Terms of service
Effective July 17, 2026
These are the terms for using Marginalia. They are short because the deal is simple: you pay for capture and the coach, your thinking stays yours.
1. What Marginalia is
Marginalia is a reading companion. You shelve what you read, capture notes by voice, photo, or typing, and talk with a coach that asks questions about your reading. It is made and run by Vanessa Chang.
2. Your account
You need an account to use the app. Give a real email, keep your sign-in to yourself, and use one account per person. You are responsible for what happens under your account.
3. Your content stays yours
You own everything you put in: notes, recordings, photos, highlights. You give us only the narrow permission we need to store and process that content to run the app for you. We claim nothing else, and we never use your content to train AI models.
4. Respect copyright
Only shelve and upload material you have the right to read and copy: your own books, public-domain texts, articles you may access. You are responsible for what you upload.
5. Pricing
- Standard: $15 per month, or $144 per year, once general access opens.
- Founding readers: $10 per month, or $96 per year. The founding rate holds for as long as your subscription stays active.
- The waitlist is free. Joining it charges nothing. Money only moves when checkout opens and you choose to subscribe.
6. Cancelling
Cancel anytime. Your access runs to the end of the period you paid for, and no further charges happen. Export your library before or after; your notes leave as ordinary files either way. If a founding subscription lapses, rejoining later is at the current price.
7. Fair use limits
Coach questions and voice transcription cost real money to run, so daily limits apply and vary by plan. The limits are set so a serious reader never notices them. Automated or bulk use that games these limits can lead to a capped or closed account.
8. Acceptable use
Do not probe or attack the service, resell access, scrape other people's data, or use the app for anything unlawful. That covers it.
9. The honest warranty section
Marginalia is a small, carefully built product, provided as is. We work to keep it fast and reliable, and export exists precisely so you are never locked in. To the extent the law allows, our total liability to you is capped at what you paid us in the twelve months before the claim.
10. Changes
If these terms change in a way that matters, we will post the new version here and email active subscribers before it takes effect. Using the app after that means you accept the new terms.
11. Governing law
These terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, United States.