SaaS Terms of Service

SaaS terms of service govern the relationship between a SaaS provider and its customers, and they need to do several things at once: license the software, allocate liability, allocate IP in customer data and configurations, document the service levels, address data protection, and handle termination.

Where SaaS terms make their money

For most SaaS businesses, the terms also need to be commercially scalable, used across hundreds or thousands of customers without renegotiation, which means the drafting has to be both robust and balanced.

Aggressive one-sided terms might survive use by small customers but get pushed back by enterprise customers; weak terms expose the business unnecessarily.

Suitable for SaaS providers selling subscription services to business customers.

Example: a typical scope and fixed fee

For a UK SaaS provider, the typical scope looks like this.

What's included

• A consultation to understand your service, customer base, and commercial model
• Drafting of SaaS terms of service covering licence and access, fees and renewal, customer data, IP, service levels, data protection, security, liability, indemnities, term, and termination
• An accompanying acceptable use policy
• One round of revisions based on your feedback
• Final version ready to publish

What's outside this scope

• Negotiation with individual customers (I can advise on enterprise variations as a separate engagement)
• Sector-specific regulatory provisions (e.g. financial services, healthcare)
• Tax advice

Fixed fee: £850, no VAT.

How I will approach your matter

Once you have instructed me, I will arrange a consultation to understand your service, customer base, and commercial model before drafting. The terms will be calibrated to be enforceable for SMB customers and commercially negotiable for enterprise customers.