Planther Service Specification

Version 1.1 - published 2 November 2026

This document describes the service Planther Ltd ("Planther", "we", "us") provides. Where your organisation has signed a subscription agreement with us, this is the "Specification" that agreement refers to. Words with capital letters that are not defined here have the meaning given in that agreement.

It describes the service in general terms, on purpose. Planther changes often, and this document is written so that it does not need to change every time we add or improve something. The detail of how each part works, and our help articles, are the Documentation, not this Specification.

1. How this document changes

1.1. We may update this Specification from time to time, for example when we add, change or retire a part of the service.

1.2. Every version is published at this address, with its version number and date at the top and a line in the change log at the end saying what changed. Earlier versions are available on request.

1.3. If a change materially reduces the core service described in section 3, we will tell your organisation's main contact by email.

2. What Planther is

2.1. Planther is an online service for planning consultants and other planning professionals. It combines a collection of planning data with AI tools to help with researching policy and constraints, assessing sites, researching planning history and appeal decisions, and drafting planning documents.

2.2. It runs in a web browser at planther.co.uk. There is nothing to install. What a customer's network needs to allow is set out at planther.co.uk/it-requirements.

2.3. Planther's planning data covers England, Wales and Scotland. Which datasets we hold differs between the three nations. Where we do not hold a dataset for a place, Planther does not present that place as clear of it.

3. The core service

The core service is made up of the following parts. Each one is described by what it does, not by every feature within it.

3.1. The chat assistant. An AI assistant that users talk to in plain English. It can search national and local planning policy and guidance, local plans and other council planning documents, planning applications, appeal decisions and the web; look up the planning data Planther holds for a site; read many common types of file the user gives it, such as PDF and Word documents; and show maps. It gives references to the sources it relied on so that users can check them.

3.2. Projects and files. Users can keep their work in projects, with a site, files, notes and chats. Files can be uploaded and stored. Many common types, such as PDF and Word documents, can also be searched and read by the assistant; others are stored but not read. A project's owner can share it with colleagues in the same organisation. Chats stay private to the person who started them.

3.3. Site report. For a location or a drawn site outline, a report that sets out the planning constraints and designations found in the data Planther holds for that place, the site's context and, where we hold it, its planning history.

3.4. Map. An interactive map that shows the planning data Planther holds as layers that can be switched on and off, with the assistant alongside to answer questions about what is on screen.

3.5. Document writing. The assistant can draft planning documents, such as planning statements and appraisals, into the user's files. The user can review and edit them, and download them as Word documents. The types of document on offer change over time.

3.6. Planning data. Planther holds and maintains a collection of planning data drawn from public bodies and other third-party sources, including constraints and designations, local plans and policy documents, planning applications and appeal decisions. We keep this data up to date as far as is reasonably practical. Which datasets we hold, and how far each one covers, changes over time as sources change. How complete and accurate each dataset is depends on its source.

3.7. Using Planther from other AI assistants. Planther's planning tools can be used from compatible outside AI assistants, such as Claude and ChatGPT, through a connection known as an MCP server. Schedule 2 of the subscription agreement applies to this.

3.8. Connectors. Users can connect certain outside systems to Planther, such as a Microsoft 365 mailbox, so that the assistant can work with what is in them on the user's instruction. Your organisation can ask us to turn connectors off for its users. Schedule 2 of the subscription agreement applies to this.

3.9. Accounts and organisations. Each user has their own account, signed in with an email address and password and checked by email before first use. Users belong to their organisation's account, which holds its seats. An organisation administrator can see the organisation's users and seats.

3.10. Help and support. An in-app help assistant, with the option of asking a person, and support by email. How support works is set out in our Support Policy.

4. AI use, limits and charges

4.1. The AI parts of the service use AI models from third-party providers, reached through an intermediary (currently OpenRouter). We choose which models are used and may change them. The providers that handle your work are not allowed to keep it or to train their models on it.

4.2. We record the AI use of each organisation, call by call. How it is paid for depends on how the organisation buys Planther:

• Firms with their own agreement with us. AI use is paid for as that agreement sets out. For example, it may be totalled for each calendar month and charged after the month ends, or included in an agreed fee up to usage limits set for the firm.
• Monthly plans bought online. AI use may be included in the plan's price, up to the plan's usage limits.

Individual users are never shown costs. Where usage limits apply, users may be shown how much of each limit they have used.

4.3. To protect the service and our customers, we apply usage limits, such as a daily message limit per user, limits on how quickly requests can be made, a monthly AI allowance where one is agreed with an organisation, and the limits of a monthly plan. The Acceptable Use Policy says more about these.

5. Preview and beta features

5.1. Some features are offered early, before they are finished. They are clearly marked in Planther, for example as "Preview" or "Beta".

5.2. Preview and beta features are not part of the core service in section 3, even where they sit inside one of its parts. They come with no commitment: they may change, stop working for a time or be withdrawn at any time, without notice.

6. What the service does not include

6.1. Planther is a tool for planning professionals. It does not give planning, legal or other professional advice, and it does not replace a professional's own judgement.

6.2. AI output can be wrong, incomplete or made up. Every output must be checked by a suitably qualified person, and adapted to its purpose, before it is relied on or passed to anyone else.

6.3. Planning data is drawn from third-party sources and may be incomplete, out of date or wrong. Official sources should be checked before relying on it.

6.4. Some parts of the service, such as the map, the site report and document writing, are designed for a desktop or tablet screen and may not be available on a phone.

7. Related documents

• Terms of Service - the terms that apply to everyone who uses Planther
• Privacy Policy - how we handle personal data, including who processes it
• Acceptable Use Policy - the rules on using Planther, including usage limits
• Sub-processors - the outside services that handle customer data for us
• Support Policy - when and how we give support
• Back-up Policy - how the data in Planther is backed up
• IT and network requirements - what a customer's network needs to allow

Change log