to read this ToS
CircleCI's fine print is longer than you think.
🎧Longer than your Spotify Wrapped — for ALL of last year.
The 5 things you actually need to know
⏱️ Saved you 38 min 32s- 1
They can use your feedback to build products, no payment to you.
- 2
Your data is theirs to host, store, analyze, and process for their services.
- 3
They can use your name and logo for marketing unless you say otherwise.
- 4
If you leave, they'll delete your data after 30 days, so back it up!
- 5
They can change these terms anytime, and you're stuck unless you don't renew.
Generated by AI from the actual contract — but for the lawyer-level breakdown, scroll down 👇
AI training
No flags in this category.
Auto-renewal
- Severity 3
"Fees for renewal Terms are subject to the then-current pricing, and (ii) unless you provide us with official tax-exemption documentation, you are responsible for and will pay all Taxes imposed on or with respect to the Services purchased under this Agreement."
Renewal fees are subject to current pricing, and you are responsible for all taxes on the services unless you provide tax-exemption documentation.
You must be prepared for potential price increases upon renewal and are responsible for all applicable taxes on the services.
Price hikes
No flags in this category.
Data residency
No flags in this category.
Termination friction
- Severity 4
"Thereafter, we may in our sole discretion, delete all Your Data from the Services, which is unrecoverable."
CircleCI can delete all your data from its services at its own discretion, making it unrecoverable.
You risk losing all your data if CircleCI decides to delete it, emphasizing the need for your own backups.
- Severity 3
"We may suspend your access to the Services and related services when (i) you are in breach of Sections 6(b), 6(c) or 8(b), or (ii) your use of the Services risks material harm to the Services or others."
CircleCI can suspend your access to services if you breach certain sections of the agreement or if your use of the services risks harm to the services or others.
Your access to the services can be cut off quickly if you violate specific terms or pose a risk, disrupting your operations.
- Severity 3
"We reserve the right to sunset any part of the Services, which would not affect the availability of the Services during your current Term."
CircleCI can stop offering any part of its services, but this will not affect the availability of the services during your current contract term.
Specific features you rely on may be discontinued by CircleCI, even if the overall service remains available during your term.
- Severity 3
"If the amount you owe under this Agreement for the Services is ten (10) or more days overdue past the payment term agreed to on the Order, we may, in our sole discretion and without limiting any other rights and remedies, (i) limit your access to the Services and Support until such amounts are paid in full, or (ii) suspend or terminate the Order and/or Agreement in accordance with Sections 9(b) and/or 9(c)(ii), respectively, below."
If you are 10 or more days late on payments, CircleCI may limit your access to services until you pay or suspend or terminate your Order and Agreement.
Late payments can lead to immediate suspension or termination of services, causing significant disruption to your business.
- Severity 3
"Either Party may terminate any Order for cause upon written notice if the other Party fails to cure any material breach thereof within thirty (30) days after receiving a reasonably detailed written notice from the other Party alleging the breach."
Either party can terminate an Order if the other party commits a material breach and fails to fix it within 30 days of written notice.
You have a 30-day window to correct significant issues after being notified of a breach before the other party can terminate the agreement.
- Severity 3
"We may terminate any Order for cause upon written notice (1) within ten (10) days in the case of non-payment; and (2) immediately in the case of your or your User’s breach of Section 6(c)."
CircleCI can terminate an Order with written notice within 10 days for non-payment or immediately if you or your users breach Section 6(c).
Failure to pay on time or violating specific conduct rules can lead to swift termination of your services by CircleCI.
- Severity 3
"Upon any termination of this Agreement due to our uncured material breach of this Agreement, we will provide a prorated refund to you for any prepaid, undelivered Services under this Agreement."
If CircleCI materially breaches this Agreement and fails to cure it, CircleCI will provide a prorated refund for prepaid, undelivered services.
You are entitled to a refund for services you paid for but did not receive if CircleCI is the party in material breach and fails to fix it.
- Severity 3
"Upon expiration or termination of an Order or this Agreement, we (1) will terminate your access to the Services, Support and CircleCI Content; and (2) shall not be obligated to retain any you Data for longer than thirty (30) days after any such expiration or termination."
CircleCI will end your access to services and content and will not keep your data for more than 30 days after your Order or the Agreement ends.
You must ensure you retrieve all necessary data within 30 days of service termination, or it will be permanently deleted.
Liability caps
- Severity 4
"NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING TO THE CONTRARY IN THIS AGREEMENT, OUR AGGREGATE LIABILITY TO YOU, YOUR AFFILIATES, OR ANY THIRD PARTY ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THIS AGREEMENT OR THE SERVICES, SHALL IN NO EVENT EXCEED THE GREATER OF THE FEES PAID OR PAYABLE BY YOU IN THE SIX (6) MONTHS PRECEDING THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO YOUR OR YOUR USER’S CLAIM OR ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS (US$100.00)."
CircleCI's total liability to you or any third party for any claims related to this Agreement or the Services will not exceed the greater of the fees you paid in the six months prior to the claim or $100.
Your ability to recover financial losses from CircleCI is capped at a low amount, potentially leaving you undercompensated for significant damages.
