Licence terms

Version 2026-09-28. Changes in this version: section 1 now names ServerMaid Ltd (company number 17485676) as the company that sells ServerMaid. Changes in version 2026-09-25.2: section 1 named the company behind ServerMaid. Changes in version 2026-09-25: section 3 now says that ServerMaid does nothing until a valid licence is installed, and becomes a read-only adviser only after a licence that was valid has expired. Changes in version 2026-09-24: wording only; section 2 now describes the single-server licence as priced per server for each twelve-month term instead of "pay once". Changes in version 2026-09-23: the single-server licence now covers twelve months and is renewable (sections 2, 4, 6 and 12); Agency packs of twelve added (section 2). You accept these terms when you buy; the version accepted is recorded with your order. Questions: support@servermaid.com.

1. Who these terms are between

These terms apply to every licence bought from servermaid.com and to your use of the ServerMaid software, its updates and this website. "ServerMaid", "we" and "us" mean ServerMaid Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales (company number 17485676) whose registered office is at 61 Bridge Street, Kington, HR5 3DJ. "You" means the person or organisation named on the order. If you buy for a company, you confirm you are entitled to accept these terms on its behalf. The version of these terms shown at checkout is the version that applies to that purchase, and it is recorded with the order.

2. The two kinds of licence

Single-server licence. Priced per server, for each twelve-month term, for the modules you choose. The licence covers one server for twelve months from purchase, including every update released in that time. It can be renewed for a further twelve months from your account at servermaid.com/account/ at the renewal price shown there; the renewed licence file is downloaded from the account and installed on the server. When a licence lapses, the software becomes a read-only adviser on that server: the modules stop making changes and updates stop installing until the licence is renewed. Everything already built keeps running.

Agency subscription. An annual subscription for three, six or twelve servers (larger agencies add further packs of twelve servers on the twelve-server tier, each pack priced at that tier's rate), billed twelve months in advance at the monthly rate shown, and renewing for a further twelve months unless cancelled before the renewal date. Every module, every update and the agency features (security drift alerts, priority support) are included while you are subscribed.

Existing websites. Nothing ServerMaid has built is ever deliberately disabled because a licence or subscription ends. Every website, database, backup schedule and certificate renewal keeps running.

3. What a licence unlocks

Licensed modules make changes to the server: Server setup builds and repairs the server; Websites creates sites with SSL; Backups runs and restores backups; Staging sites and Multiple PHP lines add their extras. Each module needs a licence that covers it and the server it runs on.

ServerMaid needs a valid licence before it does anything. Until a licence is installed and confirmed for the server, it shows only the licence screen: it does not inspect, check or change the server. A licence that is revoked, issued for another server or unreadable counts as no licence.

After a licence that was valid on a server has expired, ServerMaid becomes a read-only adviser on that server: inspecting the server, pre-flight checks, previewing changes, the health score with its reasons, status, validation, reports, log retention and certificate renewals all keep working, and everything already built keeps running. Only new changes wait until a licence that covers them is installed.

4. Activation and the server limit

A licence covers the number of servers stated in your licence file, for the period stated (twelve months from purchase for a single-server licence, unless renewed), including the modules and features listed in the file.

A licence is activated per server. Installing the licence file registers that server with servermaid.com, which counts it against the licence's server limit. Server setup and repair confirm the activation with servermaid.com each time they run, so they need an internet connection. A licence already active on its full number of servers cannot be activated on another until one is released.

A licence is locked to the server, or servers, it activates on. You cannot release or move it yourself, from ServerMaid, from your account or from the command line. If a server has been replaced or has failed, write to support@servermaid.com with your order reference and we will free the slot so the licence can activate on the replacement. We may decline repeated moves that look like one licence being used to build more servers than it covers.

5. What we record to enforce the limit

To enforce the server limit, servermaid.com records each server's machine identifier, host name, ServerMaid version and the public address each activation and confirmation came from, together with the licence id. Nothing else leaves the server: no website contents, database contents, logs or telemetry. The privacy notice describes this and what the shop stores about your order.

6. Updates

ServerMaid checks a signed update feed and installs only updates we have signed. A single-server licence includes every update released while it is in date; once it lapses, updates stop installing on that server until it is renewed, and the version already installed keeps running as a read-only adviser. An Agency subscription includes every update while it is active. An update never disables anything already built on your server. We may release new modules or features that need a separate licence; anything you have already licensed stays licensed.

7. Agency subscriptions: billing, renewal and cancellation

An Agency subscription is charged twelve months in advance at the monthly rate shown at checkout, through our payment provider, Stripe. It renews automatically for a further twelve months at the then-current price for your tier unless you cancel before the renewal date. We e-mail the address on the order before renewal.

