Document Generator
Terms of Service Generator for SaaS
Most terms of service generators hand you a generic template full of placeholder language. Codepliant takes a different approach — it scans your actual codebase to understand what your SaaS product does, which services it integrates, and how users interact with it. The result is terms of service with clauses tailored to your application, not a one-size-fits-all document.
What a SaaS terms of service must contain
A terms of service agreement is the legal contract between you and your users. For SaaS products, it must address concerns that static software licenses do not — uptime, data access, subscription billing, and service modifications. Courts have increasingly scrutinized SaaS terms, and missing clauses can make your entire agreement unenforceable.
Service description and scope
Define exactly what your service provides, what it does not, and any usage limits. Vague descriptions lead to user disputes and make limitation of liability clauses harder to enforce.
Account registration and eligibility
Age requirements, account responsibility, credential security, and what happens when accounts are shared. Required if your app uses any authentication service.
Payment and billing terms
Subscription pricing, billing cycles, refund policies, free trial conversions, and what happens when payments fail. Required if you process payments through Stripe, PayPal, or any payment gateway.
Acceptable use policy
What users can and cannot do with your service — prohibited content, rate limits, API abuse, reverse engineering restrictions. Essential for any SaaS with user-facing features.
Intellectual property rights
Who owns the service, who owns user content, license grants in both directions, and restrictions on derivative works. One of the most litigated areas of SaaS agreements.
Limitation of liability
Caps on damages, disclaimer of consequential damages, warranty disclaimers. Without this clause, you face unlimited liability for service failures.
Dispute resolution
Arbitration vs. litigation, class action waiver, governing law, jurisdiction. Arbitration clauses must comply with the Federal Arbitration Act and state-specific requirements.
Termination and suspension
When you can terminate accounts, what happens to user data after termination, notice requirements, and data export rights. GDPR and CCPA impose specific post-termination data obligations.
Data handling reference
Link to your privacy policy, explain how the ToS and privacy policy interact, and address data processing addenda for enterprise customers.
Modification and notice
How you will notify users of ToS changes, how much advance notice you provide, and whether continued use constitutes acceptance. Courts have struck down ToS that changed without adequate notice.
The specific clauses your terms need depend on what your application actually does. A SaaS product that processes payments needs different terms than one that only provides free API access. This is why scanning your code matters — it determines which clauses are required for your specific product.
Key clauses Codepliant generates
These four clauses are where generic templates fail most often. Each requires specificity to be enforceable, and each depends on what your application actually does.
Limitation of liability
Generic templates use blanket disclaimers that courts routinely strike down. Codepliant generates limitation of liability clauses scoped to your actual service — if you process payments, the liability cap references transaction amounts. If you provide AI outputs, the disclaimer addresses accuracy limitations specific to AI-generated content. The clause distinguishes between direct and consequential damages and includes the warranty disclaimers your jurisdiction requires.
Arbitration and dispute resolution
An enforceable arbitration clause requires specificity: which arbitration body (AAA, JAMS), what rules apply, where arbitration occurs, who pays filing fees, and whether class arbitration is permitted. Codepliant generates these details based on your configured jurisdiction and includes the opt-out notice period that courts require to make arbitration clauses enforceable in consumer-facing SaaS.
Intellectual property
IP clauses must address two directions: your ownership of the service and the license users grant you over their content. If Codepliant detects user-generated content features (file uploads, text inputs stored in databases), it generates content license clauses. If it detects AI APIs, it addresses ownership of AI-generated outputs — a rapidly evolving legal area where silence in your ToS creates ambiguity.
Termination and data handling
Termination clauses must specify what happens to user data after account closure. If Codepliant detects databases and cloud storage, it generates data retention and export provisions. If it detects payment processing, it addresses refund obligations on termination. GDPR Article 17 (right to erasure) and CCPA Section 1798.105 impose specific deletion requirements that generic templates rarely address.
