These Terms of Service (“Terms”) are an agreement between you and Smulp AB, a company registered in Sweden (org. no. 559543-3847, registered office at Riddarhuskajen 1, 11128 Stockholm, Sweden) (“Crust”, “we”, “us”). They govern your use of the Crust desktop application, our websites, and any related services (together, the “Service”).
By creating an account, installing the app, or using the Service, you agree to these Terms. If you don’t agree, please don’t use the Service.
1. What Crust is
Crust is a desktop production suite for macOS and Windows. Some work runs locally on your computer (editing, compositing, rendering, and smaller models). Other work, mainly large “frontier” image, video, audio, and text models, runs by sending your project data through our cloud servers to third-party AI model providers, and returning the result to you. We call each of these operations a “node” when used inside a workflow.
You always choose when to run a node that uses cloud models. Running one uses your credits and incurs a cost (see Section 4).
2. Beta and changes to the Service
The Service may be offered as an invite-only beta. During beta and afterwards, we may add, change, or remove features, and we may set or change usage limits. We’ll try to avoid disruption to features you rely on, but the Service is provided on an evolving basis.
We release updates to the app regularly, and the app installs them automatically. To keep the Service secure and working, we may require you to update, and older versions of the app may stop working.
3. Your account
- You must be at least 18 years old (or the age of legal majority where you live) and able to enter into a contract.
- You’re responsible for keeping your login credentials secure.
- You are responsible for everything that happens under your account, including all nodes run, all content created, and all charges incurred, whether by you or by anyone you give access to. If you think your account has been used without your permission, tell us at support@crustsystem.com as soon as possible.
4. Pricing: subscriptions vs. node (inference) costs
Crust has two different kinds of pricing, and they work differently on purpose.
4.1 Subscriptions
Your subscription gives you access to Crust and is billed in advance on a recurring basis (for example monthly or yearly). Subscription pricing is the more stable, committed part of your relationship with us:
- We bill your subscription automatically at the start of each period using your saved payment method, until you cancel.
- You can cancel at any time from your account settings. Cancellation takes effect at the end of your current paid period; you keep access until then.
- If we change subscription prices, we’ll give you at least 30 days advance notice before the change applies to you, and the change won’t take effect until your next renewal.
4.2 Node and inference pricing (variable)
When you run a node that calls a cloud AI model, you pay for that specific operation using credits. This pricing is variable and can change at any time, without advance notice.
Here’s why, in plain terms: the cost of running these models is set by the third-party providers, and it moves, sometimes from one day to the next. So our node prices move too. We price nodes to cover the underlying third-party costs plus a margin to absorb that volatility. The app updates the live price list continuously so it can reflect those costs accurately.
To keep this fair:
- The price that applies to a node is the price shown in the app at the moment you run it. You see the cost before you spend.
- Prices can go down as well as up. From time to time we may run promotional pricing events (for example, temporarily discounted video models). Promotions are optional, time-limited, and at our discretion.
- Credits and completed node operations are generally non-refundable, because a real third-party cost has already been incurred on your behalf.
Plain-language note: Subscriptions are how we keep the lights on, and they’re predictable. Node prices are costs that move with the market, always shown before you spend.
4.3 Taxes and payment
Prices are stated exclusive of VAT and other taxes, which we’ll add where required. Payments are handled by our payment processor Stripe. You’re responsible for any bank or card fees you incur.
5. Acceptable use and fair use of the Service
You agree to use the Service lawfully and in line with our Acceptable Use Policy, which is part of these Terms. In particular, you must not:
- try to manipulate, avoid, or under-report node or inference costs, exploit pricing or credit bugs, or otherwise game our billing;
- share, resell, or automate access in ways designed to circumvent usage limits or pricing;
- attempt to break, overload, reverse-engineer, or circumvent the Service or its safeguards;
- use the Service to create or distribute illegal content, or content that infringes others’ rights.
6. Suspension and termination
We may suspend or terminate your access, immediately where necessary, if we reasonably believe you have violated these Terms or the Acceptable Use Policy, attempted fraud or billing abuse, created risk or cost for us or others, or where required by law.
