RouteGuard Terms of Service

Last updated: 24 September 2026

1. What RouteGuard is (and isn’t)

RouteGuard is software that helps you deploy and manage a personal WireGuard VPN server on cloud infrastructure you rent yourself, in your own name, billed directly to you by your cloud provider.

RouteGuard is not a VPN provider. We don’t operate the server, carry your traffic, or have access to what passes through it. You own and control the server at all times. We provide the software that configures it, plus ongoing support and updates, for a subscription fee.

2. What you’re paying for

Your subscription covers: the RouteGuard software, deployment automation, ad-blocking DNS configuration, ongoing updates, and support. It does not cover your cloud server costs — that’s a separate charge from your cloud provider (e.g. Hetzner, DigitalOcean, Vultr), paid directly by you, on your own account.

2A. Using your licence

Your licence is for your own use, on your own devices. You may not publish your licence key or subscription ID, sell or transfer them to anyone else, or use your subscription to provide RouteGuard to others. If we find your key being used in breach of this section, we may replace it with a new one (the old key stops working; you can get the new one through licence recovery in the app) or suspend your subscription under §4.

2B. Updates

Each time RouteGuard starts, it checks whether a newer version is available and offers to install it. You can choose not to update, but we support only the latest version, and older versions may stop working with our licence server or with your cloud provider’s systems. Updates may change how features work.

3. Cloud account access

To deploy your server, RouteGuard requires an API token from your cloud provider account, which you generate yourself. This token never leaves your device — it is not transmitted to or held on any RouteGuard-controlled server, and is stored locally using your operating system’s own credential storage (Windows Credential Manager). How narrowly that token can be scoped depends on which cloud provider you use, and this differs meaningfully between them:

• DigitalOcean supports fine-grained token permissions with no billing or account-level scopes available at all — a DigitalOcean token cannot reach your billing or account information, by DigitalOcean’s own design.
• Hetzner offers binary scoping only (read-only or read+write), limited to a single project — within that project, the token has full read+write access.
• Vultr does not currently offer token scoping of any kind — a Vultr API token carries the same access as your full account, restricted only by an optional IP allowlist you set yourself.

In every case, what the token can do is limited by your cloud provider’s own permission system, not by RouteGuard — RouteGuard’s software only uses the access your provider’s token already grants it, and cannot expand on that.

We store only what’s needed to operate your subscription; the Privacy Policy lists exactly what that is. We never store, view, or have access to your server’s contents or your VPN traffic.

4. Your responsibilities

• You are responsible for your cloud provider account and any costs billed by them.
• You are responsible for keeping your cloud account credentials/API tokens secure.
• You’re responsible for complying with your cloud provider’s own terms of service.
• Using a VPN, or particular VPN or ad-blocking features, is restricted or illegal in some countries. You are responsible for checking and following the laws that apply where you live and where your server is located.

You agree not to use RouteGuard, or the server it deploys, to send unsolicited bulk messages, distribute malware, infringe copyright or other intellectual property rights, or engage in any activity that is illegal under the laws applicable to you or to your cloud provider. If we receive a credible abuse report — including a DMCA notice or equivalent — about traffic from your server, or otherwise become aware of a violation of this section or §2A, we may suspend your RouteGuard subscription (locking further deployments and rotations) while we investigate, and may terminate your subscription if the violation is confirmed. Suspension under this section does not affect your ownership of, or your separate billing relationship with, your cloud provider — you retain the ability to destroy your own server at any time regardless of your RouteGuard subscription status.

5. Price, billing, cancellation and refunds

Price. RouteGuard costs US$3 per month or US$30 per year, paid through PayPal. This is the full price: we don’t add any taxes or fees on top. Your cloud provider bills you separately for your server (see §2). Your licence key is shown as soon as PayPal confirms your payment.

Automatic renewal. Your subscription renews automatically at the end of each month or year, and PayPal charges you then, until you cancel. There is no minimum term. If we ever change the price, we’ll email you at least 30 days before the new price applies to you, so you can cancel first if you want to.

How to cancel. You can cancel at any time in PayPal: go to Settings → Payments → Manage automatic payments, choose JackalNode, then Cancel. PayPal’s menu names can vary by country; PayPal’s help pages have the current steps. You can also email us and we’ll cancel it for you.

What cancelling does. Cancelling stops future charges and immediately locks new deployments and server rotations in the app. It does not destroy your existing server: that keeps running, and keeps being billed by your cloud provider, until you destroy it yourself, which you can do at any time. Cancelling RouteGuard doesn’t close your cloud provider account.

Refunds.

• First 30 days: if you’re not satisfied within 30 days of first subscribing, we’ll refund your RouteGuard subscription fee in full, no questions asked.
• Annual plan, after that: if you cancel, we’ll refund the whole months remaining after the month you cancel in, if you ask.
• To ask for a refund, email us. We pay refunds through PayPal within 30 days of your request. Refunds don’t cover your cloud provider’s charges.

6. No warranty / limitation of liability

RouteGuard is provided as-is. We do our best to keep the software reliable and secure, but we can’t guarantee it will be fault-free or uninterrupted. We are not liable for:

• Issues arising from your cloud provider’s infrastructure, pricing, or policies
• Loss of data on your own server
• Any consequence of you sharing your cloud credentials or API tokens outside what RouteGuard requires

7. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms as the product evolves. Material changes will be communicated to active subscribers by email before taking effect.

8. Governing law

These terms are governed by the law named in the “Local law” section at the end of this document. If you use RouteGuard as a consumer, nothing in these terms removes any protection you have under the mandatory consumer laws of the country where you live.

Local law: South Africa

• Supplier: RouteGuard is supplied by Nathan Louter, a sole proprietor trading as JackalNode, in South Africa. Email: jackalnode@gmail.com. Website: https://routeguard-licence-backend.onrender.com.
• Governing law: the laws of the Republic of South Africa.
• Cooling-off: if the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002 gives you a 7-day cooling-off right (section 44), our 30-day refund in §5 already covers it.
• Regulatory notice: If you are located in South Africa, you may be separately required to notify ICASA (the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa) that you are operating a private electronic communications network, under the ECA Exemption Regulations (GN 31289 of 29 July 2008, regulation 6(2)(c)) — commonly referred to as a Form M / PECN notification. This is your own regulatory obligation as the operator of the server you deploy, separate from RouteGuard’s obligations, and RouteGuard does not file it on your behalf.

9. Contact

jackalnode@gmail.com

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