To cancel, write to support@servermaid.com from the e-mail address on the order before the renewal date. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the paid year; there is no charge to cancel and no refund of the unused part of a year except as set out in section 11. At the end of the paid year the licence lapses to read-only and everything already built keeps running. To move to a larger tier when you add servers, write to support and we will arrange the change.

If a payment fails or is reversed, we will tell you and try again. If it is not settled, the licence is withdrawn as described in section 12.

8. Support

Support is by e-mail at support@servermaid.com and is answered by the people who build the product, on business days. Agency subscriptions include priority support: their messages go to the front of the queue. Support covers installing and using ServerMaid and the servers it builds. It does not cover writing or debugging your own applications, designing your network, or administering software ServerMaid did not install, although we will point you in the right direction where we can.

9. What you may not do

• Share licence files outside your organisation, or let anyone else activate with them.
• Use one licence to set up more servers than it covers, by moving it between servers or otherwise.
• Copy an activated server image to run as a second server under the same licence.
• Remove, alter or work around the signatures, activation or licence checks in the software.
• Reverse engineer, decompile or modify the software, except to the extent the law lets you do so regardless of this clause.
• Resell, rent or sublicense ServerMaid, or bundle it with a service, without a written reseller agreement with us.
• Use ServerMaid on a server you are not entitled to administer, or for anything unlawful.

10. Your responsibilities

ServerMaid changes server configuration on your instruction, after showing you what it will do. You are responsible for reviewing the preview before you apply changes, especially on a server that already hosts something; for having the right to administer the server and for complying with your hosting provider's terms; for the websites, applications and content you put on the server; for keeping your account credentials and licence files safe; and for keeping backups and checking that they restore. The Backups module helps with the last of these but does not replace your own judgement about what needs protecting and where copies should live.

11. Third-party software

ServerMaid downloads and installs software published by others: Windows features from Microsoft, PHP from windows.php.net, MySQL from Oracle or MariaDB from the MariaDB Foundation, and certificates from Let's Encrypt. Each is subject to its own licence, which applies to you when it is installed. We verify what we download against the publisher's fingerprints or signatures and never install a package we cannot verify, but we do not control those projects, their licences, their availability or their security, and we are not responsible for them.

12. Refunds

If ServerMaid does not work on your server within 30 days of purchase and support cannot put it right, you can have a refund. Write to support@servermaid.com with your order reference. This applies to a first single-server licence and to the first year of an Agency subscription. For an Agency renewal, cancel before the renewal date rather than asking for a refund afterwards. Refunds go back to the payment method used. A refunded licence is withdrawn; anything already built on your servers keeps running.

If you buy as a consumer, nothing here reduces your statutory rights. By downloading and activating the software within any cooling-off period you ask us to deliver it straight away and accept that the cooling-off right is replaced by the 30-day promise above.

13. Withdrawing a licence

We may withdraw a licence that is found in use beyond these terms, for example one that has been shared, moved repeatedly, cloned or altered, or one whose payment has failed or been reversed. We will tell you why. A withdrawn licence drops the affected modules to read-only; anything already configured on your servers keeps running. Serious or repeated breaches may lead us to refuse further sales.

14. Ownership

The ServerMaid software, its updates, its documentation and the servermaid.com website belong to us or our licensors and are protected by copyright and other intellectual property law. A licence gives you the right to use the software on the terms above; it does not transfer ownership. The third-party software ServerMaid installs remains the property of its publishers. Anything you create on your server is yours.

15. Warranties and liability

We provide the software and support with reasonable care and skill, and the product does what this website says it does. Beyond that, and to the extent the law allows, the software is provided as it is: we do not promise it will be free of errors, that it will suit every server or application, or that third-party software it installs will remain available.

Nothing in these terms limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud, or for anything else the law does not allow us to limit. Subject to that, our total liability to you in connection with a licence, however arising, is limited to the amount you paid for that licence, and we are not liable for loss of data, loss of profit or business, or for indirect or consequential loss. Keep backups.

16. Privacy

The privacy notice explains what this website stores when you buy, what the software sends to servermaid.com, and how to see, correct or delete the details we hold about you.

17. Changes

We may update these terms for future purchases; the version you accepted applies to the purchase it was accepted with, and a renewal is made under the version current at the time we tell you about it. We may change prices, tiers and modules for future purchases. The software changes through updates, but an update never disables anything already built on your server.

18. Law and disputes

These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have jurisdiction over any dispute. If you are a consumer living elsewhere, you keep the protection of the law of the country you live in and may bring a claim there. If any part of these terms is found unenforceable, the rest still applies.

19. Contact

Support and licensing: support@servermaid.com. Privacy: privacy@servermaid.com.