Terms

Terms of Sale and License Agreement – GateLab

Last updated: October 7th, 2026

These terms apply when you buy, download or use GateLab, a macOS application for FPGA design, synthesis, simulation and programming, together with its license keys and the websites fpga.ch, license.fpga.ch, downloads.fpga.ch and updates.fpga.ch.

1. Who we are

GateLab is developed and offered by:

Richard Klingler
Homrigstrasse 1a
5304 Endingen
Switzerland
Email: support AT fpga DOT ch

2. Our reseller: Paddle

Orders are processed by our online reseller Paddle.com. Paddle is the Merchant of Record for all orders: Paddle handles payment, invoicing, sales tax/VAT and payment-related customer service. Your purchase contract for payment is with Paddle, under Paddle's Buyer Terms. Your invoice and the charge on your statement come from Paddle.

These terms govern your license to use GateLab, which we grant to you.

3. Editions

  • Standard – the full development workflow: editor, toolchain management, build, programming, simulation, board and core libraries, and the Claude integration.
  • Rpo – everything in Standard plus the hardware debug features (boundary-scan pin view, embedded logic analyzer and related tools).
  • Beta and trial licenses – free, time-limited licenses for testing. They end on the date stated in the license and may be withdrawn at any time. Beta builds may contain errors and stop working after their expiry date.

The current feature list of each edition is shown on https://license.fpga.ch/buy. You can upgrade a Standard license to Pro at any time for the price shown there.

4. License

When you buy GateLab, we grant you a non-exclusive, non-transferable, perpetual license to use the version you bought, under these terms.

  • Number of Macs. One license may be activated on the number of Macs stated in your license email (normally 2), used by you. You can move it by deactivating it on one Mac and activating it on another.
  • Organisations. A license bought by an organisation may be used by one person at a time. For several users, buy one license per user or contact us.
  • Updates. Your license includes the updates we publish for the version you bought [ALTERNATIVE if you sell update periods: "published during 12 months after your purchase; after that you keep using the last version covered, and you may renew the update period"]. We may offer future major versions as a paid upgrade.
  • Not permitted: sharing, publishing or reselling license keys; circumventing or disabling the license check; renting or sublicensing GateLab; removing copyright notices. Decompiling or reverse engineering is not permitted except where the law expressly allows it.

All rights in GateLab not expressly granted remain with us.

5. Activation and online check

GateLab activates your license online at license.fpga.ch and checks it again every few days. GateLab keeps working offline for up to 14 days after the last successful check. Section 4 of the privacy policy explains which data this involves.

If the license is not valid (expired, refunded, revoked, or not activated), GateLab opens your projects read-only: you can view and save your work, but building, simulation, programming and the agent are disabled until a valid license is entered.

6. Third-party software and services

  • Toolchain. GateLab downloads and uses open-source tools (for example Yosys, nextpnr, Icarus Verilog, openFPGALoader, openocd), board packs and IP cores. They are licensed by their authors under their own licenses (for example ISC, MIT, BSD or GPL), which you accept when using them. They are not part of the GateLab license and are provided as they are. Cores you add to a project carry their own license, which GateLab shows to you.
  • Claude. The Claude integration uses Anthropic's Claude Code, which you install and sign in to with your own Anthropic account. Your use of Claude is governed by your agreement with Anthropic and is billed by Anthropic. We do not receive your Anthropic credentials or your conversations. AI-generated designs, code and suggestions may be wrong; you are responsible for checking them before you rely on them or program them into hardware.
  • Vendor tools and trademarks. FPGA device names and trademarks belong to their owners. GateLab is not affiliated with or endorsed by them.

7. Hardware

GateLab programs FPGAs and, in Pro, can drive device pins (boundary-scan EXTEST) and capture internal signals. Wrong designs, wrong pin assignments or wrong settings can damage boards, connected circuits or devices. Check your design, constraints and wiring before programming or driving pins. Use GateLab only with hardware you are allowed to modify.

8. Warranty

We test GateLab carefully, but software is never free of errors. GateLab is provided "as is". We do not warrant that it will run without interruption or errors, that it supports every device or board, or that results produced with it (bitstreams, timing reports, simulations)
are correct. If GateLab does not work for you, see the refund policy.

9. Liability

To the extent permitted by law, we are not liable for indirect or consequential damage, lost profit, lost data, damaged hardware or production losses arising from the use of GateLab, and our total liability is limited to the amount you paid for your license. This does not limit liability for damage caused intentionally or by gross negligence, or liability that cannot be limited by law. Mandatory consumer protection rules of your country of residence remain unaffected.

10. Termination

The license ends automatically if you materially breach these terms, for example by sharing your license key. We may then revoke the key. Licenses are also revoked when the purchase is refunded or charged back.

11. Changes

We may update these terms. The version in force when you bought your license applies to that purchase; changes apply to later purchases and upgrades. The date at the top shows the current version.

12. Governing law and jurisdiction

These terms are governed by Swiss law, excluding the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. Place of jurisdiction is Baden, Switzerland. If you are a consumer, you may also bring a claim in the courts of your place of residence, and mandatory consumer law of your country continues to apply.

13. Contact

Questions about GateLab or your license: support AT fpga DOT ch
Questions about payment, invoices or VAT: Paddle at https://paddle.net