Why Pine Shortcut has no ads, and how it stays free and paid
Pine Shortcut has no ads. This page explains what the program does and does not send, and how a Pro plan at $9.99 per year pays for the service.
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Pine Shortcut has no ads: not in the program and not on this website. That is a deliberate choice. This page explains the reasoning, what we do and do not collect, and how the service pays for itself without advertising.
No ads, anywhere
The program never shows ads and never changes what you write. The website does not run advertising networks or advertising cookies, so reading these guides does not build an ad profile of you. The Free plan is a complete, ad-free tool for one person on one PC, limited to 5 snippets.
Paid plans do not exist to remove ads, because there are none. They exist to add capacity and features.
What we do not collect
The program works on your PC. The text you type, the contents of your windows and your clipboard are never sent to Pine Shortcut's servers. Detection of triggers and hotkeys happens locally, and we do not store or transmit your keystrokes.
What the server does hold is what you choose to save: your account email and the snippets you store for sync, plus a random device ID, the program version and the operating system name needed for updates and plan limits. The privacy policy lists this in full. Because snippets are stored on our server so that your linked PCs can receive them, do not save passwords or card numbers in them.
What the Free plan includes
- Expanding your snippets with a prefix and a trigger in your Windows programs.
- Up to 5 snippets.
- One linked PC.
- Offline typing. Expanding snippets does not need an internet connection; the network is used for login and sync.
In practice, the differences between the plans are the number of snippets and devices. The Free plan gives you 5 snippets on one PC. Pro removes the snippet limit and adds account sync and multiple devices. Multi lowers the price per PC when you buy several seats. The Free plan is meant to be a usable tool, not a short demonstration. Many people never need more.
How the service pays for itself
Pro costs $9.99 per year and includes unlimited snippets, account sync and linking more than one device to your account. That subscription is our only source of income: we do not sell data and we do not sell advertising. The Multi plan lowers the price per PC when you link several computers, which is useful for an office or for a person who works on a desktop and a laptop. Prices are shown in US dollars; the final amount, including taxes, is shown at checkout. Payments are handled by Paddle, which acts as merchant of record.
You can cancel any time from the link in your Paddle receipt and keep paid features until the end of the period you paid for. If Pine Shortcut does not suit you, a refund is available within 14 days of purchase or renewal, and your account returns to the Free plan afterwards, with your existing snippets kept.
Is Pro worth it?
The honest answer depends on how you use the tool. If five snippets on one PC cover your needs, the Free plan is enough and you owe us nothing. If you keep a larger library, work on more than one computer or want your snippets synced, Pro is the plan for that. If you are unsure, use the Free plan for a few weeks first. Upgrading later takes only a moment and your snippets stay where they are.
Thank you for supporting Pine Shortcut. Your subscription helps us keep improving the program.
We would rather you used the program happily on the Free plan than felt pressured into upgrading. If a colleague or a customer asks how Pine Shortcut pays for itself without ads, this short answer, saved as a snippet, explains it in one breath.
Pine Shortcut has no ads. It is paid for by an optional Pro subscription. The program never sends what you type to our servers.
Why we chose this model
Advertising would mean tracking readers or interrupting writers, and a tool that sits under your keyboard should do neither. A free plan with a small limit, paired with an optional paid plan, lets students and occasional users have the tool while people who rely on it pay for the service they use. If you have comments on this balance, write to contact@pineshortcut.com. We read every message.