Terms of Service

1. Agreement to Terms

By accessing or using growlocal.site, creating an account, or purchasing a subscription, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service ("Terms"). If you do not agree, do not use the service.

These Terms form a binding agreement between you and GrowLocal, LLC ("GrowLocal," "we," "us," or "our"). Please read them carefully.

2. What GrowLocal Does

GrowLocal builds and hosts custom static websites for small businesses. We use a combination of AI tools and developer oversight to design, develop, and maintain your website. We manage DNS, SSL certificates, hosting infrastructure, and ongoing maintenance on your behalf.

This is not a self-service website builder. You do not write code or drag-and-drop elements. We build the site for you based on information you provide, and you manage content through a simple dashboard.

3. Accounts

To use GrowLocal, you must create an account. You agree that:

• You are at least 18 years old
• You will provide accurate, current information during registration and keep it updated
• You are responsible for maintaining the security of your account credentials
• You are responsible for all activity that occurs under your account
• You will notify us immediately if you suspect unauthorized access to your account

4. Subscriptions & Billing

GrowLocal operates on a monthly subscription model. Plans range from $10 to $30 per month depending on the features your site uses. Key billing terms:

• All payments are processed through Stripe
• Subscriptions auto-renew monthly unless cancelled
• Fees are non-refundable once charged for that billing period
• We will provide at least 30 days' notice before any price increase takes effect
• Promotional or introductory pricing, if offered, will be clearly disclosed along with the standard rate that applies after the promotional period ends

5. Cancellation

You may cancel your subscription at any time through your account dashboard or by contacting us. When you cancel:

• Your site remains live through the end of your current billing period, plus a reasonable grace period
• No further charges will be made after cancellation

Early cancellation domain fee: When you sign up, we purchase and configure a domain name on your behalf. If you cancel within the first 2 months of your subscription, a $25 domain registration cost-recovery fee applies. This is not a penalty -- it covers the cost we've already incurred to register, configure, and set up DNS for your domain.

If you cancel after 2 months, no domain fee applies. The domain simply expires at the end of its registration period unless you request a transfer (see Section 6).

6. Domain Ownership & Transfer

GrowLocal registers and owns all domains used for customer websites. We are the registrant of record with the domain registrar. This allows us to manage DNS, SSL, and configuration seamlessly on your behalf.

Domain transfer: You may request a transfer of your domain to another registrar at any time. We will initiate the transfer within 14 business days, provided:

• Your account is in good standing with no outstanding balance
• All applicable fees (including the early cancellation domain fee, if applicable) have been paid
• The domain is not subject to ICANN's 60-day transfer lock (which applies after initial registration or previous transfer)

If you cancel your subscription without requesting a transfer, the domain will expire at the end of its registration period. We are not obligated to renew domains for cancelled accounts.

7. What We Own

GrowLocal owns all rights to the platform, tools, templates, SDK, build pipeline, and any code generated as part of the service. The website code we produce for you is GrowLocal's property -- it is a derivative work of our proprietary templates and systems.

This means you cannot copy, redistribute, resell, or repurpose the site code independently. You receive the right to use the site as hosted by GrowLocal for the duration of your subscription.

8. What You Own

You retain full ownership of the content you provide to us, including your logos, photographs, written text, business information, and any other materials you submit during onboarding or through your dashboard.

By providing this content, you grant GrowLocal a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to use, display, reproduce, and modify your content solely for the purposes of building, hosting, maintaining, and promoting your website. This license ends when your subscription terminates and your content is deleted (see Section 20).

9. AI-Generated Content

Your website may contain content generated using artificial intelligence, including text, layouts, design elements, and code. You should be aware that:

• AI-generated content may not be copyrightable under current United States law
• We do not guarantee the accuracy, originality, or uniqueness of AI-generated content
• We review AI output, but you are responsible for verifying the accuracy of content on your site before it goes live
• We may reuse design patterns, layouts, and structural elements across multiple customer sites

10. Portfolio Rights

By default, GrowLocal may feature your website in our marketing materials, portfolio, case studies, and promotional content. This helps us demonstrate the quality of our work to prospective customers.

You may opt out of portfolio use at any time by contacting us at [email protected]. We will remove your site from our marketing materials within a reasonable timeframe after receiving your request.

