Terms

Terms of service

Last updated 21 October 2026

The short version

• The Shorthop software is yours to run under its open-source licences. These terms cover only what we run for you: the push relay, Shorthop Watch and your account pages.
• The first 3 phones and the first Watch check are free. After that it is €1.99 per phone and per check a month, plus VAT where it applies. A month that comes to €0 is never charged.
• We never stop a page over billing. A late or failed payment does not stop pages to phones already signed in, or alerts on checks that already exist.
• We work hard to keep the relay up, but we do not guarantee it. Keep email as a second way to reach people; your Shorthop sends email without us.
• Malta law applies.

Who we are, and what these terms cover

Shorthop is a trading name of Mattias Holmberg, sole trader, registered in Malta, Flat 713, Highgrove, Triq Il-Kwarta, Swieqi SWQ 2045, VAT MT33211117 ("we").

These terms apply when you create an installation at shorthop.io or use the services we run for it: the push relay (which delivers pages from your Shorthop to the Shorthop app), Shorthop Watch (which pages you when a check stops pinging) and your account pages. "You" is the business or organisation the installation is for.

The Shorthop server is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3, and the Shorthop app under the Apache License 2.0. Those licences, not these terms, govern your use of the code. The name and logo "Shorthop" are ours; a modified copy you publish must use a different name and icon.

The services are for business use. If you use them as a consumer, the rights consumer law gives you are not affected by anything here.

Your account and key

• The installation's contact email is how you sign in and where we send invoices and notices. Keep it current, and use an address more than one person can read.
• Keep your installation key secret. Anything done with it is treated as done by you. If it leaks, make a new one on your account page; the old one stops working at once.
• The details you give us for invoices (name, country, address, VAT number) must be correct. They decide the VAT on your invoice.

Price and billing

• Each calendar month we count the most phones that were signed in at the same time and the most Watch checks that existed at the same time (a paused check counts; a deleted one does not). The first 3 phones and the first check are free; each one past that is €1.99 for the month.
• Prices exclude VAT. We add Maltese VAT where it is due; an EU business with a valid VAT number pays no VAT (reverse charge); customers outside the EU pay no EU VAT.
• We charge the card on file after the month ends and email an invoice. A month that comes to €0 is never charged, and nothing is charged when you add a card.
• A card is needed only to sign in more than 3 phones or create more than one check. Without one, a phone or check past the free ones is refused when it is added — never one that is already working.
• We may change prices with 30 days' notice by email. A change never applies to a month that has already started.

If a payment fails

Pages to phones already signed in and alerts on existing checks keep working whatever the state of a payment. A billing problem is never a reason a page does not arrive.

If a charge fails we try again 3 and 7 days later; your account page shows the month as unpaid and you can replace the card there. If a month is still unpaid 30 days after the last attempt, we may close the account, after telling you by email at least 14 days before. Closing the account ends the services, so we will only do it after that notice.

Fair use

Use the services for paging people from your own Shorthop installations. Do not:

• use the relay to send anything other than Shorthop pages, or offer it to others as a service of your own;
• try to reach other customers' data, test our security without our written agreement, or flood the services with traffic;
• break the law, or the terms of Apple, Google or Expo, through the services.

The services have rate limits sized well beyond normal use. If an installation is used in a way that threatens the service or other customers, we may disable it, and we will tell you why as soon as we can.

Availability

We monitor the relay and Watch from outside our own servers and publish the result on the service status page. We work to keep them running, but we do not guarantee that they are always available or that every page is delivered: delivery to a phone also depends on Expo, Apple, Google and the phone's own network.

Because paging matters, plan for that: keep email (which your Shorthop sends itself, without us) as a second way to reach people, and keep Watch checks for the things whose silence you need to hear about.

We may change or improve the services. We will give at least 60 days' notice before removing anything you rely on, and before changing the relay's API in a way that would stop a working installation.

Your data

What we store and why is set out in the privacy policy. Your alerts stay on your own server; the relay never receives their content. For the personal data we handle on your behalf (your team's phones, your Watch checks), the data processing agreement applies and forms part of these terms.

Ending

• You can stop at any time: sign your phones out and delete your checks, and write to support@shorthop.io to close the account. The month you leave in is billed as normal, on what was used up to then.
• We can end the services for your account with 60 days' notice, or straight away if you seriously break these terms.
• When an account is closed we delete its data as the privacy policy describes, except the billing records the law makes us keep.

Liability

The services are provided for paging people about your systems; they are not a substitute for your own judgement or for other ways of reaching people.

As far as the law allows: we are not liable for indirect or consequential loss, lost profit or revenue, or loss caused by a page that was late or did not arrive; and our total liability for anything arising from the services in any 12 months is limited to the greater of what you paid us in those 12 months and €100.

Nothing here limits liability that the law does not allow to be limited, such as for fraud, or for death or personal injury caused by negligence.

Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. We will email you at least 30 days before a change that affects you takes effect; if you do not accept it, you can close the account before then. The date at the top always shows the current version.

Law

These terms are governed by the law of Malta, and the courts of Malta decide any dispute, unless the law where you are gives you a right to go to your own courts.

Contact

support@shorthop.io for anything about the services or your account; privacy@shorthop.io for personal data.