Terms of Use

Terms of Use

Last updated: July 2026

Who we are

Narrative Arc is made by The Forge, the software studio of Gatz Holdings LLC (Spokane, Washington, USA). These terms are an agreement between you and Gatz Holdings LLC. They cover the Narrative Arc apps for iPhone, iPad, and Mac, and the web services at narrativearc.app, including published memoirs and family contributions.

Accepting these terms

By installing the app or using the services, you accept these terms. If you purchased through the App Store, your purchase is also governed by Apple’s standard licensed application end user license agreement, available here. Where that agreement and this page overlap for an App Store purchase, Apple’s agreement controls the license and Apple’s policies control billing.

The service and the free tier

Narrative Arc is free to install and use for capturing stories, with a free tier that includes up to five stories and no exports. A paid subscription unlocks unlimited stories, exports (PDF, video, and web publishing), and, on the Family plan, a shared memoir with up to three co-authors. Plan details and current prices are shown in the app and on the pricing page before you buy.

Subscriptions and auto-renewal

Narrative Arc subscriptions renew automatically until you cancel. You can cancel anytime, and cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period. There are two ways to purchase, and each is managed where you bought it:

App Store purchases.If you subscribed inside the iPhone, iPad, or Mac App Store app, Apple handles billing, renewal, cancellation, and refunds. Manage or cancel in your device’s Settings under Subscriptions, or in App Store account settings. Refund requests for App Store purchases go through Apple.

Direct purchases. If you subscribed on narrativearc.app (used by the direct Mac download), billing is processed by Stripe. Manage, change, or cancel your plan anytime from your billing page, which opens Stripe’s customer portal. If a renewal price increases, you will be notified before it takes effect. If you believe a direct charge was made in error, contact us through the Contact page and we will make it right; nothing in these terms limits refund rights you have under applicable law.

Gift codes

Gift purchases provide a one-time, prepaid period of Premium or Family (currently twelve months). A gift code is redeemed in the recipient’s account, is not redeemable for cash, and cannot be applied on top of an already-active subscription of the same plan; in that case it can be redeemed after the active subscription ends.

Published memoirs and hosting

Publishing a memoir to the web is part of a paid plan. If your subscription ends, new publishing stops and a previously published memoir may go offline; the optional Heirloom Hosting plan keeps an already-published memoir readable online without a full subscription. Your stories on your own devices are never affected by a lapsed subscription: your local memoir, audio, and photos remain yours and remain accessible in the app.

Your content

Your stories, recordings, photos, and everything else you create in Narrative Arc belong to you. We claim no ownership. You grant us only the narrow license needed to operate features you explicitly invoke: hosting and serving a memoir you publish, relaying a shared family memoir between its co-authors, and holding a family contribution until you accept it. How your content is protected is described in the Privacy Policy, which is part of these terms.

Acceptable use

You agree not to use the services to publish content that is unlawful, that infringes someone else’s rights, or that you do not have permission to share. You also agree not to interfere with the services, probe or disrupt their security, or use them to send spam or unsolicited invitations. We may take down published content or suspend service access that violates these terms or the law, and where reasonable we will tell you why.

Account deletion

You can delete your account and erase your data at any time from Settings in the app. Deletion removes your server-side account, published memoirs, and stored media, as described in the Privacy Policy.

Disclaimers

The services are provided as is and as available, without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. We work hard to keep your memoirs safe and available, and the app is built so your content lives first on your own devices, but we cannot promise uninterrupted or error-free service. Keep your devices backed up.

Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Gatz Holdings LLC will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages, and our total liability for any claim relating to the services is limited to the amount you paid us in the twelve months before the claim arose. Some jurisdictions do not allow certain limitations, so parts of this section may not apply to you.

Changes to these terms

If these terms change in a way that matters, the updated version will be posted here with a revised date, and significant changes will be surfaced in the app. Continuing to use the services after a change takes effect means you accept the updated terms.

Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Washington, USA, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. Nothing in this section deprives you of consumer protections you are entitled to under the laws of your place of residence.

Contact

Questions about these terms can be sent through the Contact page, or start with the Support page.