Terms of Service

1.What you're buying

Sterling is desktop software that runs locally on your Windows computer. We offer two purchase paths, both for the same product:

• •Sterling subscription — $19.99 CAD every 4 weeks (13 cycles per year). Cancel anytime; access ends at the end of the current billing cycle.
• •Founder’s Edition — $249.99 CAD one-time, lifetime perpetual license, limited to the first 500 customers.

Both purchase paths include the same software, the same tools, and a license to install Sterling on up to three (3) computers simultaneously. All future updates — new features, brain improvements, security patches — are included for as long as your subscription is active, or forever if you bought the Founder’s Edition.

2. System requirements

Sterling requires Windows 10 or later and an NVIDIA GPU with current drivers. Minimum requirements:

Sterling also requires a working microphone (for voice features), speakers or headphones (for voice output), and an internet connection for initial setup and license activation only.

Important: If your hardware does not meet the minimum requirements, Sterling will not perform as described. We recommend running our compatibility checker at mysterling.ai/check before purchasing. You are responsible for confirming your hardware meets the requirements.

Sterling requires Ollama (a free, open-source application) to run the AI model locally. During installation, Sterling will offer to install Ollama for you. This installs Ollama to its default directory and runs a local server on port 11434 (accessible only from your machine). You may decline and install Ollama yourself. To remove Ollama, use Windows Add/Remove Programs.

3. License

We grant you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to install and use Sterling on up to three (3) computers simultaneously. You may transfer an installation to a new computer by deactivating your license on the old one (Settings → Deactivate). The total number of simultaneously active installations must not exceed three. You may reactivate up to 6 times per 12-month period without contacting support. If you need additional reactivations (e.g., due to hardware upgrades), contact [email protected].

You may not:

• •Resell, sublicense, or distribute Sterling or your license key
• •Reverse-engineer, decompile, or disassemble Sterling, except as permitted by applicable law (including the Copyright Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-42, sections 30.6 and 30.61)
• •Remove or alter any copyright or trademark notices
• •Use Sterling to develop a competing product
• •Share your license key or run Sterling on more than three computers simultaneously

4. AI-generated content

Sterling uses locally-running AI models to generate text and speech responses. AI-generated content may be inaccurate, incomplete, or inappropriate. You are responsible for reviewing and verifying any information Sterling provides before relying on it.

We do not guarantee the accuracy, reliability, or suitability of any AI-generated content. Sterling is a productivity tool, not a professional advisor. Do not use Sterling as a substitute for professional legal, medical, financial, or other expert advice.

Sterling runs DeepSeek R1, an open-weights model released by DeepSeek-AI under an MIT license. The model weights run entirely on your device. No conversation data is transmitted to DeepSeek or any other party during inference. Training data composition is not publicly documented in full; outputs may reflect biases or errors present in training data. Arch Capital does not train or fine-tune the model using your conversations.

As between you and Arch Capital, any content you generate using Sterling belongs to you. Copyright law in some jurisdictions does not currently recognize authorship in purely AI-generated works; you are responsible for assessing the copyright status of your outputs before commercial use.

5. Privacy

Sterling runs entirely on your computer. During normal conversational use, your prompts, voice audio, and memory are not transmitted anywhere. Sterling does make certain network connections (license validation, model downloads, optional web search). For full details, see our Privacy Policy at mysterling.ai/privacy.

6. Refund and cancellation policy

We offer a 14-day money-back guarantee from the date of purchase. If Sterling does not meet your expectations, contact [email protected] within 14 days for a full refund. Your license key will be deactivated upon refund.

In addition to our 14-day guarantee, you have the cancellation rights given to you by the Ontario Consumer Protection Act, 2002 (including the right under section 40 to cancel this agreement within one year if we failed to give you the disclosures required by section 38 of that Act and section 32 of Ontario Regulation 17/05), and by the Quebec Consumer Protection Act (including the rights under sections 54.8 through 54.12 for distance contracts). To cancel, email [email protected] or write to Arch Capital Inc. at the address listed below.

7. Updates and support

Updates are delivered through the application. Subscription customers receive every update for as long as their subscription is active. Founder’s Edition customers receive every update, forever, with no further charge. Updates are never installed without your consent.

If your subscription lapses, the most recent build you installed continues to function as installed. Sterling is designed as a perpetually usable application that does not require ongoing updates to operate.

Support is available by email at [email protected]. We aim to respond within 48 business hours. This is an aspiration, not a guaranteed service level. Support covers installation issues, license key problems, and bug reports.