- Severity 4
"UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES AND UNDER NO LEGAL THEORY (WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE) SHALL WE OR OUR AFFILIATES, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, SERVICE PROVIDERS, SUPPLIERS OR LICENSORS BE LIABLE TO YOU, ANY USER OR ANY THIRD-PARTY FOR ANY (i) INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING LOST PROFITS, LOST SALES OR BUSINESS, LOST DATA, GOODWILL, OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES; OR (ii) COST OF PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE PRODUCTS OR SERVICES IN CONNECTION WITH THIS AGREEMENT OR THE SERVICES, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF OR COULD HAVE FORESEEN SUCH DAMAGES."
CircleCI and its affiliates disclaim all liability for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, including lost profits, lost sales, or lost data, and for the cost of procuring substitute products or services.
You cannot recover certain types of damages, such as lost profits or business, from CircleCI even if their service causes them.
- Severity 3
"We cannot extend third-party features if the third-party provider sunsets their feature, and we disclaim liability therefor."
CircleCI is not liable if a third-party feature becomes unavailable because the third-party provider stops supporting it.
You will not be compensated or supported by CircleCI if a third-party integration you use is discontinued by its provider.
- Severity 3
"Third-party privacy practices and actions regarding Non-CircleCI Applications are governed solely by those parties’ policies, and we disclaim liability or responsibility therefor."
CircleCI is not responsible for the privacy practices of third-party applications and disclaims liability for them.
You must independently assess and manage the privacy risks associated with any third-party applications you use with CircleCI's services.
- Severity 3
"We are not responsible for the accuracy, availability, or reliability of any information, content, or services associated with Non-CircleCI Applications and shall not be liable for any related damage or loss."
CircleCI is not responsible for the accuracy, availability, or reliability of third-party applications and is not liable for any related damages.
You cannot hold CircleCI responsible for issues arising from third-party applications, requiring you to vet and manage these integrations yourself.
- Severity 3
"We shall have no liability for inoperability due to your delay in installing SHA Updates."
CircleCI is not liable for service issues caused by your delay in installing required security updates.
You are responsible for promptly installing security updates to avoid service disruptions and potential damages for which CircleCI will not be liable.
- Severity 3
"We shall have no liability to you for any damage caused to your servers resulting from your access to the Services."
CircleCI is not liable for any damage to your servers that results from your access to the services.
You bear the risk of damage to your own servers caused by your use of CircleCI's services.
- Severity 3
"If we limit the Services under this Section 8(b), then we will have no liability for any resulting damage, liabilities, losses (including any loss of data or profits) or any other related consequences."
If CircleCI limits services due to your payment issues, it will not be liable for any resulting damages, including data or profit loss.
You cannot claim damages from CircleCI if service limitations due to your payment delinquency cause you to lose data or profits.
- Severity 3
"We shall not be responsible or liable for any deletion, correction, damage, destruction or loss of Your Data that does not arise from a breach of our obligations under this Section 14(c)."
CircleCI is not liable for the deletion, damage, destruction, or loss of your data unless it results from CircleCI breaching its obligations.
CircleCI is generally not responsible for data loss or corruption unless it's directly caused by their failure to meet their contractual duties.
- Severity 3
"Except for unauthorized access due to our negligence, we shall have no liability to you for any third-party unauthorized access to any of Your Data, or any corruption, deletion, destruction or loss of any Your Data."
CircleCI is not liable for third-party unauthorized access to your data or data loss, except for unauthorized access caused by CircleCI's negligence.
You generally cannot hold CircleCI responsible for data breaches or loss caused by third parties, unless CircleCI's own negligence is the cause.
Indemnification
- Severity 3
"You shall defend, indemnify and hold harmless us and our Affiliates, and each of their respective officers, directors, employees and agents (the ‘CircleCI Indemnitees’) from any claim, suit or action and all damages, losses and other liability to third parties (including without limitation reasonable attorneys’ fees) incurred by us to the extent resulting from (i) an allegation that Your Data infringes or misappropriates such third-party’s Intellectual Property Rights or (ii) your or its employees’ or agents’ gross negligence, willful misconduct or fraud."
You must defend and pay for any claims against CircleCI that arise from allegations that your data infringes intellectual property rights or from your gross negligence, willful misconduct, or fraud.
You could be responsible for significant legal costs and damages if your actions or data lead to a third-party claim against CircleCI.
Silent term changes
- Severity 3
"We may also introduce new features/products at no initial cost to you. Should we later decide to introduce Fees for such features/products, we will provide advance notice before transitioning to a paid model."
CircleCI may offer new features or products for free initially, but will provide notice before charging for them.
Features you initially use for free may later become paid, requiring you to budget for them if you continue to use them.
- Severity 3
"We may modify this Agreement at any time by posting a revised version at https://circleci.com/legal/terms-of-service/, and the revised version will become effective on the day it is published; provided, however, that if an Order specifies a fixed term of twelve (12) months or longer, the modifications will instead be effective immediately upon the start of the next renewal Term, if applicable."
CircleCI can change this Agreement at any time by posting a new version online, which becomes effective immediately upon publication, unless your Order has a fixed term of 12 months or longer, in which case changes take effect at the start of your next renewal term.
You may be bound by new terms and conditions without actively agreeing to them, potentially impacting your rights and obligations.
- Severity 3
"This Agreement may only be modified by written, mutual agreement of the Parties."
This Agreement can only be changed through a written agreement signed by both parties.
Verbal agreements or unilateral changes to the contract terms are not valid; any modifications must be formally documented and mutually agreed upon.
Better alternatives
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