11. Your Responsibilities

As a GrowLocal customer, you agree to:

• Provide accurate and truthful business information
• Ensure that all content you provide does not infringe on any third party's intellectual property, privacy, or other rights
• Operate a legal business in compliance with all applicable local, state, and federal laws
• Keep your payment method current and resolve any failed payments promptly
• Review your site's content for accuracy before going live and on an ongoing basis

12. Acceptable Use

You may not use GrowLocal's services to host, promote, or distribute:

• Illegal content or activities of any kind
• Hate speech, harassment, or content that promotes violence or discrimination
• Malware, phishing pages, or any form of malicious software
• Spam, unsolicited bulk communications, or misleading content
• Fraud, scams, or deceptive business practices
• Content that infringes on copyrights, trademarks, or other intellectual property rights

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate your account if we determine, at our sole discretion, that your site violates these policies.

13. Third-Party Services

GrowLocal relies on third-party services to deliver your website. These include, but are not limited to:

• Stripe for payment processing
• Cloudflare for CDN, DNS, and hosting infrastructure
• Cloudflare R2 for image and file storage
• Etsy for product catalog synchronization (if applicable)
• AI providers (such as Anthropic) for content generation during site building

We are not responsible for outages, policy changes, data handling, or service interruptions caused by these third-party providers. Each provider has its own terms of service and privacy policies that may apply to you.

14. No Uptime Guarantee

We work hard to keep your site online and fast, but we do not offer a Service Level Agreement (SLA) or guarantee any specific level of uptime. Downtime can occur due to maintenance, infrastructure issues, third-party outages, or unforeseen circumstances.

We are not liable for any losses, missed revenue, or damages resulting from service downtime.

15. Disclaimers

GrowLocal provides the service on an "AS IS" and "AS AVAILABLE" basis. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.

We do not warrant that the service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or secure. We do not guarantee any specific business results, including increased traffic, sales, leads, or revenue, from using our service. For additional disclaimers, see our Disclaimers page.

16. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, GrowLocal's total liability to you for any claims arising from or related to the service shall not exceed the total fees you paid to GrowLocal in the 12 months preceding the claim.

In no event shall GrowLocal be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, including but not limited to loss of profits, revenue, data, business opportunities, or goodwill, regardless of the theory of liability.

17. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless GrowLocal, its officers, directors, employees, and agents from any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses (including reasonable attorney's fees) arising from:

• Your content, including any claims of intellectual property infringement
• Your violation of these Terms or any applicable law
• Claims made by your website visitors or end users
• Your use of the service in a manner not authorized by these Terms

18. Affiliate Program

GrowLocal may operate an affiliate referral program in which we pay commissions to affiliates who refer new customers. If you were referred by an affiliate:

• The referral does not affect your price -- you pay the same rate as any other customer
• Affiliates are required to disclose their relationship with GrowLocal in accordance with FTC guidelines
• We may share limited information with affiliates (that you signed up and your subscription status) for commission tracking purposes

19. Termination

We may suspend or terminate your account at our discretion if:

• You violate these Terms or our Acceptable Use policy
• Your payment fails and is not resolved within a reasonable grace period
• You engage in illegal activity through the service
• Continued hosting poses a legal or reputational risk to GrowLocal

If we terminate your account for cause, no refund will be issued for the current billing period. We will make reasonable efforts to notify you before termination, except where immediate action is required (e.g., illegal content, security threats).

20. After Termination

When your account is terminated or your subscription ends:

• Your site will be taken offline
• You have 90 days to request a copy of your content (logos, photos, text -- the things you own per Section 8)
• After 90 days, your content will be permanently deleted from our systems
• Domain handling follows the policies described in Section 6
• Payment records are retained as required by tax law

21. Disputes

These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the state in which GrowLocal, LLC is registered, without regard to conflict of law principles.

Any disputes arising from these Terms or your use of the service shall be resolved through binding arbitration, conducted on an individual basis. You have a 30-day window after creating your account to opt out of arbitration by sending written notice to [email protected].

Class action waiver: You agree to resolve disputes on an individual basis only. You waive any right to participate in a class action, class arbitration, or other representative proceeding.

Small claims exception: Either party may bring qualifying claims in small claims court.

22. Changes to Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. When we make material changes, we will provide at least 30 days' notice via email to the address associated with your account.

Your continued use of the service after the notice period constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms. If you do not agree with the changes, you may cancel your subscription before the new Terms take effect.

23. Contact

If you have questions about these Terms, contact us at:

[email protected]