Frequently Asked Questions

Terms-inator is an AI-powered tool that analyses terms and conditions documents to help you understand what you're agreeing to. Simply upload a document, paste text, or provide a URL, and our AI will break down the legal jargon into plain English, highlight clauses that may need attention, and provide a fairness score.

Getting started is easy! Visit our web application, create a free account, and you can immediately start analysing terms and conditions. You can upload PDF/Word documents, paste text directly, or provide URLs to terms pages. We also offer a Chrome extension to get direct analysis of terms on a webpage.

You can analyse standard terms and conditions documents including:

• Website terms of service
• App privacy policies
• Software license agreements
• AI service terms (ChatGPT, Claude, etc.)
• Subscription service terms
• E-commerce terms and conditions
• Business software agreements

Important: Terms-inator is not a substitute for legal advice. If you're unsure, please consult with a qualified legal professional.

The fairness score is a rating from 1-100 that indicates how consumer-friendly the terms are. Our AI analyses factors like:

• Clarity and readability of language
• Balance of rights between user and service provider
• Presence of concerning or unfair clauses
• Ease of subscription cancellation, account termination and data portability
• Transparency about data usage and sharing
• Liability and dispute resolution terms

A higher score means more consumer-friendly terms.

Terms-inator is available through multiple platforms:

• Web Application: Full-featured analysis with document upload, text input, and URL analysis
• Chrome Extension: Instant analysis on any webpage (coming soon)
• REST API: Integrate analysis into your own applications

All platforms provide the same comprehensive analysis and fairness scoring.

Terms-inator's AI is designed to identify common concerns in standard terms and conditions and provide helpful risk indicators. AI technology has inherent limitations that users should understand:

What Terms-inator does well:

• Spots typical problematic clauses and unfair terms
• Provides consistent analysis of standard legal language
• Highlights areas that warrant your attention
• Offers risk scores based on common consumer protection principles

Important limitations to consider:

• AI may occasionally miss nuanced issues or provide inaccurate assessments
• Analysis effectiveness can vary with document complexity, unusual legal structures or jurisdiction
• The AI's legal knowledge reflects training data and may not capture the most recent legal developments
• Scoring reflects general consumer fairness principles, not jurisdiction-specific legal advice

Think of Terms-inator as your first line of defence to quickly understand what you're signing and identify potential concerns. For complex agreements, high-value transactions, or when you have specific legal questions, always consult a qualified legal professional in your jurisdiction.

Terms-inator is intended as an intelligent reading companion that helps you avoid signing blindly, rather than a replacement for professional legal expertise when it truly matters.

Terms-inator uses a simple credit-based system:

• Pay for a bundle of credits - no monthly subscriptions
• Credits start from as low as £0.30 per analysis, volume discounts available for larger purchases
• Credits never expire as long as the account remains active (login at least once a year to keep your account active)
• Free sample analysis to try the service

Each credit equals one comprehensive document analysis.

Note: Browser compatibility and pricing information may change and will be updated as needed.

Yes! We offer a free sample analysis so you can experience the full power of Terms-inator before purchasing credits. This gives you a complete analysis including fairness scoring, risk identification, and plain English explanations.

Credits do not expire as long as the account remains active. If you cancel the account or the account becomes inactive for longer than one year (we will email you with 30 days' notice that your account has been inactive for one year), then the credits will be lost upon termination. Purchase credits when you need them and use them at your own pace. This makes Terms-inator perfect for both occasional users and businesses with varying analysis needs.

Most standard terms and conditions documents are analysed within 30-90 seconds. You'll see a progress indicator during analysis, which will let you know if processing is taking longer than expected. Analysis time depends on:

• Document length and complexity
• Current system load
• Input method (pasted text is fastest, large PDFs take longer)

Our Chrome extension typically provides results in under a minute for webpage terms.

Once your analysis is complete, it is saved to your account dashboard for future reference. You can export the recommendations section as an .xlsx file to follow up on any actions you might want to take.

We accept documents up to 25MB in size, which covers virtually all standard terms and conditions. Most T&C documents are well under 1MB.

For text length, we can handle documents up to approximately 100,000 words. If your document exceeds these limits, try breaking it into sections or contact our support team for assistance.

Terms-inator works on all modern browsers including:

• Chrome (recommended for extension use)
• Firefox, Safari, Edge
• Mobile browsers on iOS and Android

Our web application is fully responsive and works on desktops, tablets, and smartphones. The Chrome extension requires Chrome version 93 or newer.

Terms-inator supports multiple input methods:

• Document files: Upload any .PDF, .DOC, .DOCX, .TXT document
• Text input: Copy and paste terms directly
• URLs: Provide a link to terms pages. URL analysis requires public access (we cannot retrieve T&Cs that require authenticated login), otherwise please copy and paste the text or use the Chrome Extension
• Webpages: Use our Chrome extension for direct analysis

If you encounter any issues:

• Ensure your document is in English and readable
• Try converting complex PDFs to text first
• Contact our support team for assistance
• We provide credit refund for failed analyses, if it is a fault with our Service and not the document.

Terms-inator works best with clear, well-formatted documents, but we're continuously improving compatibility. Please let us know about failed analyses, so we can improve the Service.

We're here to help! Contact us through:

• Email support via our contact page
• System status page for service updates

We typically respond within 6-24 hours during UK working hours, Monday to Friday.

You can delete any individual document and analysis from your account dashboard.

You can delete your account at any time through your account settings. When you delete your account:

• All your uploaded documents are permanently removed
• Your analysis history is deleted
• Any remaining credits are forfeited (non-refundable)
• Your personal data is removed in compliance with GDPR/DPA 2018

This process is irreversible, so please ensure you no longer need any important analysis results first.

