# Terms of Service

**Effective 23 Oct 2026.** These Terms are an agreement between you and SerpWiz ("we", "us") covering your use of the SerpWiz website, dashboard, API and MCP server (the "Service"). By creating an account or using the Service, you agree to these Terms, our [Acceptable Use Policy](/acceptable-use) and our [Privacy Policy](/privacy). If you're accepting on behalf of an organization, you confirm you have authority to bind it.

## 1. Accounts and API keys

- You need an account to use the API, and you must give a valid email address and verify it.
- You must be at least 18, or the age of majority where you live.
- Keep your password and API keys secret. Anything done with your keys is your responsibility, and you're charged for it. If a key leaks, revoke it in your dashboard right away.
- One person or organization may hold more than one account. However, accounts may not be used to get around the free-tier allowance or rate limits (see the [Acceptable Use Policy](/acceptable-use)).
- **Referral codes:** if you sign up with a referral or coupon code, you get bonus queries as described in the [Affiliate Terms](/affiliate-terms). Bonuses are for genuinely new users. If your account turns out to be controlled by the same person as the referring account, the bonus queries are removed from both accounts (and deducted from the balance if already used), the free monthly queries stop, and neither account can earn referral bonuses again.

## 2. The Service

- The Service returns data from public search engines (for example, Google Search and Google Maps) as structured JSON.
- We don't control those third-party sites. Results can be incomplete, out of date, or change format, and some fields aren't always present.
- We may add, change or remove endpoints, parameters and response fields. We'll try to avoid breaking changes within an API version and to announce significant changes in the [changelog](/changelog).
- **We don't offer a public service-level agreement (SLA) or service credits.** You're only charged for successful requests (section 5), so you're not billed while the Service isn't working. Enterprise customers may agree a paid SLA in a separate written contract.

## 3. Plans, billing and automatic renewal

- **Plans:** paid plans are billed monthly or annually in advance, in US dollars, through our payment processor Stripe. Plan prices, included queries and requests-per-second ("RPS") limits are shown on our [pricing page](/#pricing) and in your dashboard at the time of purchase.
- **Automatic renewal:** your plan renews automatically at the end of each billing period (each month or each year) and is charged to your payment method on file until you cancel. It renews at the price you signed up at (see section 8). We send a reminder email before each renewal.
- **Cancelling:** you can cancel at any time in your dashboard under **Billing**. Cancellation stops future renewals and takes effect at the end of the current billing period. Cancelling doesn't refund the current period (see section 7).
- **Add-ons** (extra RPS) are separate monthly subscriptions. They renew and cancel in the same way. An add-on ends when your base plan ends.
- **Top-ups** are one-time purchases of extra queries at the list rate. They're only available while you have an active plan, and they don't change your RPS.
- **Free tier:** 1,000 queries a month at 1 RPS. This needs a verified email and no payment.
- **Taxes:** prices don't include taxes. You're responsible for any taxes that apply to your purchase, other than taxes on our income.
- **Failed payments:** if a renewal payment fails, Stripe may retry it. Your plan, and the RPS it includes, may lapse if the payment isn't made.

## 4. Queries and your balance

- Each account has one query balance. Plan payments, add-ons and top-ups add queries to it.
  - **Monthly plans** add their allotment each time you pay.
  - **Annual plans** add the full year's allotment when you pay.
- **Validity:** queries from each purchase are valid for **12 months from the date of that purchase**, and your oldest queries are used first. Queries older than 12 months expire.
- **Free allowance:** the free monthly allowance is separate from your paid balance and is used first. It resets each month and doesn't roll over.
- **No cash value:** queries have no cash value, can't be transferred between accounts, and are refunded only as set out in section 7.
- **RPS:** your rate limit comes from your active plan plus add-ons, never from your balance. Without an active paid plan, any remaining balance stays usable at 1 RPS until it expires.

## 5. What counts as a charged request

You're charged only for **successful** requests: those that return search results. The API reports the cost of each request in the `X-Credits-Charged` header. The following are never charged:

- Errors
- Timeouts
- Rate-limited (`429`) responses
- Invalid requests
- Requests rejected for an empty balance

We may return results from a short-term cache, for up to about an hour. These count as successful requests.

