Against the rent

One-Time-Purchase AI Software Still Exists

The short answer. Somewhere along the way, software stopped being something you buy and became something you rent — $20 here, $29 there, forever, for everything. Fred is built the old way on purpose: $99, once, for a full AI assistant installed on your own computer. Perpetual licence. A year of updates. No seats, no tiers, no monthly anything. This page explains how that's economically possible without tricks — and exactly what the licence says.

The trick that isn't one

How $99-once can be real

AI subscriptions bundle two different things into one monthly bill: the software and the metered thinking. The thinking genuinely costs money every time — which is the honest half of why everything became a subscription. The dishonest half is that bundling lets a vendor charge you the heavy-user average, add margin, and keep you captive.

Fred unbundles them. The $99 buys the software: the assistant, the dashboard, sixteen configured specialist agents, the Android app, the workflows, the owner's guide. The thinking is bring-your-own-key: billed directly by your chosen AI provider — Claude, OpenAI, or Google Gemini, or free-per-call with a local model via Ollama — at their rates, with no markup from us, and a real-time cost tracker on the dashboard so the meter is always in view. We don't resell compute, so we don't need your monthly payment. That's the entire trick.

The licence, in plain words

What you actually own

Perpetual personal licence — including use in running your own business. It doesn't expire, time out, or phone home for permission to keep working.
One machine at a time, transferable. Reinstalling on the same computer is covered; moving to a new computer means releasing the old machine in Fred's settings (or via support) and activating the new one.
A year of updates included. After that, your Fred keeps working — the updates window ends, the software doesn't.
14-day refund window. If it isn't what these pages said it was, you get your money back.
One optional extra, ever: Fred Family (+$99 one-time, unlocked inside Fred) — private PIN-locked rooms for the household and the Beacon locator. That's the entire upsell catalogue.

Why ownership compounds

What the rent never buys you

Your data stays yours. Files, memory, and credentials never leave your machine. A subscription's memory of you lives in its cloud and dies with your account; Fred's lives on your disk.
Your provider stays swappable. BYOK means the day a provider raises prices or retires a model, you switch from the dashboard — assistant, memory, and workflows intact.
Your costs stay visible. The dashboard shows real spend on your own key. Honest note from our own cost page: light use often lands at a few dollars a month; heavy automation can exceed a subscription — the difference is you're watching it happen and holding the dials.
The five-year math: a $20/month tool is $1,200 over five years, plus whatever your data is worth. Fred is $99 plus a meter you control.

The honest asterisks

Where money still moves

AI usage is real money. One-time purchase does not mean free intelligence — your provider bills your key for what you use. Our BYOK cost page lays out the bands without varnish.
Requirements: Windows 10/11 (x64) or Ubuntu-class Linux (x64), ~15 GB free disk during install, internet connection required. Phone app is Android; any phone can text Fred over WhatsApp or Telegram.
Payment is Stripe, directly. Six Days West Ltd (Ohio, USA) is the seller of record; Stripe processes and stores card details; your licence key arrives by email in minutes.

Pricing

Buy it. Own it. Done.

$99one-time

Every agent, every workflow, the dashboard, the Android app, and the owner's guide — from day one. No subscription. Bring your own AI key. 14-day refund window. One machine at a time.

Get Fred — $99

One-time purchase · licence key by email in minutes · 14-day refund window

FAQ

Questions people ask

How can AI software be one-time when AI costs money to run?

By separating the two honestly. The $99 buys the software — the assistant, dashboard, agents, phone app. The AI thinking is metered by your own provider on your own key, at their rates, with no markup from us. We don't resell compute, so we don't need your monthly payment.

What exactly does the licence include?

A perpetual personal licence (including use in running your own business), one machine at a time, transferable when you change computers, with one year of updates included and a 14-day refund window.

What happens after the first year?

Your Fred keeps working — the licence is perpetual, not a timer. The included updates cover your first year; the software does not stop or nag when it ends.

Are there seats, tiers, or upsells?

One product at $99 with everything included from day one. The single optional extra is Fred Family (+$99 one-time, unlocked inside Fred) for households that want PIN-locked rooms and the Beacon locator.

Why do most AI products refuse this model?

Because bundled compute plus subscription billing is a better business for them — recurring revenue and lock-in. It's just not obviously a better deal for you. We think software you own, plus a meter you control, is the honest shape.

Before you go

Not ready to spend $99? Take the honest guide instead.

The Straight-Answers Guide to Owning Your Own AI — every hard question on these pages, answered without the sales voice. Free, by email.

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