, recover every document, preserve every local change, produce perfect exports, or meet every professional, academic, legal, submission or client requirement.

18. Liability limits

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability where the law does not allow it, including liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud, fraudulent misrepresentation, or statutory rights that cannot be excluded.

To the fullest extent allowed by law, we are not liable for:

• loss of local-only documents or data that you did not save, export or back up;
• loss caused by clearing browser storage, private browsing, browser settings, device loss or device failure;
• lost profits, revenue, business, goodwill or opportunity;
• indirect, consequential or special loss;
• third-party service failures;
• user content, citations, sources, claims, review decisions or final document suitability;
• failure of a document to be accepted by a client, institution, publisher, court, regulator or submission system.

If you are a consumer, nothing in these Terms affects rights that cannot be excluded under consumer law.

19. Ending access

You may stop using Compose at any time. You should save or export any important documents before deleting local data, closing an account, cancelling a plan, changing browsers or uninstalling the app.

We may suspend or end access if you breach these Terms, fail to pay, misuse the service, create risk for us or others, or if we need to do so for legal, security, provider or operational reasons.

Ending access does not transfer ownership of your content to us. Local files and local browser data remain subject to your device, browser and backup choices.

20. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms as the service, providers, legal requirements or commercial model changes.

If changes materially affect active paid users, we will take reasonable steps to tell affected users. Continuing to use Compose after the updated Terms take effect means you accept the updated Terms.

21. Governing law and courts

These Terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales, unless applicable consumer law requires otherwise.

The courts of England and Wales will have jurisdiction, unless applicable consumer law gives you the right to bring a claim somewhere else.

22. Contact

For questions about these Terms, contact:

Bhavesh Prabhakar trading as Tolstoy Compose
Email: hello@createdbybhavesh.com