Terms of Service

1. Eligibility

You must be at least 14 years old to create an account and use the Service. If you are under the age of majority where you live, you may only use the Service with the involvement and consent of a parent or guardian. By using the Service, you confirm that you meet these requirements.

2. Your Account

To use most features, you need to create an account. You're responsible for keeping your login details secure and for all activity under your account. Please use an email address you can access, since we use it for important account and billing information. Let us know promptly if you believe your account has been accessed without your permission.

3. Your Content

The Service lets you upload texts (.txt, .epub, .pdf) to read, have formatted for readability, or have simplified into an easier retelling ("Content"). You keep ownership of your Content — we don't claim any ownership over it.

By uploading Content, you grant us a limited, non-exclusive licence to store, process, translate, and generate a simplified version of that Content, including sending it to third-party AI providers (see our Privacy Policy) for the purpose of operating the Service for you. This licence ends when you delete the Content or your account, except for copies kept briefly in routine backups.

You're responsible for your Content, including having the right to use and upload it, and for making sure it doesn't infringe anyone else's copyright or other rights. We may remove Content or suspend accounts we reasonably believe breach this section or the law.

4. Acceptable Use

You agree not to misuse the Service — for example, by trying to disrupt it, gain unauthorized access, use it to break the law or infringe others' rights, or use automated means to extract data or bypass usage limits. We may apply reasonable usage limits (for example, monthly character limits on Pro) to keep the Service running well and financially sustainable.

5. Privacy

Our Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and share your personal data. By using the Service, you agree to our handling of your data as described there.

6. Subscriptions and Billing

Balaka offers a free plan with limited features, and a paid Pro subscription ($4.99/month at the time of writing) that unlocks uploading your own texts, simplified retellings, and other features described on our Pricing page.

Subscriptions renew automatically each month using your saved payment method, until you cancel. Payments are processed by Stripe; we don't store your full card details.

We may change subscription prices from time to time. Any price change will only apply to billing periods that begin after the change, never to a period you've already paid for.

7. Cancellation and Refunds

You can cancel your subscription at any time from your account settings. When you cancel, your subscription stops renewing, and you keep your paid Pro access until the end of the billing period you've already paid for. We don't generally provide refunds for partial periods.

If you're a consumer in the EU/EEA, you have a statutory right to withdraw from a purchase within 14 days. Because the Service is digital content supplied to you immediately, by starting to use your paid subscription during that period, you ask us to begin providing it straight away and acknowledge you may lose the right of withdrawal once the service has been fully provided. Nothing in these Terms limits any right you have under mandatory consumer law. If you believe you've been charged in error, please contact us and we'll try to put it right.

8. Our Intellectual Property

The Service itself — its software, design, and branding — belongs to us. These Terms don't give you any right to use our name or branding, or to copy or reverse-engineer the Service, except as allowed by law.

9. Third-Party Services

The Service relies on third-party providers — for translation and AI features (Anthropic), payments (Stripe), and hosting/infrastructure (Supabase, Vercel, Railway). We're not responsible for the availability or performance of these third-party services, though we choose and monitor them carefully.

10. Disclaimers

The Service is provided "as is" and "as available", without warranties of any kind, to the fullest extent permitted by law. Balaka is a language-learning aid — translations, simplified retellings, and other AI-generated content can occasionally be incomplete or wrong, and shouldn't be relied on as professional, legal, or other authoritative advice. We don't guarantee the Service will be uninterrupted, secure, or error-free.

11. Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, we won't be liable for any indirect, incidental, or consequential losses, or for loss of data or profits, arising from your use of (or inability to use) the Service. Our total liability to you for any claim relating to the Service won't exceed the amount you paid us in the 12 months before the claim. Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability that can't be excluded or limited under applicable law, including your rights as a consumer.

12. Termination

You can stop using the Service and request deletion of your account at any time (see our Privacy Policy for how). We may suspend or terminate your access if you materially or repeatedly breach these Terms, if required by law, or if reasonably necessary to protect the Service or other users. Where reasonable, we'll give you notice first.

13. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of Spain. Any disputes will be subject to the courts of Spain, except that if you're a consumer, you may also be entitled to bring proceedings in the courts of your country of residence and to rely on mandatory consumer-protection rules there.

14. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. If a change is material, we'll give at least 30 days' notice before it takes effect, for example by email or a notice on the Service. By continuing to use the Service after changes take effect, you agree to the updated Terms.

15. Contact Us

If you have questions about these Terms, please contact us at [contact email].