Dear MachineLicence & terms
Last updated: October 7, 2026
1. Data Privacy & Architecture Boundaries
A. Local Models & On-Device Processing (Default)
- When using local speech-to-text or local language models, all audio processing, transcription, and inference execute entirely on your local machine.
- No audio recordings, transcripts, prompts, or generated outputs are transmitted to, stored on, or inspected by Dear Machine servers or third parties.
- Local execution requires no internet connection after models are downloaded to your device.
B. Cloud Services & BYOK (Bring Your Own Key)
- If you explicitly select cloud transcription or configure third-party LLM providers (such as OpenAI, Anthropic, or OpenRouter via your own API keys), your audio or text prompts are transmitted directly over encrypted HTTPS connections to those third-party providers.
- Your use of cloud services is subject directly to the privacy policies, terms of service, and data retention rules of the respective API providers. Dear Machine does not proxy, log, or sell your API traffic or content.
- The Dear Machine license fee does not include third-party API or token charges. You pay the selected provider directly under its pricing and billing terms.
2. Licensing & Commercial Terms
- License Grant: A paid Dear Machine license grants you a perpetual, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to use the application on up to two (2) Macs owned or controlled by you.
- Trial Period: Dear Machine provides a fully functional 7-day trial. Following trial expiration, continued use of core voice processing requires a valid license key.
All Sales Final (Try Before You Buy)
Dear Machine provides a 7-day trial. Some local models need to be downloaded before use. Please test compatibility, accuracy, and performance on your Mac before purchasing.
Digital licence sales are generally final once the key is delivered. This does not limit any rights you have under applicable consumer law. Contact support@dearmachine.app if you have a purchase issue.
3. Third-Party Components & Model Attribution
Dear Machine incorporates third-party open-source models, libraries, and frameworks, each subject to its upstream licence and copyright. The Dear Machine application is proprietary software (all rights reserved); the paid app licence terms above govern activation and use of the distributed app. Bundled third-party components remain under their own open licences:
| Component / Model | Primary Function | Upstream License / Repository |
|---|---|---|
| whisper.cpp | Local Speech-to-Text inference engine | MIT License |
| OpenAI Whisper (large-v3-turbo) | Speech recognition model weights (opt-in engine) | MIT License |
| NVIDIA Parakeet TDT 0.6B v3 | Default on-device speech recognition model (via the embedded ONNX Runtime) | Apache License 2.0 |
| llama.cpp | Local LLM runtime & Metal acceleration | MIT License |
| Qwen3.5 2B | The single bundled local text cleanup & formatting model | Apache License 2.0 / Qwen Community License |
Upstream license terms and notices are maintained at the links above and in public project documentation.
4. Disclaimers & Limitation of Liability
- "As Is" Warranty: Dear Machine is provided "as is" and "as available," without warranty of any kind, express or implied. While designed for accuracy, automatic speech recognition and language models may make transcription or summarization errors. You are responsible for verifying any critical output.
- Limitation of Liability: To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, the author(s) and distributor(s) of Dear Machine shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, punitive, or consequential damages resulting from the use or inability to use this software.
5. Contact & Support
For licensing inquiries, technical support, or third-party attribution questions: