Free Terms & Privacy generator
Website Terms of Service
The contract between your website or app and the people who use it, with clean SaaS and ecommerce variants.
What is a Website Terms of Service?
A Website Terms of Service is the contract between your website or app and the people who use it, with clean SaaS and ecommerce variants.
Any business running a website, app, or online store that lets people sign up, buy, subscribe, or post content. This is the master agreement that governs the whole user relationship.
Website Terms of Service template, current for 2026
The form splits cleanly into SaaS (subscriptions, auto-renewal, uptime, acceptable use) and ecommerce (orders, shipping, returns, chargebacks) rather than one document for both. It includes 2026-current auto-renewal cancellation language that reflects the FTC click-to-cancel direction and state ARL statutes, an AI-features clause governing user inputs and outputs with a no-model-training-on-your-data promise you can toggle, current arbitration terms with mass-arbitration batching and a plain-English 30-day opt-out, DMCA notice-and-takedown, and an explicit data-processing cross-reference to the Privacy Policy. It is written in plain language throughout.
How HDAi does this differently
Unlike a static form, HDAi runs a guided interview and assembles your Website Terms of Service as you answer. When you want it finished, a licensed Hart David Carson attorney reviews it and tailors it to your facts before you sign. The interview and the first draft are automated. The judgment belongs to an attorney.
What you’ll be asked
A short interview in plain language that asks only what this document needs.
- Who is the company that operates the website or app? This is the business that owns and runs the service. It's the party these Terms bind users to, so we need the exact legal name and entity type. Its name, entity type, and address populate the preamble and signature block.
- What is the exact legal name of the operating company? The full legal name as it appears on formation documents (e.g., 'Acme Technologies, Inc.'). This populates the preamble and the signature block.
- What type of legal entity is the company? Entity type and state of formation, stated as it should read in the preamble (e.g., 'Delaware corporation' or 'California limited liability company').
- What is the company's notice address? The mailing address where legal notices to the company should be sent. Appears in the signature block and the notices provision.
- What is the public name of the website, app, or service? The consumer-facing brand or product name. We use it throughout so the Terms read naturally to your users (e.g., "the Acme Service").
- What is the primary website URL or app store listing? Identifies the specific property these Terms govern and where users will find them.
- What email address should users use for legal and support notices? Users need a way to send notices, questions, and complaints. This becomes the official contact point in the Terms.
- What kind of service do these Terms cover? This drives the whole document. A SaaS product needs subscription, license, and acceptable-use terms; an ecommerce store needs sales, shipping, and returns terms. Choosing "both" includes each set.
- Is the Service distributed as a mobile app through the Apple App Store or Google Play? Apple and Google require specific end-user license terms (the App Store third-party-beneficiary clause). This adds a compliant app-store addendum.
- Which U.S. state's law governs these Terms? Sets the governing law and, in most cases, the venue for disputes. Usually your principal place of business or state of incorporation.
- What county and state should be the venue for court disputes? If a dispute goes to court (or arbitration is not elected), this fixes where it must be filed. Should align with the governing law.
- What is the minimum age to use the service? COPPA prohibits collecting data from children under 13 without parental consent, and many services set a higher floor. This sets the eligibility bar and your compliance posture.
- Do users create accounts? Account-based services need registration, credential-security, and termination terms. This toggles that section on.
- Can users submit or post content (reviews, uploads, profiles, messages)? If users contribute content, you need a content license, prohibited-content rules, and DMCA safe-harbor language. This turns on the user-content section.
- Who is your designated DMCA copyright agent (name/title and email)? To claim DMCA safe harbor you must publish a designated agent to receive infringement notices. Only shown if users can post content.
- Does the Service offer AI or machine-learning features (generation, assistants, analysis)? If your Service processes user prompts or data through AI models, you need terms governing input/output ownership, a processing license, a no-training commitment, and an accuracy disclaimer. This adds the AI-features section.
- Will you train or improve AI models using customer Inputs and Outputs? Choosing 'no' inserts an affirmative promise that you will not use customer content to train or fine-tune models, which many enterprise customers now require. Choosing 'yes' reserves that right with de-identification safeguards.
- Who owns the Outputs the AI features generate for a user? Most commercial AI products assign ownership of Outputs to the user (subject to the Terms). Some retain ownership and license Outputs back. This sets your ownership model.