How Codepliant generates terms of service from code
Instead of asking you questions about your product, Codepliant reads your project and figures out the answers itself. Here is what happens when you run the CLI:
Scan dependencies and imports
Codepliant reads your package.json, requirements.txt, go.mod, Cargo.toml, Podfile, or equivalent. It also scans source code imports to catch services that are not listed as direct dependencies.
Detect services and capabilities
Each detected package is matched against a database of service signatures. Stripe triggers payment terms. Clerk or Auth0 trigger account registration clauses. OpenAI triggers AI usage disclaimers. S3 or Cloudinary trigger content storage terms. Every service maps to specific ToS clauses.
Map clauses to detected features
Codepliant assembles the required clauses based on what it found. Payment processing means billing terms, refund policy, and payment failure handling. User authentication means account terms, credential responsibilities, and eligibility. AI features mean output disclaimers and IP ownership clauses for generated content.
Generate the document
The terms of service is assembled with clauses tailored to your actual stack. It references your specific services, includes the correct limitation of liability scope, and covers the termination and data handling obligations your integrations require. No generic placeholders.
Services that trigger ToS clauses
Each detected service maps to specific terms of service requirements. Here is what Codepliant looks for and which clauses each detection triggers:
Payment processors (Stripe, PayPal)
Billing terms, refund policy, payment failure handling
Auth providers (Clerk, Auth0, Firebase Auth)
Account registration, eligibility, credential security
AI APIs (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google AI)
AI output disclaimers, accuracy limitations, IP ownership
Cloud storage (S3, Cloudinary, UploadThing)
Content ownership, storage limits, data retention
Databases & ORMs (Prisma, Drizzle, Mongoose)
Data handling, export rights, deletion obligations
Email services (SendGrid, Resend, Postmark)
Communication consent, notification preferences
Analytics (PostHog, Mixpanel, Amplitude)
Tracking disclosures, opt-out mechanisms
Error monitoring (Sentry, Datadog, LogRocket)
Diagnostic data collection, session recording notice
CRM & support (Intercom, HubSpot)
Support data processing, chat data retention
Feature flags (LaunchDarkly, Statsig)
Service modification rights, beta feature disclaimers
Generic template vs. Codepliant-generated
Here is the difference between a typical terms of service template and what Codepliant produces for the same codebase — a Next.js SaaS app using Stripe, Clerk, OpenAI, and Sentry.
Payment Terms
You agree to pay all fees associated with your use of the Service. All payments are non-refundable unless otherwise required by law.
Limitation of Liability
To the maximum extent permitted by law, the Company shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages arising from your use of the Service.
Intellectual Property
All content, features, and functionality of the Service are owned by the Company and are protected by intellectual property laws.
Termination
We may terminate your access to the Service at any time, for any reason, with or without notice.
Payment Terms
Payment processing (via Stripe): Subscription fees are billed in advance on a monthly basis. Payment is processed by Stripe, Inc. — we do not store your credit card number. Failed payments are retried per Stripe's retry schedule. You may cancel your subscription at any time; access continues until the end of your current billing period. Refunds are available within 14 days of initial purchase.
Limitation of Liability
Service liability cap: Our total liability for any claims arising from your use of the Service is limited to the amounts you paid us in the 12 months preceding the claim. AI output disclaimer (OpenAI integration detected): AI-generated content is provided "as is" without warranty of accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any purpose. You are solely responsible for reviewing and validating any AI-generated outputs before reliance.
Intellectual Property
Service ownership: The Service, including all source code, algorithms, and documentation, is owned by the Company. User content license: You retain ownership of content you upload. You grant us a limited license to process, store, and display your content as necessary to provide the Service. AI-generated output: Ownership of AI-generated content is subject to evolving intellectual property law. We make no claim of ownership over outputs generated using your inputs.
Termination
Account termination (Clerk integration detected): We may suspend or terminate your account for violation of these terms with 30 days written notice (immediate for security violations). Post-termination data: Upon termination, you may export your data within 30 days. After this period, your data is permanently deleted per our data retention policy and applicable GDPR/CCPA obligations.
