Terms of Service

Last updated, August 26, 2026

1. Acceptance of Terms

By accessing or using Manifold-BT software, website, or any associated services (collectively, the "Service"), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

We may update these Terms from time to time. Continued use of the Service after changes constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.

2. Description of Service

Manifold-BT is a software library for backtesting algorithmic trading strategies. The Service includes source-available components (the "Community" tier, distributed under Apache 2.0 with Commons Clause) and optional paid features (the "Pro" tier), available either as a recurring subscription or as a one-time lifetime purchase.

Manifold-BT is research software. It is designed to simulate historical trading performance and does not execute live trades, manage portfolios, or connect to brokerage accounts.

3. Financial Disclaimer

Manifold-BT is not a financial advisor, broker, or investment service. Nothing provided by the Service constitutes financial, investment, tax, or legal advice.

Past performance, whether simulated, backtested, or hypothetical, is not indicative of future results. Backtest results are inherently limited by the assumptions, data quality, and parameters used. Real-world trading involves risks including but not limited to slippage, liquidity gaps, exchange outages, and market conditions that cannot be fully modeled.

You are solely responsible for any trading or investment decisions you make. We strongly recommend consulting a qualified financial professional before deploying any strategy with real capital.

4. License & Usage

Community tier. The source-available components of Manifold-BT are distributed under the Apache License 2.0 with the Commons Clause. You may use, modify, and self-host the software for personal or internal business purposes free of charge. You may not sell the software, offer it as a paid hosted service, or otherwise derive substantial value from its functionality for resale. See the LICENSE file in the project repository for the full text.

Pro tier, lifetime. A one-time lifetime purchase grants a perpetual, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to use the Pro features for your personal or internal business use. It does not expire and does not renew.

Pro tier, subscription. A monthly subscription grants the same non-exclusive, non-transferable license for as long as the subscription is active. When a subscription ends, whether because you cancelled it or because payment failed, the license is revoked at the end of the period already paid for and the library reverts to the Community tier on its next license check.

Either way, each license is tied to a single user, and you may not redistribute, sublicense, or share your license key.

You agree not to:

  • Reverse-engineer, decompile, or disassemble the compiled Pro components
  • Remove or modify any license verification mechanisms
  • Use the Service to develop a competing product
  • Share, sell, or distribute your license key to third parties

5. Purchases, Renewals & Cancellation

Pro is sold either as a monthly subscription or as a one-time lifetime purchase. Team plans are sold as a per-organization subscription. Payment is processed by Stripe. All prices are listed in USD and include applicable taxes where required.

Renewal. A subscription renews automatically at the end of each billing period, at the price then in effect, until it is cancelled. We will give you at least 30 days notice by email before any price change that would apply to your existing subscription, so that you can cancel before it takes effect. A lifetime purchase never renews and is never billed again.

Cancellation. You may cancel a subscription at any time, without giving a reason, from the license page linked in your purchase email, which also holds your invoices. Organizations on a Team plan cancel from the billing portal in their client portal. If you no longer have the link, email contact@manifoldbt.com from the address used at purchase. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the period you have already paid for and is not retroactive: that period is not refunded pro rata. Your Pro features keep working until that date, after which the library reverts to the Community tier. Nothing is removed from your machine and no result you have already computed changes.

Refunds. Apart from the statutory withdrawal right below, payments already made are non-refundable, including a lifetime purchase, because every Pro feature is documented with runnable examples that can be evaluated on the Community tier before you pay. If a technical issue prevents you from using the Pro features you paid for, contact us and we will resolve it or refund you.

Right of withdrawal, EU, EEA and UK consumers. If you buy as a consumer in the European Union, the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, you normally have 14 days to withdraw from a purchase of digital content without giving a reason. A Pro license is delivered immediately, so by completing checkout you expressly ask us to begin performance at once and acknowledge that you lose that right of withdrawal once the license key has been issued to you. If the key has been issued but you have not activated it, you may still withdraw within those 14 days by emailing us, and we will refund you in full.

6. Data & Privacy

Manifold-BT runs locally on your machine. Your trading strategies, data, and backtest results are never transmitted to our servers.

We collect minimal data necessary to operate the Service: license validation requests (license key and machine identifier) and purchase information processed by Stripe. See our Privacy Policy for details.

7. Third-Party Services

Manifold-BT integrates with third-party data providers including Binance, Bybit, Hyperliquid, dYdX, Bitstamp, Databento, and Massive. Your use of these providers is subject to their respective terms of service. We are not responsible for the availability, accuracy, or completeness of third-party data.

8. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Manifold-BT and its contributors shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, including but not limited to loss of profits, trading losses, data loss, or business interruption, arising from your use of the Service.

Our total liability for any claim arising from these Terms or the Service is limited to the amount you paid for the Pro license, or $0 if you are using the Community tier.

9. Disclaimer of Warranties

The Service is provided "as is" and "as available" without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.

We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or that backtest results will be accurate or complete. No backtest can fully replicate live market conditions.

10. Intellectual Property

The Manifold-BT name, logo, and branding are our property. The Pro tier's compiled components are proprietary. The source-available components are distributed under Apache 2.0 with the Commons Clause.

You retain full ownership of your strategies, data, and any output generated by the Service.

11. Termination

We may revoke your Pro license if you violate these Terms, including but not limited to redistributing license keys or circumventing license verification. The Community tier remains available under Apache 2.0 with Commons Clause regardless.

12. Governing Law

These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of France, without regard to conflict of law principles. Any disputes arising under these Terms shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Paris, France.

13. Contact

For questions about these Terms, reach out at contact@manifoldbt.com.