Terms of Service

1. Introduction and Service Description

Welcome to AIStart.ai ("AIStart.ai," "we," "us," or "our"). AIStart.ai is an independent online service operated by an individual (a natural person), not by a company or corporate entity. These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your access to and use of the AIStart.ai website and services, including: (a) our AI tool directory and rankings; (b) personalized AI launchpad / toolbox (e.g., saving and organizing tools); (c) tool submission and moderation, including the paid listing service; (d) account features such as profile, submissions, and shared toolkits; and (e) related content and functionality (collectively, the "Service"). By accessing or using the Service, you agree to these Terms and our Privacy Policy.

Because AIStart.ai is run by an individual operator and not a registered company, references in these Terms to "we" or "us" refer to that individual. The operator's identity can be verified by payment partners or competent authorities on request through [email protected].

2. Account and Sign-in with Google

Some features (e.g., toolbox sync, tool submissions, profile) require an account. You may create an account by signing in with Google. When you use "Sign in with Google," you authorize us to receive and use certain information from your Google account as described in our Privacy Policy. Your use of Google Sign-In is also subject to Google’s Terms of Service and Google’s Privacy Policy. You are responsible for maintaining the security of your account and for all activity under your account.

You must provide accurate information and be at least 13 years of age (or the minimum age in your jurisdiction) to use the Service. We may suspend or terminate your account if you violate these Terms or for other reasons consistent with providing a safe and lawful service.

3. Acceptable Use & Prohibited AI Uses

You agree to use the Service only for lawful purposes and in accordance with these Terms. You must not:

• Use the Service in any way that violates applicable laws, regulations, or card network rules
• Infringe the intellectual property or other rights of others
• Submit false, misleading, or malicious content (e.g., spam, malware, or phishing links)
• Attempt to gain unauthorized access to our systems, other accounts, or third-party services
• Use automated means (e.g., scraping, bots) in a way that burdens our systems or violates our policies
• Harass, abuse, or harm others or use the Service to distribute harmful or illegal content
• Resell or sub-license access to the Service without our prior written approval

3.1 Prohibited AI Uses

Because the Service references and links to AI-powered tools, and because we sell a paid listing service for AI products, you specifically agree NOT to use the Service (including any listed tool, submission, content, or output) to:

• Generate, distribute, promote, or facilitate deepfake content — including AI-synthesized or AI-manipulated audio, video, images, or text — that impersonates real individuals, public figures, or organizations, or that is intended to deceive viewers about its origin, authenticity, or authorship.
• Produce non-consensual sexual or intimate imagery of any person, including AI-generated or AI-edited "nudify", undressing, face-swap, or sexual deepfake content.
• Generate, distribute, or solicit any content that sexualizes minors (CSAM) or violates child protection laws.
• Carry out election interference, political disinformation, or AI-generated propaganda designed to deceive voters or undermine democratic processes.
• Conduct fraud, scams, phishing, identity theft, payment-card fraud, or social-engineering attacks (including AI-driven voice cloning of relatives, executives, or officials).
• Develop, distribute, or operate malware, ransomware, spyware, stalkerware, surveillance tools targeting individuals without consent, or cyberattack tools.
• Provide unlicensed professional advice (medical, legal, financial, psychological, etc.) presented as if generated by a qualified human professional, where such misrepresentation could cause harm.
• Generate content promoting self-harm, suicide, eating disorders, terrorism, violent extremism, or hate speech against protected groups.
• Create, sell, or distribute instructions for weapons (including chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or 3D-printable firearms), or for synthesizing controlled substances.
• Generate copyright- or trademark-infringing material, or content designed to circumvent rights-management or content-moderation systems.
• Use Service inputs, outputs, or any derivative data to train, fine-tune, benchmark, distil, or otherwise develop any AI/ML model that competes, directly or indirectly, with AIStart.ai.
• Systematically scrape, extract, or harvest tool data or AI outputs at scale for purposes other than your own authorized use of the Service.
• Submit, list, or promote any third-party tool whose primary purpose is any of the activities prohibited above (e.g., a tool marketed for creating non-consensual deepfakes will be rejected and removed without refund).