If we terminate your account for one of these reasons, you won’t be entitled to a refund of subscription fees or unused credits for the period affected by your violation. You can also stop using the Service and cancel at any time. We may keep using and retaining data as described in our Privacy Policy and as required by law.
7. Your content and intellectual property
7.1 You own and control your content
“Your Content” means the inputs you provide (prompts, files, footage, audio, data) and the outputs you generate using the Service. As between you and us, Your Content is yours. We don’t claim ownership of it.
7.2 Licence to operate the Service
To run the Service, you give us a limited licence to host, copy, transmit, process, and display Your Content only as needed to provide the Service, including sending it to and from our cloud and to the third-party AI providers you choose to use. This licence ends when you delete the content or close your account, except for backups and records we must keep by law.
7.3 You are responsible for Your Content, including copyright
You are solely responsible for Your Content and for what you do with it. That means:
- You confirm you have all rights needed to use your inputs (including any footage, images, audio, brands, or people in them).
- AI-generated outputs may not be protectable by copyright, may resemble existing works, and may be generated similarly for other users. We don’t guarantee that any output is original, accurate, or free to use.
- We give no warranty that your inputs or outputs don’t infringe anyone’s rights, and we are not responsible for copyright, trademark, publicity, or other claims made against you arising from Your Content or your use of the Service. Clearing rights for your use case is your responsibility.
7.4 Third-party model providers
When you run a node that uses a third-party model, that provider processes your input under its own terms and policies, which may differ from ours. We only run models under terms that exclude training on your content, except the models listed as exceptions on our models page, which also lists every provider we use. You agree to comply with those providers’ terms when you use their models through Crust.
7.5 Our intellectual property
The Crust application, brand, and underlying software are owned by us and our licensors. These Terms don’t give you any rights in them except the right to use the Service as intended.
8. Privacy
How we handle personal data is described in our Privacy Policy. Please read it: it explains what we collect (including usage statistics and error monitoring), why, and your rights under the GDPR.
If you use the Service as a business and we process personal data on your behalf, our Data Processing Agreement applies and forms part of these Terms.
9. Disclaimers
The Service is provided “as is” and “as available.” To the extent permitted by law, we don’t warrant that it will be uninterrupted, error-free, secure, or that outputs will meet your needs. Nothing here limits rights you have as a consumer under mandatory law.
10. Limitation of liability
To the extent permitted by law:
- We are not liable for indirect, incidental, or consequential losses, lost profits, lost data, or lost business.
- Our total liability to you for any claim relating to the Service is limited to the greater of USD 100 or the amount you paid us in the 12 months before the event giving rise to the claim.
Nothing in these Terms excludes liability that cannot be excluded by law, including liability for intent, gross negligence, death or personal injury, or your mandatory consumer rights.
11. Indemnification
You agree to cover reasonable losses, costs, and claims we incur because of (a) Your Content, (b) your use of the Service, or (c) your breach of these Terms or the Acceptable Use Policy, including third-party intellectual-property claims arising from Your Content.
12. Changes to these Terms
We may update these Terms. If we make a material change, we’ll give you reasonable notice (for example by email or in-app) before it takes effect. If you keep using the Service after that, you accept the updated Terms. If you don’t agree, you can stop using the Service and cancel.
13. Governing law and disputes
These Terms are governed by Swedish law. Disputes will be handled by the competent courts of Sweden.
If you are a consumer, this does not deprive you of the protection of mandatory rules in your country of residence, and you may also turn to your national consumer dispute body. In Sweden that is Allmänna reklamationsnämnden (ARN).
14. Consumer right of withdrawal (EU/EEA consumers)
If you are a consumer, you normally have a 14-day right to withdraw from a distance contract. For digital content and services that begin immediately, you can ask us to start straight away and acknowledge that you lose the withdrawal right once the service has been fully performed / once you start consuming the digital content you’ve paid for.
15. Contact
Smulp AB, Riddarhuskajen 1, 111 28 Stockholm, Sweden
General: support@crustsystem.com · Legal: legal@crustsystem.com