Questions, answered honestly.
The friction points worth being clear about — what’s free, what you pay for, what happens if you stop, and how to leave. For numbers, see pricing; for the fine print, the terms.
Do I need an account to build a gallery?
No. The builder runs entirely in your browser — drop in folders of artwork, walk through the result, and export a ZIP, all without signing up. You only need an account when you want to publish to a permanent URL we host.
What does it cost to just build and preview?
Nothing. Building locally with the open-source engine is free forever. A paid subscription only buys hosting: a permanent public URL, always online, with no server setup on your side.
What do I actually pay for?
Hosting, not software. Your subscription keeps your galleries live at a permanent URL, served globally over a CDN, with TLS and storage handled for you. The engine itself is open source and free.
Is there a limit on how many galleries I can publish?
No. Both plans include unlimited galleries. Storage is the only thing we meter: 2 GB on Artist, 10 GB on Studio.
Can I use my own subdomain?
Yes, on the Studio plan. It publishes your galleries under yourname.openvgal.com instead of openvgal.com/view/your-slug.
What happens if my payment fails?
Your galleries stay fully live for a 7-day grace period while our payment provider retries the charge and we email you a link to update billing. If it still isn't resolved after 7 days, galleries go offline behind a friendly 'paused' page — never a generic 404 — so visitors know it's a billing issue, not that you deleted your work.
If I cancel, do I lose my galleries immediately?
No. When you cancel you keep the service until the end of the current billing period. After that, galleries pause, and your files are kept for 30 days. On day 23 we email a final warning; on day 30 the files are permanently deleted. The exact pause and deletion dates are shown in the dashboard when you confirm cancellation.
Can I get my galleries back after they pause?
Yes, instantly, any time within the first 30 days — just update your billing in the payment portal and your galleries come back online with no re-upload needed. After day 30 the files are gone for good, but your account isn't: your address stays reserved for you until day 120, so subscribing again puts you straight back on the same URL with an empty space to rebuild in. After day 120 the account and the address are released.
Can I get a refund?
We don't offer refunds — but you never have to buy blind. The full gallery builder is open source and runs free on your own machine, so you can create, preview, and export a complete gallery before you ever subscribe. A subscription only adds hosting: a permanent public URL, always online, with zero setup. Billing and invoices are handled by our payment provider, and prices exclude VAT and sales tax.
Can I self-host instead of paying?
Yes. The viewer and builder engine is MIT-licensed at github.com/lbartworks/openvgal and is identical to what we serve. You can run it on your own infrastructure forever. Paying us is a convenience choice, not a lock-in — the exit door is always open.
Is the hosted version different from the open-source one?
No. We serve the same engine you can self-host. We charge for hosting and tooling around it, not for a different or 'pro' build of the software.
Who owns the work I publish?
You do. You publish your own original photography or artwork, and you keep it. We host your files; we don't claim rights to them.
Where are my files stored, and how does deletion work?
Published galleries are stored on secure cloud storage with encrypted nightly backups. When your files are permanently deleted at day 30 of a lapse — or on a data-deletion request — your backup copies are purged within 24 hours, so your data doesn't outlive the published retention policy. Your account record itself is kept until day 120 so you can come back to the same address, then erased.