We reserve the right to remove content, reject or delist submissions, refuse or reverse payments, and suspend or terminate accounts that we reasonably believe violate these Terms or harm the Service, our payment partners, or other users. Submissions removed for violating this Section are not eligible for a refund.

4. Submissions and Content

When you submit tools, links, or other content to the Service, you grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license to use, display, and distribute that content in connection with operating and promoting the Service. You represent that you have the right to submit such content and that it does not violate any third-party rights or these Terms. We do not guarantee that any submission will be listed or retained; listings may be moderated, edited, or removed at our discretion.

5. Paid Products & Billing

AIStart.ai offers the following options for listing AI tools on our directory. Current prices and full feature details are on our Pricing page:

• Free Listing: No charge. Submissions are reviewed manually and published within approximately 7 days. Outbound links use nofollow by default; one dofollow link may be granted if you add a backlink to our website (auto-detected by our system). No premium customer support.
• PRO (Paid Listing): A one-time, non-recurring purchase (currently US$4.99, subject to change). Upon payment confirmation, your tool is auto-published, featured for a limited period, and receives at least two permanent dofollow links on detail pages.
• Sponsor: A one-time, non-recurring purchase (currently US$9.99 per calendar week, subject to change) for a premium featured spot on product detail pages across the directory. Each purchase covers one calendar week only. Only one sponsor slot is available per period. See our Sponsors page for details.

5.1 Payment processor. All payments for paid products (PRO and Sponsor) are processed exclusively by our PCI-DSS compliant payment provider Waffo Pancake (supporting Visa and Mastercard). The merchant of record for these paid products is the individual operator of AIStart.ai. We do not store payment card data on our servers. By completing a purchase, you authorize AIStart.ai (the individual operator, via Waffo Pancake) to charge your selected payment method for the amount displayed at checkout.

5.2 Taxes. Unless otherwise stated, prices are exclusive of applicable taxes (VAT, GST, sales tax, or similar). Where required by applicable law, such taxes will be collected at checkout. You are responsible for any taxes applicable to your use of the Service in your jurisdiction.

5.3 Price changes. We may change prices, introduce new paid products, or discontinue paid products at any time. Price changes do not affect already-completed purchases or paid placement periods already purchased.

6. One-Time Purchases

6.1 Free and PRO. Free listing requires no payment. PRO (Paid Listing) is a one-time purchase and does not auto-renew. See our Pricing page for current plans.

6.2 Sponsor. Sponsor placements are sold as a one-time, non-recurring purchase (currently US$9.99 per calendar week, subject to change). Each purchase covers one calendar week of placement only. No subscription and no auto-renewal — you will not be charged again unless you separately purchase another week. See our Sponsors page for the current schedule and availability.

7. Refund Policy

This refund policy is disclosed both here and at checkout, as required by Visa Core Rules §5.7.2 and Mastercard rules.

7.1 General policy. PRO (Paid Listing) is a digital service delivered immediately upon payment (auto-publish within minutes) and is generally non-refundable. Sponsor fees for the paid placement period are generally non-refundable once the placement period has begun, except as stated below or as required by applicable law. Free listings involve no payment and are not subject to refunds.

7.2 Eligible refunds. A refund may be issued in the following cases:

• Duplicate charge: full refund for any billing error resulting in a duplicate charge.
• Failure to deliver (PRO): full refund if, due to a fault on our side, your tool cannot be published within a reasonable time after payment.
• Failure to deliver (Sponsor): pro-rated refund or credit if, due to a fault on our side, your sponsor placement does not go live as agreed for a material portion of the paid period.
• Verified service outage (≥72 hours): a pro-rated refund or credit for extended outages within our control that materially deprive you of paid benefits.
• Statutory rights: if applicable law grants withdrawal or refund rights (e.g., 14-day EU/UK withdrawal right, before such right is exhausted by use), those rights are preserved.

