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Licensing & Support

Philter Desktop is made by Philterd, the company behind the Phileas redaction engine that powers it. This page explains how the free and open-source software and the paid official product fit together.

The short version

  • The software is free and open source. The source code is published under the Apache License, Version 2.0, so you (or your IT department) can inspect exactly what it does, and anyone may use, modify, and build it.
  • The official build is free for personal use and evaluation. You can download the official, signed build from philterd.ai and use it at no charge for personal use or to try it out.
  • Commercial use requires a subscription. Using the official build for commercial purposes needs a per-user subscription ($100 per user, per year), with an active subscription for each person who uses it that way. The subscription also includes support and maintained updates.
  • "Philter" is a trademark of Philterd. Anyone may build the open-source code, but the official builds are distributed under the Philter brand by Philterd.
  • For the current, definitive pricing and terms, see philterd.ai.

Reading the license agreement in the app

You can open the full End-User License Agreement (EULA) at any time from inside Philter Desktop: go to Help → About and click View the EULA. (It opens the Philterd Commercial License Agreement on the website.) The same About box also has a View the Apache License 2.0 link for the open-source code license.

When you need a subscription

The official, signed build is free to download, and free for personal use and evaluation. You need a per-user subscription ($100 per user, per year, from philterd.ai) to use the official build for commercial purposes (your work for an employer, a client, or a business), with an active subscription for each person who does so. The subscription permits that commercial use and includes:

  • Support: a direct line to the people who build Philter Desktop, for setup, policy, or workflow questions. Email support@philterd.ai.
  • Maintained releases: ongoing updates, fixes, and improvements.

The Apache license covers the source code: anyone may inspect, modify, and build it, and a technical user is always free to build and run their own copy under that license. What it does not provide is support or the right to use Philterd's Philter trademark and branding. This is the common commercial open-source model: the source is open for transparency, and commercial subscriptions to the official product sustain it.

To subscribe, renew, or ask about pricing for a team or firm, visit philterd.ai.

A note for IT departments

Philter Desktop runs entirely on the user's machine and stores its data locally (encrypted; see Settings → Security), so there is no server to stand up, no cloud account to manage, and no document data leaving your environment. Because the code is open source, your security team can confirm that for themselves rather than trusting a sealed black box. The official signed installer supports both a per-user installation (no administrator rights required) and an all-users installation; see Getting Started. For deployment or support questions, contact Philterd through philterd.ai.

Important reminder about redacted documents

Whatever your arrangement, keep the most important point in mind: automated redaction uses statistical and machine-learning methods, and no automated tool can be guaranteed to catch everything. Every redacted document should be reviewed by a person before it is shared or relied upon. This is why Philter Desktop names its output files with the word draft by default. Support from Philterd can help you configure the tool well, but the final review is always yours.