The difference: The generic template says "we may terminate your access at any time, for any reason." Codepliant generates specific notice periods, data export windows, and post-termination deletion obligations — because it detected Clerk for authentication, Stripe for payments, and databases that store user data. It also adds AI output disclaimers because it found OpenAI in your dependencies, something a generic template would never include.
Why generic terms of service templates fail for SaaS
They do not reflect your actual product
A SaaS product that processes payments, uses AI, and stores user files has fundamentally different legal obligations than a static website. Generic templates treat them identically.
Limitation of liability is too vague
Courts have struck down limitation of liability clauses that are overly broad or unconscionable. Effective clauses must be proportionate to the service provided and reference specific liability caps tied to fees paid.
They miss AI-specific clauses entirely
If your product uses AI APIs, your terms need output accuracy disclaimers, IP ownership clauses for generated content, and usage restrictions. No template written before 2023 includes these, and most current ones are inadequate.
Termination rights are one-sided
"We can terminate at any time for any reason" is increasingly challenged in court, especially in consumer-facing SaaS. Modern terms need notice periods, data export windows, and compliance with data deletion regulations.
They go stale when your stack changes
You add Stripe to handle payments, but your terms still say nothing about billing. You integrate OpenAI, but your terms do not mention AI. Every new dependency can create a gap between your terms and your product.
Generate your terms of service in seconds
Scan your codebase. Get terms of service with clauses tailored to your actual services — payment terms for Stripe, AI disclaimers for OpenAI, account terms for Clerk.
Free, open source, no account required. Works offline.
Frequently asked questions
What makes this different from other terms of service generators?
Most terms of service generators use a questionnaire to ask about your product. Codepliant scans your actual source code — dependencies, imports, environment variables, and configuration files — to detect what your application does. If you process payments via Stripe, it generates payment terms referencing Stripe. If you use OpenAI, it generates AI-specific clauses. The result is a terms of service based on what your code actually does, not what you remember to tell a form.
What must a SaaS terms of service contain?
A SaaS terms of service should include: a clear service description, account registration and eligibility requirements, acceptable use policy, payment and billing terms (if applicable), intellectual property ownership and license grants, user-generated content rights, limitation of liability and warranty disclaimers, indemnification, dispute resolution (arbitration or litigation), termination and suspension rights, data handling references (linking to your privacy policy), modification and notice procedures, and governing law. Missing any of these exposes you to legal risk.
Does Codepliant generate enforceable terms of service?
Codepliant generates terms of service that include the clauses courts and regulators expect to see — limitation of liability, arbitration, IP ownership, termination rights, and service-specific disclosures. However, enforceability depends on your jurisdiction, how you present the terms (clickwrap vs browsewrap), and your specific business model. You should have a lawyer review the output before publishing.
What languages and frameworks does Codepliant support?
Codepliant scans codebases in TypeScript, JavaScript, Python, Go, Ruby, Rust, Java, PHP, Swift, Kotlin, and Terraform. It detects services across all major ecosystems including npm, pip, Go modules, Cargo, Composer, CocoaPods, and more.
Is this free to use?
Yes. The CLI is open source (MIT licensed) and free. Run npx codepliant go in your project directory and the terms of service is generated locally — no account, no API key, no network calls.
How does Codepliant know which clauses to include?
Codepliant maps detected services to clause requirements. If it finds Stripe in your dependencies, it adds payment terms and refund policy sections. If it detects authentication (Clerk, Auth0, Firebase Auth), it adds account registration terms. If it finds AI APIs (OpenAI, Anthropic), it adds AI-specific usage disclaimers and output ownership clauses. Each service category triggers the relevant legal clauses.
Can I customize the generated terms?
Yes. You can configure Codepliant with a .codepliantrc.json file to set your company name, jurisdiction, contact email, and other details. The generated Markdown file can be edited further before publishing. You can also run codepliant diff to see what changed when you regenerate after adding new services.
How often should I update my terms of service?
Update your terms of service whenever you add new features that change the user relationship — payment processing, AI features, user-generated content, new third-party integrations. Run codepliant diff to see what changed. Many teams add Codepliant to their CI pipeline to catch when new dependencies require terms updates.
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