7.3 Non-refundable items. Refunds will not be issued for: (a) PRO listings already published and live; (b) Sponsor placement periods already elapsed or placements already displayed; (c) submissions rejected or removed for violating these Terms (including Section 3 — Acceptable Use & Prohibited AI Uses); (d) requests made more than 14 days after the charge, except where required by law.

7.4 How to request a refund. Email [email protected] within 14 days of the charge with your account email, the transaction ID, and the reason for the refund. We will acknowledge within 2 business days and process eligible refunds within 5–10 business days to the original payment method.

8. Billing Disputes

If you believe there is an error in any charge, please contact us at [email protected] before raising a chargeback or dispute with your card issuer. We commit to responding within 2 business days and resolving confirmed billing errors within 5 business days. Working with us first usually resolves the issue faster than a formal chargeback.

9. Intellectual Property

The Service (including its design, text, graphics, logos, and software, but excluding user-submitted content) is owned or licensed by us. You may not copy, modify, distribute, or create derivative works from our Service or our branding without our prior written permission. Trademarks and names such as "AIStart.ai" are our property; Google and other third-party names and logos are property of their respective owners.

10. Disclaimers

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE, OR FREE OF HARMFUL COMPONENTS. WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THIRD-PARTY TOOLS, WEBSITES, OR CONTENT LINKED FROM OUR SERVICE. YOUR USE OF SUCH THIRD-PARTY RESOURCES IS AT YOUR OWN RISK.

AI output disclaimer. Many tools listed on AIStart.ai are AI-powered. AI-generated outputs may contain errors, inaccuracies, hallucinations, or outdated information. You should not rely on AI-generated content for legal, medical, financial, or other professional advice; always verify with a qualified human professional before acting on it. AIStart.ai is a directory and does not control the AI models or outputs of the third-party tools listed on the Service.

11. Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, WE (AND OUR AFFILIATES, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AND AGENTS) SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, DATA, OR GOODWILL, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE OR THESE TERMS. OUR TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIMS ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO THE SERVICE SHALL NOT EXCEED THE AMOUNT YOU PAID US, IF ANY, IN THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS PRECEDING THE CLAIM, OR ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS (USD 100), WHICHEVER IS GREATER. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW CERTAIN LIMITATIONS; IN SUCH CASES, OUR LIABILITY WILL BE LIMITED TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

12. Termination

You may stop using the Service at any time. We may suspend or terminate your access or account at any time, with or without notice, for conduct we reasonably believe violates these Terms (including Section 3 — Acceptable Use & Prohibited AI Uses) or is harmful to the Service, our payment partners, or others. Upon termination, your right to use the Service ceases. Sections that by their nature should survive (including disclaimers, limitation of liability, billing, and dispute resolution) will survive termination.

13. Changes to the Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. We will post the updated Terms on this page and update the "Last Updated" date. Material changes (including changes to billing, refund, or subscription terms) will be notified by email at least 14 days before the effective date. Your continued use of the Service after changes become effective constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms. If you do not agree, please discontinue use of the Service.

14. General

These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and AIStart.ai regarding the Service. If any provision is held invalid, the remaining provisions remain in effect. Our failure to enforce any right does not waive that right. These Terms are governed by the laws of the jurisdiction in which we operate, without regard to conflict of law principles.

15. Contact Us

AIStart.ai is operated as a personal project by an individual; we provide email-only support and do not offer a phone line or mailing address. For any questions about these Terms, billing, refunds, or subscriptions, please reach out via the most relevant address below — we typically respond within 2 business days:

Note: AIStart.ai is operated by an individual and does not maintain a public phone line or postal address. Payment partners or competent authorities may verify the operator's identity by emailing [email protected].