18 December 2020
Generate Terms & Conditions in 2 minutes
Our Terms and Conditions template will get you started with creating your own custom Terms and Conditions agreement.
This Terms and Conditions template is free to download and use for your website or mobile app.
A Terms and Conditions agreement is the agreement that includes the terms, the rules and the guidelines of acceptable behavior and other useful sections to which users must agree in order to use or access your website and mobile app.
Terms and Conditions agreements act as a legal contract between you (the company) who has the website or mobile app and the user who access your website and mobile app.
Having a Terms and Conditions agreement is completely optional. No laws require you to have one. Not even the super-strict and wide-reaching General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
It's up to you to set the rules and guidelines that the user must agree to. You can think of your Terms and Conditions agreement as the legal agreement where you maintain your rights to exclude users from your app in the event that they abuse your app, where you maintain your legal rights against potential app abusers, and so on.
Terms and Conditions are also known as Terms of Service or Terms of Use.
Check out our Terms and Conditions FAQ for more helpful insight into these important agreements.
You can use this agreement anywhere, regardless of what platform your business operates on:
Desktop apps usually have an EULA (End-User License Agreement) instead of a Terms and Conditions agreement, but your business can use both. Mobile apps are increasingly using Terms and Conditions along with an EULA if the mobile app has an online service component, i.e. it connects with a server.
In your Terms and Conditions, you can include rules and guidelines on how users can access and use your website and mobile app.
Use the Terms and Conditions Generator to create the Terms & Conditions agreement.
Our Terms and Conditions Generator makes it easy to create a Terms and Conditions agreement for your business. Just follow these steps:
Enter your email address where you'd like your agreement sent and click "Generate."
You'll be able to instantly access and download your new agreement.
Here is a list of frequently asked questions that you may find useful.
A Terms and Conditions agreement is not legally required. However, having one comes with a number of important benefits for both you and your users/customers.
The benefits include increasing your control over your business/platform, while helping your users understand your rules, requirements and restrictions.
The main benefit of having a Terms and Conditions agreement is that you maintain the highest level of control over your website/business.
Your Terms and Conditions agreement is where you're able to list your rules when it comes to the use of your website. You're also able to maintain the right to terminate abusive accounts, disclaim warranties and limit your liability.
There are benefits for your users, as well. Your Terms and Conditions agreement makes it clear to your users what you expect from them, what they are not allowed to do with your website/service, and how they must handle certain situations such as arbitration and canceling their own accounts.
Without a Terms and Conditions agreement, your rules and requirements won't be made public and provided to your users. This means your users may take advantage of your "lawless" platform.
You may also get bombarded with questions from users asking about things that would otherwise be included in your Terms and Conditions agreement. For example, you may get a lot of questions asking how you handle user-generated content rights, or how a user can shut down an account.
Some clauses are specific to certain types of businesses and won't be found in all Terms and Conditions agreements. For example, you won't need a clause about subscription payment terms if you don't offer paid subscriptions.
In general, almost every Terms and Conditions agreement should include the following clauses:
The more complicated your website or business is, the more clauses you will end up having.
Some business-specific clauses include the following:
Display your Terms and Conditions agreement in the following places, where applicable:
The key here is to make sure your Terms and Conditions agreement is always accessible at any time, and that you also provide it additionally at points where the user may be more interested in referring to its terms.
Adding a link to your website footer or within your app menu makes your Terms and Conditions agreement available at any and all times. Adding a link to times when a user is interacting with you in a more specific way, such as when creating an account or placing an order, helps remind the user about your Terms and Conditions agreement at that important time.
To make your Terms & Conditions agreement enforceable, place an un-ticked checkbox next to a link to your agreement and a statement that says something along the lines of, "By checking this box, you agree to be bound by our Terms and Conditions agreement."
You can also use an "I Agree" button instead of a checkbox that users must click to show they agree to your Terms and Conditions agreement.
Download the Terms and Conditions template by clicking here. It's free.
Here are a few examples:
If your website or mobile app allows users to create content and make that content public to other users, a Content section will inform users that they own the rights to the content they have created. The "Content" clause usually mentions that users must give you (the website or mobile app developer) a license so that you can share this content on your website/mobile app and to make it available to other users.
Because the content created by users is public to other users, a DMCA notice clause (or Copyright Infringement ) section is helpful to inform users and copyright authors that, if any content is found to be a copyright infringement, you will respond to any DMCA takedown notices received and you will take down the content.
