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Owlette

Owlette is a desktop AI assistant, sold as a monthly subscription. There are two tiers — Core and Pro — and billing is per machine, not per person.

This page covers Owlette-specific activation, the difference between Core and Pro, how per-machine billing works, and what to know about bringing your own LLM keys.

How Owlette fits into TEC ID

Owlette is one license, multiple machines. Each machine you install Owlette on counts as a seat and is billed monthly. You can add or remove machines from your dashboard at any time — adding starts a prorated charge, removing stops billing at the end of the current period.

Compared to perpetual licenses like Moonshine and Starlight, the main differences are:

  • You pay every month while you use it.
  • You can cancel any time; the app stops working at the end of the period you've already paid for.
  • There's no current-period refund when you cancel (see Billing → refunds).

If you're new to TEC ID, start at Getting started.

Core vs Pro

Feature Core Pro
Personal assistant on this machine Yes Yes
Access to your local files and notes Yes Yes
Built-in models for everyday tasks Yes Yes
Roost — shared team server — Yes
Cortex — bring your own LLM keys — Yes
Priority support — Yes
Price $10 / month / machine $50 / month / machine
Minimum machines 1 3 (so $150/mo minimum)

When to pick Core

You want Owlette on your own machine, working with your local files, your notes, your day-to-day. You don't need it to talk to anyone else's Owlette.

When to pick Pro

You want Owlette to be part of a team — multiple machines coordinating, sharing context, working in shared spaces. Or you want to bring your own GPT/Claude/Gemini keys for higher-tier models. Pro requires at least 3 machines because Roost is a team feature; a 1-person Roost server doesn't add much.

You can mix tiers across a team, but Roost only works between Pro machines.

Buying Owlette

  • Core: $10 USD per machine per month.
  • Pro: $50 USD per machine per month, minimum 3 machines ($150 USD per month total).
  • Trial: 14 days, fully featured (including Pro features), no card required.

Buy at owlette.app. You'll receive a welcome email with a magic-link to TEC ID and an OWLT-... license key. See Billing for how purchases, payments, and invoices work.

After the trial ends, you'll be asked to enter a card and choose a tier. If you don't, the app stops working until you do.

Activating Owlette

  1. Install Owlette from your TEC ID dashboard.
  2. Launch the app. On first launch you'll see a sign-in screen.
  3. Paste your OWLT-... license key. Or alternatively, sign in with your TEC ID email and pick the license from a list — Owlette can claim it without you needing to copy the key.
  4. Click Activate. Owlette talks to TEC ID and reserves a seat for this machine.

Each install of Owlette is one machine. To add another machine, install Owlette on it and activate the same way — your dashboard will show both, and your bill goes up accordingly.

[Screenshot: Owlette first-launch sign-in screen]

Billing in detail

Owlette is billed monthly per machine, with proration when you add or remove machines mid-cycle.

  • Adding a machine mid-cycle charges a prorated amount for the remainder of the period.
  • Removing a machine mid-cycle stops billing for that machine at the end of the current period — there's no current-period refund.
  • Switching a machine from Core to Pro (or vice versa) takes effect at the start of the next period.
  • Annual billing is available with a small discount (about two months free). Switch to annual from your dashboard at the next renewal.

For full payment behavior — failed payments, past-due banner, updating your card — see Billing → what if a payment fails.

Bring your own LLM keys (Cortex)

Cortex is the Owlette Pro feature that lets you plug in your own API keys from third-party LLM providers. When you've configured a Cortex key for, say, Anthropic Claude, Owlette will route certain requests through your key instead of through TEC's built-in models.

A few things to know:

  • Your key, your bill. The LLM provider bills you directly for your usage. We don't see or proxy through your account.
  • Keys are stored on your machine, encrypted, the same way your license token is. They don't leave your computer.
  • Pro only. Cortex isn't available on Core.

This is for power users who want specific models or who already have an OpenAI / Anthropic / Google Cloud account they'd rather use. If that's not you, the built-in models are fine — that's what they're for.

Roost — the team server (Pro only)

Roost is Owlette's team mode. Multiple Pro machines on the same team share a Roost server hosted by TEC. Through Roost:

  • Owlettes on different machines can share context (e.g., "the team is shipping next Thursday" applies to everyone's assistant).
  • One person can leave a note for another's Owlette to pick up.
  • Workflows can span machines (start a task on your laptop, finish on your desktop).

Setup happens inside the app once you've activated. The first Pro machine in your team creates the Roost; the rest join with an invite code.

Roost is included in the $50/mo Pro price — there's no separate Roost charge.

What happens offline

Owlette can do most things offline if you've configured it for that — the built-in local models keep working without internet, and your notes and files don't need the cloud.

For license verification, Owlette behaves like our other apps:

  • Online check-ins happen quietly, about once every 24 hours.
  • After roughly 3 days offline, Owlette will warn you that it needs to reconnect.
  • After about 7 days offline, Owlette stops working until you're back online.

Owlette's offline grace is a little shorter than Moonshine and Starlight because subscriptions need to verify payment status. If your card had a problem two weeks ago and you've been offline since, we have no way to surface that. Reconnecting at least every few days keeps everything in sync.

Where your license lives on disk

Owlette stores an encrypted activation token in your user profile so you don't sign in on every launch:

  • Windows: under %APPDATA%\Owlette\

If you ever want to fully reset Owlette on a machine, release the seat from your dashboard first, then delete the Owlette folder.

Supported operating systems

  • Windows 10 / 11 (64-bit)

Owlette is Windows-only. macOS and Linux are not currently supported.

Troubleshooting Owlette

Common issues are covered in Troubleshooting. Owlette-specific:

  • "Past due" banner — your subscription's most recent payment failed. Update your card from the dashboard. The banner clears within a few minutes of a successful charge. See Billing.
  • "Cortex key invalid" — Owlette tested your bring-your-own key against the provider's API and got an error back. Re-enter the key in Settings → Cortex and double-check it's still active on the provider's side.
  • "Can't reach Roost" — TEC's hosted Roost server is unreachable. Check your internet connection. If the problem persists, the Roost service may be down — visit [status.tec.design] or email hello@tec.design.