Terms of service, also called terms and conditions or terms of use, are the agreement between you and the people who use your website, app or online shop. They set out what users are allowed to do, what you are and are not responsible for, and how things like payments, cancellations and disputes are handled.
What terms of service usually contain
- Acceptable use: what is banned, such as scraping, spam, illegal content or reselling accounts.
- Accounts: who may sign up, age limits, and when you can suspend or close an account.
- Payments and refunds: billing cycles, renewals, cancellation and refund rules.
- Intellectual property: who owns your content and what rights users grant you over what they upload.
- Disclaimers and limits of liability: what you do not guarantee and caps on damages.
- Governing law and disputes: which country or state's law applies and where claims are heard.
How agreement actually happens
Terms only protect you if users can be shown to have agreed. Courts have generally been more willing to enforce "clickwrap", where someone ticks a box or presses a button next to a clear statement such as "By creating an account you agree to the Terms", than "browsewrap", where a link sits in the footer and use of the site supposedly equals consent. If the terms matter, put the agreement step where the commitment happens: signup or checkout.
An example from a small business
A photographer sells digital presets and runs a paid monthly editing membership. Their terms explain that presets are licensed for personal and client work but may not be resold, that the membership renews monthly until cancelled from the account page, that downloaded files cannot be refunded, and which jurisdiction applies. When a buyer later asks for a refund after downloading, the photographer can point to the term the buyer accepted at checkout.
Do you need them?
Unlike a privacy policy, terms of service are rarely required by law for a simple informational site. They become important once you sell online, take subscriptions, run a SaaS product, host user content or offer anything people could misuse. Consumer protection law still applies regardless: in many places you cannot use terms to remove statutory rights such as EU withdrawal rights for many online purchases.
Mistakes to avoid with your terms
- Pasting a big company's terms. They reference products, arbitration schemes and laws that do not fit your business.
- Unenforceable clauses. A "no refunds ever" line may conflict with consumer law where your buyers live.
- Silent changes. Tell users when terms change and keep a dated version history.
- No proof of acceptance. Record which version each customer agreed to and when.
For anything beyond a basic template, a short review by a lawyer is worth the cost.
Related terms
- Privacy policy: covers data handling, not usage rules.
- Checkout: the best place to capture agreement.
- SaaS: subscription products that lean heavily on their terms.
- E-commerce: online selling, where refund terms matter most.