We offer credit-returns (not monetary) for technical failures on our end (e.g. if our Service fails to analyse a valid document). However, purchase of credits are non-refundable.

If you're unsure about our service, try our free sample analysis first. For technical issues or concerns about analysis quality, use the feedback functionality within the analysis tool or contact our support team - we're committed to ensuring you get value from Terms-inator.

When you recreate a deleted account with the same email address, our system recognises that you've previously used Terms-inator and may provide a different number of free sample analyses than new users receive. This is designed to prevent abuse of our free sample system whilst still allowing legitimate account recreation. For example (numbers may vary):

• New users typically receive 5 free sample analyses
• Recreated accounts may receive 2 free sample analyses (or a different amount based on previous usage)

Important distinction: This is different from creating multiple accounts to circumvent usage limits, which isn't permitted under our Terms & Conditions. Recreating a single account with the same email address is acceptable - we just adjust the free allocation accordingly.

We're committed to long-term service, but if we ever needed to cease operations, we would:

• Provide at least 60 days' advance notice
• Allow you to export the recommendations from your analyses
• Ensure secure deletion of all stored documents and data

Your data security and continuity are important to us, which is why we maintain robust backup systems and transparent data policies.

AI services present unique risks that traditional software doesn't:

• Data Training Rights: Many AI services claim rights to use your inputs to train their models
• Content Ownership: Unclear rules about who owns AI-generated content
• Liability Issues: You might be responsible for what AI generates (including any breaches of copyright etc)
• Service Changes: AI capabilities can change overnight with model updates
• Data Sharing: Your data might be shared with AI providers even through third-party services

Absolutely. We take your privacy seriously:

• Your documents are processed securely over encrypted connections
• We may use conversation logs / feedback to improve service quality, but we do not use personally identifiable data or document contents for training AI.
• Country locale is used to set English (UK or US) spellings.
• We don't share your data with third parties other than those used to provide the service, as outlined in our Privacy Notice.
• Full GDPR compliance and data protection

Yes! Terms-inator is designed to identify AI-related risks including:

• Clauses allowing your content to be used for AI training
• Unclear content ownership for AI-generated material
• Liability terms for AI output
• Terms allowing sudden service changes
• Data sharing agreements with AI providers

Terms-inator is designed to analyse English-language terms and conditions. Our AI understands general consumer protection principles and can identify problematic clauses regardless of jurisdiction.

However, specific legal interpretations vary significantly between countries. For example, what's considered "unfair" under UK consumer law may differ from US or EU regulations. Terms-inator errs on the side of caution. Always consult local legal professionals for jurisdiction-specific advice, especially for important or business-critical decisions.

Currently, Terms-inator only analyses English-language documents. We've designed our service specifically for English to aid accuracy and reliability. Documents in other languages cannot be appropriately analysed through our service. Please see our Acceptable Use Policy in our Terms & Conditions.

If you have terms in another language, you would need to translate them to English first, though anything other than professional legal translation services cannot be relied on for accuracy and would reduce the effectiveness of analysis by Terms-inator.

Absolutely! Terms-inator is perfect for businesses that need to:

• Review AI tool terms before adoption
• Analyse standard vendor and supplier agreements
• Understand standard software license terms
• Assess standard subscription service terms

Terms-inator is not suitable for bespoke or negotiated agreements or contracts -- please see our Terms & Conditions for our Acceptable Use Policy.

Yes! Our REST API allows you to integrate Terms-inator into your applications:

• RESTful endpoints for document analysis
• JSON responses with structured data
• Comprehensive API documentation
• Developer support and examples
• Same credit system as web interface

Yes, we offer volume discounts for larger credit purchases. The more credits you buy, the lower the per-analysis cost. This makes Terms-inator cost-effective for businesses and organisations with regular analysis needs.

While general AI tools can help explain legal documents, Terms-inator offers several advantages:

• Structured analysis: Consistent fairness scoring and risk categorisation
• Consumer focus: Designed specifically to protect your interests, not just explain text
• Reliability: Purpose-built for terms analysis rather than general conversation
• Privacy: Your documents aren't used for AI training like with some general AI services
• Efficiency: Optimised workflow for quick terms analysis rather than lengthy conversations

Think of it as the difference between asking a general practitioner versus a specialist about a specific medical condition.

Terms-inator enhances your understanding rather than replacing it:

• Speed: Get insights in minutes rather than hours of careful reading
• Expertise: Identifies issues you might miss without legal training
• Consistency: Applies the same analytical framework to every document
• Plain English: Translates legal jargon into understandable language
• Risk scoring: Provides objective fairness ratings based on consumer protection principles
• Focus: Highlights the most important clauses that need your attention

You still make the final decision, but you do so with focused insights and reducing the risk of missing critical details hidden in legal language.

Currently, Terms-inator processes one document per analysis credit. However, you can upload multiple documents in succession and manually compare results within your account dashboard.

For businesses needing bulk analysis, contact our support team about potential workflow solutions or API integration options.

Terms and conditions do change regularly! Your analysis results include the date of analysis, so you can track when you last reviewed specific terms.

We recommend re-analysing important services' terms periodically, especially for:

• Critical business tools you rely on
• Services with valuable data or content
• AI tools that frequently update their policies

Our credit system makes it affordable to stay current with changing terms, and we are looking at offering an automated T&Cs Updates Checker service for URL-based analyses.

We maintain high service availability with typical uptime above 99.5%. Our system status page provides real-time updates on service performance and any planned maintenance.

If you experience any service issues, check our status page first, then contact support if problems persist. We monitor system performance continuously and respond quickly to any disruptions.