- How is the SaaS service billed? Determines your billing, auto-renewal, and cancellation terms and triggers auto-renewal disclosure laws (e.g., California and New York ARLs) for recurring plans.
- Describe your subscription pricing, billing cycle, and free-trial terms (if any). We reproduce your commercial terms accurately so the auto-renewal and cancellation clauses match what you actually charge.
- What is your SaaS refund policy? Sets user expectations and limits chargeback disputes. Must be truthful and consistent with your billing system.
- What do you sell in your store? Physical goods need shipping and delivery-risk terms; digital goods need license and no-return terms. This shapes the sales section.
- Describe your shipping, delivery, and title/risk-of-loss terms. Clarifies who bears the risk if a package is lost or delayed and when ownership transfers. Only for physical goods.
- What is your returns, refund, and cancellation policy for purchases? Return terms are heavily regulated and drive customer trust. We reflect your actual policy verbatim in substance.
- Who processes your payments? Discloses that a third party handles card data and that their terms also apply, which supports your PCI and liability positioning.
- What is the URL of your Privacy Policy? The Terms incorporate your Privacy Policy by reference so both documents govern the relationship together.
- Do you want a binding arbitration and class-action-waiver clause? Arbitration can reduce class-action exposure but has consumer-law tradeoffs and must include an opt-out to be enforceable in many states. The upgraded clause adds a mass-arbitration batching protocol, jury waiver, and a non-severable class waiver. This is a significant strategic choice for counsel to confirm.
- What should the cap on the company's total liability be? Caps your maximum exposure. A common formulation ties the cap to fees paid, with a small floor for free users. Must survive unconscionability review.
- Provide the service "as is" with warranties disclaimed? An "as is" disclaimer is standard for online services, but some warranties can't be disclaimed for consumers in certain states. This sets your baseline.
- Do you offer beta, trial, or preview features? Beta features warrant extra disclaimers (may change, may break, no SLA). Toggles a short beta clause.
- Does the service link to or integrate third-party sites or services? If so, you should disclaim responsibility for those third parties. Adds a third-party-content clause.
- What is the effective date of these Terms? The date these Terms take effect and the reference point for future updates.
Frequently asked
About the Website Terms of Service and how HDAi works.
What is a Website Terms of Service? +
A Website Terms of Service is the contract between your website or app and the people who use it, with clean SaaS and ecommerce variants. Any business running a website, app, or online store that lets people sign up, buy, subscribe, or post content needs one, and it is the master agreement that governs the whole user relationship.
Is HDAi's Website Terms of Service legally binding? +
The Website Terms of Service HDAi generates is a professionally drafted document that becomes binding once it is completed, reviewed, and properly signed. If you want a licensed Hart David Carson attorney to finish it, book a planning call. The firm's flat-fee packages, the Illinois Family Plan and Company Launch, cover the most common needs; for any other draft, an Illinois attorney will tell you on the call what finishing it would involve.
Do I need a lawyer to use this Website Terms of Service? +
You can generate and download the Website Terms of Service in minutes, free of charge. A licensed Hart David Carson attorney can then review it and tailor it to your facts before you sign, which is the part no template can do.
What makes this Website Terms of Service current for 2026? +
The form splits cleanly into SaaS (subscriptions, auto-renewal, uptime, acceptable use) and ecommerce (orders, shipping, returns, chargebacks) rather than one document for both. It includes 2026-current auto-renewal cancellation language that reflects the FTC click-to-cancel direction and state ARL statutes, an AI-features clause governing user inputs and outputs with a no-model-training-on-your-data promise you can toggle, current arbitration terms with mass-arbitration batching and a plain-English 30-day opt-out, DMCA notice-and-takedown, and an explicit data-processing cross-reference to the Privacy Policy. It is written in plain language throughout.
How long does the Website Terms of Service take? +
Estimated time about 16 min (32 questions), depending on how much you already know. The document assembles as you answer. Export it as PDF or Word, or send it to a Hart David Carson attorney for review.
Does this Website Terms of Service work in my state? +
HDAi's interview is state-aware. If you ask an attorney to finish the draft, a licensed Hart David Carson attorney confirms it against your state's requirements before you rely on it. Validity and required formalities vary by state.
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