## 6. Plan changes

- **Upgrades take effect immediately.**
  - The new plan is charged in full and its billing period starts that day.
  - Your previous plan is cancelled at the same time, **with no refund or proration** of the time remaining on it.
  - Your existing balance carries over.
- **Downgrades take effect at your next renewal.** You keep your current plan and RPS until then.
- **Your balance always carries over** between plans, and each purchase keeps its own 12-month validity.

## 7. Refunds

**All payments are non-refundable**, except in the three cases below. Where a refund is due, we pay it to the original payment method and remove the matching queries from your balance.

1. **Prolonged outage.** If the Service is unavailable for more than 7 consecutive days, you may end your subscription. We'll refund your remaining balance at the blended rate.
2. **Discontinuation or termination by us for convenience.** If we discontinue the Service, or end your account other than for your breach of these Terms, we'll refund your remaining balance at the blended rate. Where practicable, we'll give you notice in advance.
3. **Renewal at a new price.** If your plan renews at a higher price after a price change (section 8), you may ask for a refund of that renewal:
   - **Unused:** if you haven't used any queries since the renewal, we refund the renewal charge in full.
   - **Partly used:** we refund the renewal charge minus (queries used since the renewal × the new per-query rate), but never less than zero.
   - *Example:* after a $1,350 renewal, you've used 1,000,000 queries and the new rate is $0.20 per 1,000. We refund $1,350 − $200 = $1,150.

The **blended rate** is the total you paid for purchases in the previous 12 months, divided by the total queries those purchases added.

To request a refund, email support@serpwiz.com from your account's email address. Please contact us before disputing a charge with your bank. A chargeback may lead us to suspend your account while it's resolved.

## 8. Price changes

**Your price is locked in.** While your plan stays active, it keeps renewing at the price you signed up at, even if our list prices go up for new customers.

- The lock covers your current plan and its add-ons for as long as they renew without a break.
- A new purchase is made at the list price of the day: an upgrade or downgrade to a different plan, a top-up, a new add-on, or a new plan after a cancellation.
- Queries you've already bought always keep their value.

We'll only change the price of an existing plan in exceptional circumstances beyond our reasonable control, such as a force majeure event, a change in law, or a substantial and lasting increase in the cost of the infrastructure or data the Service depends on. If that happens:

- We'll email all affected subscribers at least 30 days before the new price applies to them.
- Our usual renewal reminder is still sent before each renewal.
- You can cancel before your next renewal. If your plan renews at the new price, you can still claim a refund under section 7(3).

## 9. Acceptable use and rate limits

- You must follow our [Acceptable Use Policy](/acceptable-use).
- Rate limits apply per account and are shared by all of its API keys.
- To protect the shared service, we may temporarily throttle traffic during periods of very high load, starting with the heaviest users.

## 10. Your responsibilities for results

You're responsible for how you use data returned by the Service, including complying with:

- the laws that apply to you, including data-protection law
- third parties' rights, such as copyright and trademarks

We provide data as it appears on third-party sites and don't grant you any rights in that third-party content.

## 11. Suspension and termination

- **You** may stop using the Service and close your account at any time by emailing support@serpwiz.com.
- **We** may suspend or end your access immediately if you breach these Terms or the Acceptable Use Policy, if your use threatens the Service or other customers, or if we're required to by law. In those cases no refund is due.
- **We** may also end the Service, or your account, for any other reason. We'll give notice where practicable and refund you under section 7(2).
- Sections 4 (no cash value), 7, 10 and 12–16 survive termination.

## 12. Disclaimer

THE SERVICE AND ALL DATA ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE". TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, ACCURACY AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. WE DON'T WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE.

## 13. Limitation of liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW:

- We won't be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for lost profits, revenue, data or goodwill.
- Our total liability for any claim relating to the Service is limited to the amount you paid us in the 12 months before the event giving rise to the claim.

## 14. Indemnity

You'll defend and indemnify us against third-party claims arising from your use of the Service or the data it returns in breach of these Terms or the law.

## 15. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the jurisdiction from which SerpWiz operates, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules. Disputes will be resolved in the courts of that jurisdiction, unless the law where you live requires otherwise.

## 16. Changes to these Terms

- We may update these Terms. The "Effective" date above shows when they last changed.
- If a change is material, we'll email you at least 14 days before it takes effect.
- If you keep using the Service after that date, you accept the new Terms.

## 17. Contact

SerpWiz. Email: support@serpwiz.com.