FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Short answers about the free app, Étoiles Cloud, privacy and prices. For help with the app, see support.

When can I buy a plan?

Paid Étoiles Cloud plans are opening soon. You cannot buy a plan yet. Request early access and we will email you when they open.

Paid Étoiles Cloud plans are opening soon. You can create your account now and choose a plan when they open.

Now. Choose a plan on the pricing page.

The app and Étoiles Cloud

What is Étoiles?

Étoiles is private document search with cited answers. You ask a question in your own words, and it answers from your documents and points to the passage each part of the answer came from. It comes as a free iPhone and iPad app that runs on the device, and as Étoiles Cloud, a paid workspace on the web and in the app for one person or a team.

Is the iPhone and iPad app really free?

Yes. Everything that runs on your device is free, with no in-app purchases and no subscription. It needs an iPhone or iPad that supports Apple Intelligence, running iOS or iPadOS 27 or later.

Do my documents leave my device?

Not in the free app: indexing, search and answers all run on your iPhone or iPad, and we never receive your documents or questions. In Étoiles Cloud you upload documents to your own workspace, where they are encrypted at rest and processed in memory to search and answer. Your on-device library is never uploaded to Étoiles Cloud.

Privacy and answers

Do you use my documents to train AI models?

No. We do not use your content to train AI models.

How do citations work?

Each answer carries numbered citations. Open one to read the passage it came from, in its document. When your documents do not contain the answer, Étoiles is built to say so instead of guessing. Answers are written by AI and can be wrong, so the source is always there to check.

Which AI writes the answers?

In the free app, Apple Intelligence writes answers on your device. In Étoiles Cloud, a hosted language model from an AI provider we work with under contract writes them, using only the passages found in your workspace. The privacy policy lists the kinds of providers involved.

Plans and prices

How much does Étoiles Cloud cost?

Personal Cloud is $10, €12 or £10 a month, tax included. Business plans are $99 (up to 5 people), $399 (up to 50 people) and $1,499 (up to 200 people) a month, plus tax where it applies. Paying yearly costs 10 times the monthly price, so 2 months are free.

What file types can I add?

In the app: files and PDFs you import, photos and screenshots (the text in them, with their dates and places), scans, and the calendar, reminders and contacts you choose. In Étoiles Cloud: PDF, plain text and Markdown files, up to 10 MB each, uploaded one at a time or as a folder. PDFs need selectable text; scanned PDFs may need OCR first.

What is a passage?

Étoiles splits each document into short sections of about a paragraph or two, called passages, and searches and cites each one. Cloud plans are measured in passages. A printed page is about 2.3 passages, so Personal Cloud's 8,000 passages hold about 3,500 printed pages.

Is Personal Cloud always on?

No. Personal Cloud runs on demand: it wakes when you sign in, so the first search after a quiet spell can take a moment. Business plans are always on.

Can my team use it?

Yes, with a Business plan. Invite people by email, up to 5, 50 or 200 depending on the plan. Readers can search and ask but cannot add or remove documents. Every account signs in with a second step: a code from an authenticator app.

Does Étoiles connect to Google Drive, Gmail or other services?

Not today. You add documents by importing them in the app or uploading them to Étoiles Cloud.

Can I cancel, and do you give refunds?

You can cancel at any time from your account; your workspace keeps working until the end of the period you paid for. If you are not happy, you can have a full refund of your first payment if you ask within 7 days. A refund deletes your workspace and everything in it immediately. Download anything you want to keep first. The refunds page has the details.