Terms of Service

The contract between your product and its users.

Also known as: terms of service, ToS, terms and conditions

Terms of Service (ToS) are the contract users accept by using your product: what you provide, what they may and may not do, how and when you can suspend them, limits of your liability, and how disputes resolve. Combined with the privacy policy, they form the legal interface of the product — presented at signup, enforced in disputes.

cover:  service description + acceptable use + accounts and payment + IP/licence back
        + warranties disclaimed (as allowed) + liability caps + termination + governing law

Draft from reality like the privacy policy: describe actual behavior (uptime efforts, support scope, data handling) rather than aspirational promises that become breach claims. Consumer and B2B terms differ substantially — the latter negotiated, the former take-it-or-leave-it.

The classic mistakes:

No terms at all. Operating on goodwill means every dispute starts from zero, and payment processors, app stores and enterprise buyers all ask eventually. Publish before you need them.
Copied terms contradicting behavior. A template promising arbitration in another country, or uptime you do not provide. Tailor to reality with counsel.
Unilateral-change overreach. Reserving the right to change anything anytime breeds distrust and, in some jurisdictions, unenforceability. Change transparently with notice for material terms.
Hiding the sharp edges. Auto-renewals, data deletion on cancellation, price-change rights — buried clauses that ambush users generate chargebacks and regulator attention. Surface them plainly.
One global ToS for every market. Consumer-protection, language and enforceability rules differ (Indonesia, EU and others each have mandatory notes). Localize where you operate materially.

Pair with: the privacy policy (data half) and, for business customers, a negotiated MSA. Review terms yearly or on every business-model change — whichever comes first.