Terms of service

Draft dated November 4, 2026

These terms are the agreement between you and us when you use Sparkplot Studio. We’ve tried to keep them short and plain.

“We” and “us” means [TO DECIDE: company legal name and address]. “You” means the person using Sparkplot Studio, or the organization they use it for. Questions: [contact email]. Our privacy policy explains how we handle your data.

1. Your account

• You can use much of the Studio without an account. Saving projects, AI features and paid plans need one.
• Give a real email address and keep your password to yourself. You’re responsible for what happens under your account.
• You must be at least [TO DECIDE: minimum age, e.g. 16 or 18] to create an account.
• You can delete your account at any time from the account menu.

2. Plans and billing

• Free costs nothing. It includes unlimited charts, up to 3 saved projects, 1 brand kit (no logo or font uploads), 20 AI requests a day, PNG exports in two sizes, and a small “Made with Sparkplot Studio” mark on exports and published pages.
• Pro costs $27 a month, or $264 a year (works out to $22 a month) billed once a year. It removes the mark and adds the Pro features listed on our pricing page, up to 300 AI requests a day, and saved projects and brand kits within fair-use limits (currently 500 projects and 50 kits).
• Prices are in US dollars. [TO DECIDE: whether prices include sales tax/VAT, and whether Stripe Tax is used]
• Payments are handled by Stripe. Your subscription renews automatically at the end of each month or year until you cancel.
• Cancel anytime from “Manage billing” in the account menu, which opens Stripe’s billing portal. There you can also update your card and see invoices. [TO DECIDE: whether Pro continues to the end of the paid period after cancelling (Stripe portal setting); recommended: yes]
• When Pro ends, your account goes back to Free. Your saved projects and kits stay, but Free limits apply to new ones, and Pro-only features lock again.
• Refunds: [TO DECIDE: refund policy, e.g. no refunds for partial periods, or a 14-day refund window for yearly plans]
• Price changes: we’ll give you at least [TO DECIDE: e.g. 30 days] notice by email before a new price applies to your subscription.
• Custom design work (“Request a quote”) is agreed separately and isn’t covered by these terms.

3. Your data and what you make

• You own your data and everything you create with it: charts, reports, stories, videos and other files. We don’t claim any ownership of them.
• You give us permission to store and process your content only as needed to run the service for you: for example to save your projects, send your scheduled reports, host pages you publish, and run AI features you use.
• You confirm you have the right to upload and use the data, logos and other material you bring, and that doing so doesn’t break any law or agreement (for example a confidentiality or data-protection obligation).
• Sparkplot Studio isn’t designed for regulated data such as protected health information. Don’t upload data you aren’t allowed to share with a service like ours. We don’t hold HIPAA, SOC 2 or similar certifications.

4. Fonts and logos

• Many commercial fonts don’t allow embedding in images, PDFs or videos. When you upload a font, you’re confirming that your font license allows it to be embedded in the files Sparkplot Studio creates. You’re responsible for that, not us. [TO DECIDE / TO BUILD: the app currently shows a note on upload; add the “I have the right to use this font” checkbox planned in PRODUCT.md §4]
• “Build my kit from my website” picks up the logo, colors and fonts from a site you name. Only use it for a brand you’re allowed to represent.
• Fonts and logos you upload stay private to your account.

5. Publishing and sharing

• Published charts, tables, maps and stories are public to anyone with the link, including the “Get the data” download of the values shown. You’re responsible for what you publish and embed.
• Free published pages and exports carry the “Made with Sparkplot Studio” mark with a link to us. Don’t remove or hide it unless you’re on Pro.
• We may take down published content that breaks these terms or that we’re legally required to remove.
• Scheduled report emails go to the recipients you add. Only add people who expect to receive them. Each recipient can unsubscribe.

6. Acceptable use

Don’t use Sparkplot Studio to:

• publish or send anything illegal, deceptive, hateful, harassing, or that infringes someone else’s rights (including trademarks and copyright);
• send spam or unsolicited email through scheduled reports;
• upload malware, or try to break into, overload or probe the service or other users’ accounts;
• get around plan limits, the Free mark or rate limits, or resell access to the service without our written permission;
• use the website-fetch feature against sites you’re not allowed to access, or scrape the service.

7. AI features

• AI features use Anthropic’s Claude. They can be wrong.
• Chart headlines from “Sharpen headlines” are checked by our software: a headline is rejected if it uses a number that isn’t in, or can’t be worked out from, that chart’s figures. This catches made-up numbers, but not every misleading wording.
• Values read from a screenshot (“Fix an ugly chart”) or a sketch are estimates. The app tells you so: check them against your source.
• Review AI output before you publish or share it. You’re responsible for what you publish.

8. The service

• We work to keep Sparkplot Studio available and your saved work safe, but we don’t guarantee it will always be available, error-free, or that data can never be lost. Keep your own copies of important files.
• We may change, add or remove features. If we remove a major Pro feature, we’ll tell Pro customers in advance. [TO DECIDE: whether to offer a prorated refund in that case]
• Third-party services we rely on (such as Stripe, Google Sheets, Anthropic and email providers) have their own terms and outages.

9. Ending your use

• You can stop using the service and delete your account at any time. Cancel Pro first in “Manage billing” so you aren’t charged again.
• We may suspend or close accounts that seriously or repeatedly break these terms, or when the law requires it. Where reasonable, we’ll warn you first and give you a chance to download your work.
• If we shut down the service, we’ll give at least [TO DECIDE: e.g. 30 days] notice so you can export your work.

10. Liability

[TO DECIDE / lawyer: warranty disclaimer, limitation of liability (for example capped at what you paid in the last 12 months), indemnity, and consumer-law carve-outs.]

11. Legal details

• Governing law and where disputes are handled: [TO DECIDE: governing law and venue]
• If we change these terms, we’ll update the date at the top and tell account holders about significant changes by email or in the app before they apply. [TO DECIDE: notice period]