Short answers, exact ones.
The questions people ask about licensing, pricing, data, security and agents. If yours is not here, write to hello@analyticalledger.com.
8100Licensing
Fair Source, not open source
Is Analytical Ledger open source?
No. It is Fair Source: source-available under FSL-1.1-ALv2. You can read, run and modify it for any purpose except offering it to others as a competing product or service. Each release becomes Apache 2.0, a standard open-source license, two years after it ships. The public source release is in preparation.
Can I use it for my clients' books?
Using the software to provide professional services to a client who is also licensed to use it is permitted. What the license forbids is offering Analytical Ledger, or a substitute built from it, as a competing product or service, for example selling hosted accounts. The license text controls. If your arrangement is unclear, ask us before you build on it.
What happens after two years?
Each version converts to Apache 2.0 on the second anniversary of the day it was made available, with no restrictions. Newer versions stay under Fair Source until their own second anniversary.
Can I contribute code?
Issues and discussion are welcome once the source is public. Code contributions wait for a contributor license agreement that is not final yet.
8200Pricing
Free software, paid services
What does it cost?
The software costs nothing to download, run or self-host. Managed hosting, firm onboarding and support are paid services, by request. There are no published prices yet because hosting is an invite-only beta.
Why is the software free?
Because we earn from running it for you and from helping a firm adopt it, not from licensing the code. The ledger is the same on your own machine, your own server and a hosted instance, so you are never pushed to pay to keep your books.
What do you charge for?
Managed hosting: one isolated instance and database per client, with upgrades and verified backups handled. Firm onboarding: setup, chart of accounts migration, entity structure and training. Support. All three are by request while hosting is in beta.
8300Data ownership
Your books stay yours
Where does my data live?
On the Windows app, in a folder on your computer (%LOCALAPPDATA%\Analytical Ledger). When you self-host, in your own PostgreSQL database. On a managed instance, in a database dedicated to you. Books from the first two are never sent to us.
Can I leave with my data?
Yes. On a managed instance you can ask for the full SQL database and your documents when you leave, with checksums, the application release and restore guidance. The key that decrypts your saved integration credentials is handed over separately. Local and self-hosted books are already yours: they sit in your folder or your database.
Why no shared multi-tenant database?
Because books are the one thing that must never mix. Each client gets their own application, database, documents, secrets, backups and domain, so one client's bug, query or incident cannot reach another's, and handing your data back is a dump of a database that only ever held yours. The cost is that we run more instances, which is a reason hosting is a service and not a free tier.
Does anything leave my machine?
Only what you switch on. A bank feed through SimpleFIN, an AI provider you give a key to, or an agent you connect each send data to that provider under its own terms. Your books are not sent to us.
8400Security
Controls the database enforces
How do you keep the books balanced?
Twice. The application validates every entry, and PostgreSQL triggers enforce the same rules again: debits equal credits, lines stay within their entity, posted entries are frozen and posting needs an open period. A script that skips the app still cannot break them. Corrections are reversing entries.
Where do my API keys go?
You enter them in Settings. They are stored encrypted with AES-256-GCM in your own instance's database, and the screen never shows them back. Losing the encryption key makes stored credentials unrecoverable, so back it up separately from the database. This is in Preview.
How do I sign in?
Google or Microsoft sign-in with viewer, accountant and owner roles ships today. Password sign-in and a one-time setup link that creates the first owner are in Preview. Failed password sign-ins are limited to five per address and source per 15 minutes.
How do I report a vulnerability?
Write to security@analyticalledger.com. Please do not post details publicly or include real account data in a report.
8500Agents
Bring your own agent
Which agents can I connect?
Claude, ChatGPT, Codex or any MCP client, through a standard OAuth sign-in to your own instance. The ledger supplies the tools, not an AI subscription: you bring your own.
What can an agent do?
Read, within the scope you grant, and create a draft entry if you also grant the draft scope. It cannot post, approve, close a period or pay. A database guard enforces that, and every request is recorded in an audit log.
Can I use my agent from my phone?
That is in Preview. It needs an instance your phone can reach over HTTPS, such as a managed instance. A phone's localhost is the phone, so it cannot reach an app that runs only on your Windows computer.
Does the Windows app support agents?
The connection works for a tool running on the same computer. It is in Preview. On a server or managed instance, the connection ships today.
8600Platforms and status
What runs where, today
Is it Windows only?
The download is Windows only for now: Windows 10 or 11 on x64, with Microsoft Edge for the app window. There is no Mac or Linux installer. On a Mac or Linux machine, self-host from source (Node and PostgreSQL 18) or request a managed instance and use it from your browser.
Can several people use the Windows app?
No. It is a single-user desktop install that listens only on your own machine. For a team or for clients, self-host or use a managed instance.
Is it ready to use?
The product is: Analytical Solutions runs its own companies and household on it every day, on its own server. What is in Preview is the packaging around it: the Windows installer, the public source release, password sign-in with first-run setup, and managed hosting.
What are the limits?
US dollars only. Consolidation eliminates intercompany accounts but does not include equity-method elimination. The cash flow statement is a simplified first version. Features carry a Shipped, Preview or Planned tag, with their limits, on the features page.
c/fCarried forward
For anything else, write to us.
Request early access, or tell us about your entities and your firm and we will reply about hosting.