How CrunchByte-hosted bots and bot files may and may not be used.
All CrunchByte hosting plans and pre-built bot purchases come with one of two license types: a Personal Use License or a Commercial Use License. Every customer operates under one of these licenses at all times. By using CrunchByte services you acknowledge and agree to the license terms that apply to your use case. There are no exceptions to this requirement.
The Personal Use License is included automatically with every plan at no additional cost. It permits you to host and operate your bot for your own Discord server or community, provided you do not charge any individual, server, or organization for access to your bot or its features.
What is permitted under a Personal Use License:
What is not permitted under a Personal Use License:
If your intended use does not clearly fall within the Personal Use License, you are required to obtain a Commercial Use License before operating.
A Commercial Use License is required if you charge other Discord servers, their administrators, or any third party a fee to use your hosted bot. This includes per-server subscription fees, one-time access fees, tiered pricing models, or any other arrangement in which payment is a condition of access to your bot or its features.
A Commercial Use License does not apply to pre-built bots sold by CrunchByte (such as the Ticket Bot). Pre-built bots are single-server deployments by design. They are not eligible for a Commercial Use License under any circumstances and may not be operated commercially. If you purchase a pre-built bot, you are purchasing a personal use deployment for your own server only.
Bot Files + 3 Months Hosting bundle — important restrictions: Customers who purchase the “Bot Files + 3 Months Hosting” bundle receive the bot source files for personal use only. Receiving the source files does not grant any additional rights beyond what is described in Section 2 above. Specifically:
Any breach of these restrictions is a material violation of these Licence Terms and will be enforced under Section 5 below and the CrunchByte Terms of Service.
You MUST declare your commercial use. No exceptions. Before operating your bot commercially, you are required to contact CrunchByte and provide the following information:
You must submit this declaration by opening a ticket in the CrunchByte Discord server or by emailing support@crunchbyte.org. Operating commercially without first submitting this declaration is a violation of these License Terms and of the CrunchByte Terms of Service, regardless of whether you have acknowledged the license at checkout. There are no exceptions to the declaration requirement.
License fee: The Commercial Use License is a recurring monthly add-on charged separately from your base hosting plan.
Your license fee will be invoiced separately after you submit your commercial declaration. CrunchByte will confirm your license and billing arrangement by Discord or email.
Quarterly verification: CrunchByte will contact all active Commercial Use License holders every three months to verify that your declared commercial information remains accurate. Verification requires you to provide payment evidence from your customers, such as payment receipts, screenshots, or a screen share or video call. You must show evidence from at least three distinct customers where possible. If your operation has fewer than three customers at the time of verification, you are required to show all available evidence. The amounts shown must reasonably correspond to your declared per-server rate and server count.
Non-response to verification: CrunchByte will send the verification request to your registered email and Discord account. If you do not respond within 3 days, your bot service will be suspended and billing will be paused. If you do not respond or provide verification within 30 days of the initial contact, your Commercial Use License will be revoked. The license fee paid for that period is non-refundable upon revocation. To restore service you must repurchase the license and complete verification. You may repurchase a revoked license a maximum of two times. On a third revocation your Commercial Use License eligibility is permanently removed, though your base hosting plan continues unaffected.
False declaration: If CrunchByte determines that your commercial declaration was materially false, a Strike 2 is issued immediately (no Strike 1 for this offense), a $20.00 CAD dishonesty fee is invoiced, and your service is suspended until the fee is paid. A second finding of false declaration results in a Strike 3 and permanent account termination with no refund for any remaining paid period.
All customers are required to acknowledge these License Terms at checkout, without exception. You will be asked to confirm whether your use is personal or commercial before your order is processed. Selecting personal use when your actual use is commercial does not exempt you from the Commercial Use License requirement. CrunchByte may identify unlicensed commercial use at any time, and the consequences described in Section 3 and in the Terms of Service will apply regardless of what was selected at checkout.
If your use case changes after purchase, for example if you begin charging servers for your bot after initially operating personally, you are required to contact CrunchByte and obtain a Commercial Use License before commencing commercial operation. You may not wait until your next billing cycle or renewal to declare a change in use.
Violations of these License Terms are handled under the strike system described in Section 5 of the Terms of Service, with the modifications specific to commercial license violations described in Section 7 of the Terms of Service. CrunchByte reserves the right to investigate suspected license violations at any time and to request evidence of your use case. Failure to cooperate with an investigation may itself be treated as a violation.
If you are unsure whether your use requires a Commercial Use License, contact us before operating and we will help you determine the right license for your situation. Email us at support@crunchbyte.org or open a ticket in our Discord server. We would rather answer your question upfront than deal with a violation later.