License and pricing
Token Optimizer is licensed under PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0, plus a written small business permission. It is source-available: the full source is published and can be audited by anyone.
The legal terms live in two files in the repository: LICENSE and LICENSE-SMALL-BUSINESS.md. The small business permission below is granted in writing in that second file, so you can rely on it without asking. This page summarizes them in plain language.
What each kind of use costs
Section titled “What each kind of use costs”| Who you are | What you need |
|---|---|
| Personal, hobby, research, or education | Nothing. Full source, runs locally, no purchase. |
| Small business: your whole company has fewer than 5 people AND under $20k/month revenue | A no-cost commercial license, granted in writing. Just use it. |
| Stopped qualifying (your company grew) | 32 more days to arrange a commercial license. Past use is fine. |
| Everyone else using it commercially | A commercial license. Contact below. Terms are reasonable and size-appropriate. |
Personal, hobby, research, education
Section titled “Personal, hobby, research, education”Use it freely. Full source, runs entirely on your machine, no license purchase needed. That includes your own open-source side projects.
What counts is who the work is for, not where it runs. Work you do for your employer is your employer’s use, even on a personal laptop at home.
Small businesses
Section titled “Small businesses”Your organization qualifies for a no-cost commercial license when both are true:
- Fewer than 5 people. Count everyone working for the whole organization (employees, individual contractors, and working founders), including any parent, subsidiary, or sister company. Not the team, and not the number of people using Token Optimizer.
- Under $20k per month in revenue. Total gross revenue of the whole organization, averaged over the last 12 months.
The permission covers using Token Optimizer inside your own business. It does not cover reselling or redistributing it, bundling it into a product or service you provide to others, hosting it as a service for anyone outside your company, or splitting a larger organization into small entities to stay under the limits. Those need a commercial license. You are responsible for checking that you qualify, and may be asked to confirm it in writing.
No paperwork, no purchase. If you want to sponsor the project, that is appreciated but never required.
Examples
Section titled “Examples”| Situation | Needs a commercial license? |
|---|---|
| Solo developer with a side business earning $3k/month | No. 1 person and under $20k/month. |
| 4-person startup earning $8k/month | No. Both limits are met. |
| 4-person company earning $60k/month | Yes. Revenue is over the limit. |
| 3 developers using it inside a 200-person company | Yes. Headcount is the whole company, not the users. |
| 12-person startup with no revenue yet | Yes. Headcount is over the limit. |
| 3-person agency running it as a hosted service for clients | Yes. Providing it to others is not covered. |
Growing into commercial use
Section titled “Growing into commercial use”If your organization stops qualifying, the permission continues for 32 days, so there is runway to sort things out. Past use is fine.
Larger commercial use
Section titled “Larger commercial use”Organizations past the small business limits need a commercial license. Terms scale with company size and are designed to be reasonable. Get in touch to arrange one.
Contacts
Section titled “Contacts”- Author: Alex Greenshpun
- Email: me@alexgreenshpun.com
- Repository: github.com/alexgreensh/token-optimizer
- Sponsor: github.com/sponsors/alexgreensh
Why source-available
Section titled “Why source-available”Token Optimizer reads your session transcripts, configuration, and memory files. Source-available means you can audit exactly what it does before you trust it with that data. Normal measurement stays local; optional network surfaces are described in the privacy page. The source is open to read. For the data-handling detail, see Your data and privacy.