OpenVerbatim

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Terms of Service

These terms explain who is responsible for what when you use OpenVerbatim, both as open-source software you run yourself and as a hosted service we operate.

Last updated: 2026-07-09

Operating entity

The hosted OpenVerbatim service is operated by WordLimit AI LLC("we", "us", "our"), a limited liability company registered in Colorado, USA.

1. Overview and acceptance

OpenVerbatim is a qualitative research platform for coding and analyzing interview transcripts. It is available in two distinct forms, and these terms treat them separately because the responsibilities are different:

  • Self-hosted software — the open-source release, licensed under Apache-2.0, that you download and run on your own infrastructure.
  • Hosted service — the managed version we operate, where you create an account and we run the software and process data on your behalf.

By using the hosted service, you agree to these terms and to ourPrivacy Policy. If you only use the self-hosted software, your use of the software is governed by its open-source license, and Sections 5 through 12 of these terms (which concern the hosted service) do not apply to you.

2. Definitions

  • Self-Hosted Software — the OpenVerbatim source code and releases made available under the Apache-2.0 license.
  • Hosted Service — the managed OpenVerbatim service operated by WordLimit AI LLC.
  • Research Data — the material you bring into a project, including audio recordings, transcripts, codes, and analysis.
  • Participant — a person who is the subject of an interview or recording contained in your Research Data.
  • Audio-hour — one hour of audio duration imported into the Hosted Service, the unit by which managed usage is measured.

3. The two forms of OpenVerbatim

The boundary between the two forms is the core of these terms:

  • With the Self-Hosted Software, your data stays with you. The software runs on infrastructure you control. We do not receive, store, or process your Research Data, and we have no access to it. You are responsible for the operation, security, backups, updates, and legal compliance of your own instance.
  • With the Hosted Service, we process data on your behalf. Your Research Data is stored and processed on infrastructure we operate, solely to provide the service to you, as described in thePrivacy Policy.

4. Self-hosted software (Apache-2.0)

The Self-Hosted Software is licensed to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0. That license governs your rights to use, modify, and distribute the software, and it includes its own warranty disclaimer. The full feature set is available in the self-hosted form, and there is no paid feature wall.

The Self-Hosted Software is provided "as is", without warranty of any kind, to the extent permitted by the Apache-2.0 license and applicable law. You can inspect the source code and verify its behavior in thepublic repository.

5. Hosted service accounts

To use the Hosted Service you create an account. You are responsible for the accuracy of your account information, for keeping your credentials secure, and for activity that occurs under your account. You must be old enough to enter into a binding contract in your jurisdiction to use the Hosted Service.

6. Fees, billing, and metering

The Hosted Service is offered on a subscription basis together with metered usage. Managed usage is measured in audio-hours — the duration of audio you import for processing. Plans include an allotment of audio-hours; usage beyond the allotment is billed as overage at the rate shown on our pricing page. Current plans, prices, and overage rates are described on our pricing page and may change over time.

There is no paid feature wall: the difference between plans is managed capacity and usage, not access to core functionality. The Self-Hosted Software remains free and complete. Fees are stated exclusive of taxes unless noted otherwise.

7. Your research data and participant responsibilities

You retain all rights to your Research Data. We do not claim ownership of it, and on the Hosted Service we use it only to provide the service to you.

You are responsible for the ethical and legal basis of your research. This includes obtaining informed consent from participants, complying with the requirements of any institutional review board (IRB), ethics committee, or equivalent oversight body, and meeting any applicable data protection obligations. OpenVerbatim provides tools that help you manage consent, de-identification, and sharing, but it does not make ethical judgments for you and does not verify that you have obtained the necessary approvals.

Where the product lets you publish material on your own responsibility — for example, choosing to share an excerpt as-is after confirming you have consent to do so — you, not OpenVerbatim, are responsible for that decision. Such confirmations are recorded so there is a record of who approved what and when.

8. Sharing

Sharing on OpenVerbatim is opt-in and item-by-item. Full transcripts and original audio are never placed on a public sharing surface. Only the specific excerpts you explicitly review and approve, one at a time, can appear in a shared view. A shared link can be revoked at any time, after which it stops working for visitors.

9. Acceptable use

You agree not to use the Hosted Service to break the law, to infringe others' rights, to upload material you have no right to process, to attempt to gain unauthorized access to the service or its infrastructure, or to disrupt the service for others. We may suspend accounts that put the service or other users at risk.

10. Intellectual property

The Self-Hosted Software is licensed under Apache-2.0 as described above. The OpenVerbatim name and brand remain ours. Your Research Data and analysis remain yours.

11. Disclaimers and limitation of liability

The Hosted Service is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. To the maximum extent permitted by law, we disclaim implied warranties, and our aggregate liability for claims arising out of or relating to the Hosted Service is limited to the amounts you paid us for the service in the twelve months preceding the claim. Nothing in these terms excludes liability that cannot be excluded under applicable law.

AI-assisted coding suggestions are proposals, not conclusions. They remain marked as suggestions until a human reviewer confirms or rejects them, and you are responsible for the analytic decisions you make. OpenVerbatim does not warrant that AI suggestions are accurate or complete.

12. Termination

You may stop using the Hosted Service and close your account at any time. We may suspend or terminate access for breach of these terms or where required by law. On termination, data deletion follows the retention and deletion practices described in the Privacy Policy.

13. Governing law and disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Colorado, USA, without regard to its conflict-of-law rules. Disputes arising out of these terms will be resolved in the state or federal courts located in Colorado, unless applicable law gives you the right to bring a claim elsewhere.

14. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. When we make material changes to the Hosted Service terms, we will take reasonable steps to notify account holders. Continued use after changes take effect means you accept the updated terms.

15. Contact

Questions about these terms can be sent tolegal@openverbatim.com.