Terms of service

1. Who you are agreeing with

These terms are between you and Melih Toksari, an independent software developer (“we”, “us”), who builds and operates MergeBell and this website. By installing or using the app, or by using mergebell.app, you agree to them. If you do not, don't use the app — that is the whole remedy.

Contact for anything in this document: [email protected].

2. What the service is

MergeBell is an independent iPhone client for GitLab. It signs in to your own GitLab account on gitlab.com or on a self-managed instance with your permission, and uses GitLab’s public API to show your To-Dos, merge requests, pipelines and issues and to carry out the actions you choose — comment, approve, merge, retry and the rest. Optional push alerts are checked by our alert server with a separate read-only key.

MergeBell is not affiliated, endorsed, sponsored, or approved with or by GitLab Inc.GITLAB is a trademark of GitLab Inc. in the United States and other countries and regions, and is used here only to describe what the app connects to.

3. Eligibility and your GitLab account

You must be at least 13 years old, and old enough to enter a contract where you live. There is noMergeBell account to create — you sign in with GitLab, and your GitLab account remains governed by your agreement with whoever runs your GitLab instance.

You are responsible for:

• having the right to access the GitLab instances and projects you connect, and following your organisation’s policies for them;
• the actions you take through the app — an approval or a merge from MergeBell is the same action as one taken in GitLab’s web interface;
• keeping your GitLab account, your tokens and your device secure.

4. Free, Pro, and how billing works

MergeBell has a free tier that covers the review loop — the inbox, review, approve and merge, pipelines and To-Do alerts. Pro adds faster alerts, pipeline watches, Live Activities, review tools and unlimited accounts at $4.99 per month or$14.99 per year. New subscribers can start the yearly plan with a first month for $0.99, and it renews at $14.99 a year after that. There is no weekly plan and no free trial. Prices are in US dollars and may differ in your local storefront.

• Payment is taken by Apple, not by us, through your App Store account. We never see your payment details.
• Subscriptions renew automatically until you cancel. Apple charges the renewal within 24 hours of the end of the current period.
• Cancel any time in the iPhone’s Settings → your name → Subscriptions. Cancel at least 24 hours before the period ends to avoid the next charge. Cancelling stops the renewal; you keep Pro until the period you paid for runs out.
• The introductory month is paid, not a trial. It is offered once, to new subscribers, on the yearly plan: Apple charges $0.99 up front for the first month, then $14.99 for each year after it unless you cancel.
• Refunds are Apple's to give, under Apple's policy, atreportaproblem.apple.com. We cannot issue them, but tell us if something went wrong and we will help you make the case.

We may change prices for future periods. An existing subscription keeps its price until it renews, and Apple notifies you of an increase and asks you to agree before it takes effect.

5. Acceptable use

Don't do these things, all of which are either unlawful or unkind:

• Access GitLab instances, projects or data you have no permission to access.
• Attempt to bypass the paywall, the free-tier limits, or Apple's subscription system; or redistribute, resell or sublicense the app.
• Reverse-engineer, decompile or tamper with the app or the alert server, except where the law says you may.
• Use the app or the alert server to overload GitLab or to degrade the service for other people.
• Break GitLab’s terms, or your organisation’s, while using the app.

If you do any of this, we may suspend or end your access. Where we can, we will tell you why first.

6. GitLab and other third parties

MergeBell depends on GitLab’s API. If GitLab changes, restricts or withdraws parts of it, or your administrator limits it, features may change or stop working, and that is outside our control.

The app also relies on Apple (distribution, payments, push notifications), Hetzner (the server in Germany on which we run the alert server ourselves), RevenueCat (subscription status) and Google Analytics 4 with Firebase Crashlytics (anonymous product analytics and crash reports). Their role is described in the privacy policy.

7. Availability, beta builds and changes

Builds distributed through TestFlight are beta software: they may be incomplete, may contain bugs, and may lose local data between versions. Feedback is welcome and is treated as non-confidential.

We aim to keep the app and the alert server running, but we do not promise uninterrupted availability, and we do not guarantee that an alert will always arrive or arrive on time.Do not rely on MergeBell as your only way of noticing something business-critical, such as a failed production deploy.

We may add, change or remove features. If a change removes something material that you are paying for, we will say so in the app before it happens.

8. Who owns what

We own the app, this website, the MergeBell name and its design. You get a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable licence to use the app while these terms are in force.

Your code and your GitLab data stay yours (or your organisation’s). We claim no rights over anything you read, write or merge through the app.

9. No warranty

The app is provided “as is”. To the extent the law allows, we disclaim implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. We do not warrant that the app is error-free or that alerts are exhaustive.

10. Limitation of liability

To the extent the law allows, we are not liable for indirect or consequential loss, lost profits, or loss of data. Our total liability for any claim relating to the app is limited to the amount you paid us for it in the twelve months before the claim — which for a free user is zero.

Nothing here excludes liability that cannot lawfully be excluded, including for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or for fraud.

11. Ending it

You can stop at any time: cancel any subscription with Apple, delete your data as described onthe deletion page, and remove the app. We may end or suspend access if you breach these terms, or if we discontinue the service — in which case we will give reasonable notice and you will not be charged for a period you cannot use.

12. Law and disputes

If you are a consumer, you keep the protections of the mandatory consumer law of the country you live in, and you may bring proceedings there. Disputes we cannot settle by email are otherwise subject to the courts of the place where the operator is established. Please email first.

13. Apple

These terms are between you and us, not Apple. Apple’s standard Licensed Application End User License Agreement also applies to your use of the app downloaded from the App Store; where the two conflict on a matter Apple’s agreement covers, Apple’s agreement wins.

14. Changes to these terms

We will update the date at the top of this page when these terms change, and flag anything material in the app before it takes effect. Continuing to use MergeBell after that means you accept the revised terms.