Terms of Service Template — What to Include
If your business has a website, app, or any kind of digital product, you need Terms of Service. This document sets the rules for how people can use what you've built — and it's your primary legal protection when something goes wrong.
What Are Terms of Service?
Terms of Service (also called Terms of Use or Terms and Conditions) is a legally binding agreement between your business and anyone who uses your product or platform. It establishes what users can and cannot do, limits your liability, sets the rules for disputes, and protects your intellectual property.
Without Terms of Service, you're operating without ground rules — and courts will fill that gap with defaults that may not favor you.
When Do You Need Terms of Service?
You need Terms of Service if you:
- Operate a website that collects user data or allows user interaction
- Offer a software product, app, or SaaS platform
- Run a marketplace or platform where third parties transact
- Allow users to create accounts, post content, or make purchases
- Provide any kind of service that users access online
For most digital businesses, Terms of Service is not optional — it's foundational.
What Should Terms of Service Include?
1. Acceptance of Terms
Explain how users agree to your terms — by creating an account, making a purchase, or using the service. Passive acceptance (just visiting the site) is less enforceable than active acceptance (clicking "I agree").
2. Description of Services
Describe what your product or service does, what it doesn't do, and what you reserve the right to change or discontinue.
3. User Eligibility
Define who can use your service — age minimums, geographic restrictions, business vs. consumer use cases.
4. User Accounts
Address account creation, security responsibilities, and what happens if an account is transferred, shared, or compromised.
5. Acceptable Use
Define what users are permitted and prohibited from doing. Prohibitions typically include illegal activity, harassment, scraping, impersonation, and circumventing security measures.
6. Intellectual Property
Clarify that your platform, content, and brand are owned by your company. If users create content on your platform, define what license you have to use it.
7. Payments and Billing
For paid products, address pricing, billing cycles, refund policies, and what happens upon cancellation.
8. Disclaimer of Warranties
State that your service is provided "as is" and limit the warranties you're making about its performance or fitness for a particular purpose.
9. Limitation of Liability
Cap the damages users can recover from you. This is one of the most important commercial provisions in your Terms of Service.
10. Indemnification
Require users to indemnify you against claims arising from their use of your service or violation of your terms.
11. Termination
Define your right to suspend or terminate user accounts for violations, and what happens to user data upon termination.
12. Dispute Resolution
Specify how disputes will be resolved — arbitration, litigation, jurisdiction, and governing law. Many businesses include a class action waiver here.
13. Changes to Terms
Reserve the right to update your Terms of Service and describe how you'll notify users of changes.
Common Mistakes Founders Make
Copying terms from another company's website. Terms of Service need to reflect your specific business, your liability exposure, and the laws that apply to you. Borrowed terms may create obligations you didn't intend and leave gaps that matter.
Burying terms where users won't see them. Courts look at whether users had reasonable notice of the terms. Make acceptance clear and visible.
Not updating terms as the product evolves. Your Terms of Service should reflect how your product actually works. Outdated terms create inconsistency that can undermine enforcement.
Missing a dispute resolution clause. Without it, any dispute defaults to litigation in a jurisdiction of the user's choosing — often not yours.
Why This Matters for Founders
Your Terms of Service is the document you'll rely on when a user misuses your platform, demands a refund, or threatens to sue. It needs to be comprehensive enough to protect you — and clear enough that users actually understand what they're agreeing to. These goals are not in conflict. Plain-language terms that users read are more defensible than dense legalese that no one does.
Get a Lawyer-Drafted Document Without the Lawyer Bill
Attorney-drafted Terms of Service typically cost $1,500–$3,000 depending on the complexity of your product. TalkingTree gives you the same quality without the invoice.
TalkingTree's Terms of Service template was built by experienced business attorneys and is available through the Contract Studio. Customize it to your product, fill it out, and send it for signature — all in one platform.
- Business membership ($59.99/mo): Full access to the Contract Studio and a library of 100+ attorney-drafted templates, plus limited e-signature included. One contract alone covers the cost of your first month.
- Enterprise membership ($149.99/mo): Everything in Business, plus unlimited e-signature — built for founders and teams managing a high volume of contracts.
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Get started with TalkingTree and get access to attorney-drafted contracts, a built-in signing workflow, and legal tools designed to help your business operate with confidence.
This page is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For advice specific to your situation, consult a licensed attorney.