A terms and conditions agreement is a set of rules that explains how people can use your website or app. It is also called terms of use, terms of service, or a user agreement. Our generic terms and conditions template helps you build a comprehensive agreement for your business. The step-by-step guide below shows how to make each part clear and easy to understand.
Last Updated: October 2026. This guide is reviewed and updated regularly to reflect current law. If you notice an error or outdated information, please contact us.
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A terms and conditions agreement sets the ground rules for your website or app. The users must accept the company’s terms and conditions to use its online services. A business entity is not required by law to provide terms and conditions for their customers.
However, with a user agreement, you can control your website or application usage and take action against customers who break the rules. Here are the main reasons to prepare one:
With the terms and conditions, you protect your company and inform users about the rules they must follow. Once the users agree to be bound by your terms, you conclude a legally binding contract. In case of any legal dispute, the court will always consider your website’s terms and conditions.
That’s why you should be very careful when preparing them. Try to make the document as easy-to-understand as possible, following the next steps:
In different situations, you can use different types of user agreements. The terms of service (ToS) are more general and describe overall regulations. If you sell products, it’s better to use an end-user license agreement (EULA). This agreement gives your buyers the license to use a copy of your software.
If you do not want to give your users the right to copy your product, you may use a service level agreement (SLA). It defines the level of service your customers can expect from the company, including quality and scope, as well as liabilities if the mentioned quality level is not achieved.
Website standard terms always include the introduction stating that a person accepts all terms and conditions by using the app or website. If users disagree with the terms, they should not be authorized to access the services. Here, you can also include the confidentiality statement and whether minors are permitted to use your website or not.
It’s necessary to indicate that your website materials are protected by copyright and other relevant laws of the country. Users are granted a limited license to view the materials on the platform or mobile app. In the case of copyright infringement, you can take legal actions against the violators. You should also indicate that your company, in its turn, does not intend to claim any ownership rights to the users’ data.
The next section of your document should be devoted to the regulations of using the website or app. Here, you should describe the restrictions, including the general prohibition of advertising (if your platform is not designed for such purposes), data harvesting, or distributing third-party content without appropriate rights to it. You should clearly define the rules to follow and explain the consequences of breaking them. It would be best to warn your users about liabilities if they abuse your services.
In this section, you should provide the statement that your company gets a non-exclusive license to use, adapt, and distribute in any media all the content users display on your website. The users are permitted to post content that does not infringe any third-party rights. Do not forget to warn your users that your company may remove any content from the website without notice.
It’s crucial to limit your liability, indicating that your company is not responsible for third party content or any mistakes in the website content. You can also include the right to provide any modifications to your website material. Here, it’s possible to indicate the indemnification clause, providing that all customers indemnify your company from and against any liabilities or demands.
This section provides the company’s right to change or delete the platform or app’s contents periodically. You should also explain to the users that you are allowed to add correct information and update your website content in case of any mistakes or typos.
Website standard terms and conditions usually include several important clauses and sections. Consult our template and make sure that you describe all the important details, such as the four areas below. Each one answers a question your users are likely to have before they start using your site.
Use our website standard terms and conditions template to create terms that fit your business. You can also look at other terms generators and PDF examples for ideas. Work through the steps below in order:
Identify the company
Start with your company name and the services you provide. Add the link to your website or application. If minors may use your service, say from which age they can use your service or software.
Include the IPR statement
List the materials on your site that are protected by copyright and say that users have only a limited license to view them. You can also say that your company does not intend to claim any ownership rights to the users’ data. Ask customers not to distribute data from third-party websites without holding appropriate rights.
Add necessary clauses
Our website standard terms and conditions template includes general clauses that you can extend to fit your business. If you sell software, add a non-exclusive license clause that lets your buyers copy and use it, and note that its content cannot be modified or reproduced without your consent. Add links to your privacy policy and refund policy, and limit user access to certain materials.
State the liability limits
Add a disclaimer that you are not responsible for third party content or for any mistakes in the content. In this section, you can also provide the liabilities for data harvesting, damaging your website, or an overall breach in terms. Do not forget to include indemnification clauses.
Identify the termination clause
Tell users that the agreement can be ended. This matters most for companies that offer software as a service (SaaS) applications or sell products.
Indicate the governing law
It’s necessary to identify the jurisdiction under which any disputes will be resolved. You should inform users about the applicable law to avoid any future misunderstandings. As a general rule, the governing laws are laws of the state or country where the business entity has its headquarter.
Add contact details
End your terms with contact details for users who have questions. Most companies list an email address.
Creating terms and conditions is only half of the battle. You have to ensure that your customers are aware of them. You can enforce your terms and conditions by using either a browsewrap or a clickwrap agreement.
The first one usually means that the users implicitly agree with the terms by using the website or mobile app. The notice with the link to terms and conditions is usually placed at the bottom of the website.
The second agreement requires action, that is, to click a button, “I agree” or “Accept” to confirm the awareness of the terms. In this case, a user must agree with the terms to access the website or application. The clickwrap agreement is always preferable because it proves that the user has read the terms. With the browsewrap agreement, it’s hard to ensure that your users know the terms.
A privacy policy is required for companies collecting and storing the personal data of the customers. The website privacy terms go separately from the terms and conditions agreement and describe how the company collects, stores, and uses personal information.
The requirement to have privacy terms became widespread after the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Online Privacy Protection Act (CalOPPA) were drafted. The CalOPPA protects California residents’ data and indicates that all websites collecting personal information must include understandable privacy terms. Since almost every website and app collects some personal information directly or indirectly, they need to have privacy policies in most cases.
People also call it terms of use, terms of service, or a user agreement. The names point to the same kind of document. Pick the one your visitors already use when they talk about your site.
Many sites add the link in a few places that visitors check anyway:
That way visitors see the terms before they create an account or buy something. Use a clear label such as Terms and Conditions or Terms of Service.
Long enough to cover your rules and short enough that people read them. Use short sections, plain words and headings so visitors can find a topic quickly. Review the text whenever your services change.
General information, not legal or tax advice.