8. Warranty and limitation of liability

Sterling is provided with a 90-day limited warranty from the date of purchase. During this period, we warrant that Sterling will perform substantially as described on our website. If it does not, your remedy is a refund under Section 6.

Nothing in this section excludes or limits any warranty, condition, right, or remedy that cannot by law be excluded or limited, including under the Ontario Sale of Goods Act, the Ontario Consumer Protection Act, 2002 (in particular section 9), the Quebec Consumer Protection Act (in particular sections 37–38), the Quebec Civil Code (in particular article 1729), or equivalent legislation in your home province. This express warranty is in addition to, and does not replace or limit, any non-excludable statutory warranties.

Subject to the foregoing and to any non-excludable rights under applicable consumer-protection law:

• •Our total liability for any claim arising from your use of Sterling is limited to the amount you paid for Sterling in the 12 months preceding the claim.
• •We are not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, including lost profits, lost data, or business interruption.
• •We are not liable for the accuracy or consequences of AI-generated content.

These limitations do not apply to: liability for fraud; liability for gross negligence or wilful misconduct; liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence; liability for breach of non-excludable statutory warranties; or liability for breach of your privacy rights.

9. Your responsibilities

You agree to:

• •Use Sterling in compliance with all applicable laws
• •Not use Sterling to generate content that is illegal, harmful, or infringes on others' rights
• •Keep your license key confidential
• •Not circumvent any license verification or copy protection measures

You are solely responsible for all content you create, store, or share using Sterling.

10. Intellectual property

Sterling, including its software, design, branding, and documentation, is the property of Arch Capital Inc. and is protected by Canadian and international copyright and intellectual property laws.

Sterling incorporates open-source software including Ollama (MIT), faster-whisper (MIT), Kokoro (Apache 2.0), and DeepSeek R1 (MIT). A full list of open-source components and their licenses is available in the NOTICES file included with the installation.

11. Termination

We may terminate your license if you materially breach these terms. Material breach includes: resale or redistribution of Sterling or your license key; simultaneous use on more than the permitted number of devices; reverse engineering beyond what is permitted by law; or chargeback fraud. We will give you 30 days' written notice and an opportunity to cure the breach where feasible.

Upon termination, you must uninstall Sterling. Your locally stored data remains yours and is not affected.

You may terminate at any time by uninstalling Sterling. No refund is provided for voluntary termination after the 14-day refund period.

If you terminate for cause due to our failure to perform, you are entitled to a pro-rata refund of any paid but unused update period.

12. Changes to these terms

If we propose to change these Terms, we will notify you by email at least 30 days before the change takes effect. The notice will show the old text and new text of each changed clause and the effective date. You may refuse the change within that notice period by contacting us, in which case you will receive a pro-rata refund of any paid but unused period. Your existing license remains valid under the terms in effect at the time of your purchase.

Essential terms — including price, the nature of the license grant, and your rights under Sections 6 and 8 — will not be changed unilaterally.

13. Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada applicable therein.

Subject to any mandatory consumer-protection rule in your province of residence (including Article 3149 of the Civil Code of Québec and sections 11.1 and 271 of the Quebec Consumer Protection Act), disputes will be resolved in the courts of the Province of Ontario. Nothing in this section prevents a consumer from bringing a claim in the courts of their home province where applicable consumer-protection law so permits.

Nothing in these Terms requires arbitration or waiver of any right to commence or participate in a class action.

14. Age requirement

You must be at least 18 years old to purchase a Sterling license (19 in British Columbia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, or Yukon). If you are younger, please ask a parent or guardian to purchase on your behalf. We do not knowingly sell Sterling to minors or knowingly collect personal information from children under 16.

15. Entire agreement

These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and any purchase confirmation, constitute the entire agreement between you and Arch Capital Inc. regarding Sterling. Nothing in this entire-agreement clause excludes or limits any representation made to you by Arch Capital that forms part of your consumer agreement under applicable consumer-protection law.

16. Export and sanctions

Sterling may not be used by persons in sanctioned jurisdictions or by persons listed under Canada's Special Economic Measures Act, the United Nations Act, or the regulations thereunder.

17. Contact

General inquiries: [email protected]
Support: [email protected]
Privacy: [email protected]

Arch Capital Inc.
London, Ontario, Canada

18. French-language availability

A French-language version of these Terms of Service is available at mysterling.ai/fr/terms. For Quebec residents, the French version is presented first in accordance with the Charter of the French Language.