Here's how 500px lists its prohibited activities:
You can also use your T&C to inform users about trademarks, design rights and other intellectual property rights:
If you operate a SaaS app, a "Termination clause" will be very important. The relationship with your customers can end for any number of reasons, from a customer changing careers to a new and better SaaS option becoming available or just general dissatisfaction with a service.
But as the owner of the app, you should have a way to actively end a relationship with a customer under certain circumstances.
SurveyMonkey has included sections in their Terms of Use that outline what happens in the event of termination of service by either party. Note how the issue of a refund is addressed, as well as what happens with content that belongs to a user upon termination of the user's account:
If you sell products (physical or digital), you'll want Terms and Conditions for your store. Having this agreement in place will help you:
Let's look at an example: the Limitation of Liability of Your Products clause.
No matter what kind of goods you sell, best practices direct you to present any warranties you are disclaiming and liabilities you are limiting in a way that your customers will notice.
You've probably noticed that these clauses in contracts are always in blocks of all-caps text and really do stand out from the rest of the document.
Apple iTunes, which probably isn't dealing with high-liability goods, includes the following boilerplate language in its Terms agreement to deal with limiting liability and disclaiming warranties.
This exact language is used across multiple industries, businesses, and apps in order to legally disclaim warranties and limit liability.
Include the words "AS IS" for items and "AS AVAILABLE" if you provide any sort of service that may not be available 100% of the time.
Here's a list of questions that can help you determine what to add in your own Terms and Conditions:
Before you publish the agreement online, make sure your Terms and Conditions includes important disclosures, such as:
A Terms and Conditions is not required and it's not mandatory by law. Unlike Privacy Policies, which are required by laws such as the GDPR, CalOPPA and many others, there's no law or regulation on Terms and Conditions.
However, having a Terms and Conditions gives you the right to terminate the access of abusive users or to terminate the access to users who do not follow your rules and guidelines, as well as other desirable business benefits.
It's extremely important to have this agreement if you operate a SaaS app.
Here are a few examples of how this agreement can help you:
While creating and having a Terms and Conditions is important, it's far more important to understand how you can make the Terms and Conditions enforceable.
You should always use clickwrap to get users to agree to your Terms and Conditions. Clickwrap is when you make your users take some action - typically clicking something - to show they're agreeing.
Here's how Engine Yard uses the clickwrap agreement with the I agree check box:
Use the Terms and Conditions Generator to create the Terms & Conditions agreement.
Download the Terms and Conditions template by clicking here. It's free.
The Guardian
Here's how The Guardian is placing the link to its Terms and Conditions webpage at the bottom of its webpages:
The legal page is simple and follows the design of The Guardian's website. But the agreement is lengthy and it has multiple clauses that are useful for The Guardian:
The Terms and Conditions includes a short introduction that helps set the stage for the rest of the content.
KAYAK
The link to the Terms & Conditions of KAYAK is also placed in the footer:
The first paragraph of KAYAK's agreement is very clear for users:
Please read these terms and conditions of use carefully before accessing, using or obtaining any materials, information, products or services. By accessing, the KAYAK website, mobile or tablet application, or any other feature or other KAYAK platform (collectively "Our Website") you agree to be bound by these terms and conditions ("Terms") and our Privacy Policy.
The Terms of Instagram are placed in the footer of Instagram's website:
Here's how Instagram places links to its Terms and Privacy information when users create a new account:
Spotify
Below is an example of the Spotify Terms and Conditions Table of Contents. Note how the sections deal with topics such as "Rights we grant you," "User guidelines," "Choice of law, mandatory arbitration and venue" and "Term and termination":
Perhaps the most important section of this legal document is the section that addresses how a user should use (or not use) your website and app.
In the Terms and Conditions of Spotify above, the "User Guidelines" section highlights a number of restricted user actions, including forbidding a user from:
Use the Terms and Conditions Generator to create the Terms & Conditions agreement.
Download the Terms & Conditions Template as a PDF file or download the Terms & Conditions Template as a DOCX file. It's free.
You can also download this Terms & Conditions Template as a Google Document.
This free Generic Terms and Conditions Template is available for download and includes these sections:
This article is not a substitute for professional legal advice. This article does not create an attorney-client relationship, nor is it a solicitation to offer legal advice.