Fastly
Weighted across nine legal categories. Lower is worse.
Executive summary
Fastly's terms are a business subscription contract, and they are unusually balanced for the industry. Liability caps, the consequential damages exclusion, and the indemnity obligations all run both ways, and Fastly cannot rewrite the contract on its own because changes require a signed writing from both sides. You keep full ownership of your data, Fastly promises not to sell or disclose it, and prior versions of the terms are publicly archived. The weak spots are Free Accounts, which Fastly can shut off at any time for no reason with your data permanently lost and with all liability disclaimed, and paid commitments, which are non-cancelable, non-refundable, and auto-renew unless you give one month's notice. Disputes go to court in San Francisco under California law, with no arbitration clause and no class action waiver.
Category breakdown
Acceptance of Terms & Scope
Contract formation and service boundaries
Acceptance happens simply by accessing or using the service, which is a browsewrap-style trigger, but the notice is made prominent in capital letters at the very top and the terms point you to the pricing page, the Documentation, and the Acceptable Use Policy before you agree. The document is dated and prior versions are archived at a public URL, which is better than most providers offer. Scope is well defined around Service Orders, though the agreement pulls in the AUP and Documentation by reference, and those can be updated separately. There is no age requirement or consumer capacity language because this is a business agreement.
Key findings
- Acceptance is triggered by merely accessing or using the services, not by a click-through checkbox in the text itself
- The binding-contract warning is placed at the top in capital letters and is genuinely conspicuous
- You are asked to confirm you have authority to bind the entity you represent and its affiliates
- The terms are dated November 4, 2025 and prior versions are archived at a public URL
- The agreement incorporates the Acceptable Use Policy, Documentation, and Data Processing Terms by reference, so the full deal is spread across several documents
- Order of precedence between the documents is spelled out in Section 23, which reduces ambiguity
Evidence from the document
BY ACCESSING OR USING FASTLY SERVICES YOU ARE ACCEPTING THESE TERMS (ON BEHALF OF YOURSELF OR THE ENTITY THAT YOU REPRESENT)
BEFORE ACCEPTING THESE TERMS AND USING FASTLY’S SERVICES, PLEASE REVIEW THE INFORMATION AT EACH OF THESE ONLINE LOCATIONS.
THESE TERMS WERE LAST UPDATED ON NOVEMBER 4, 2025. PRIOR VERSIONS OF FASTLY’S TERMS OF SERVICE ARE AVAILABLE AT
Additional terms and conditions presented to Subscriber in connection with the registration for an Account (as defined below) shall be binding on Subscriber.
Recommendations
- Read the Acceptable Use Policy and the Data Processing Terms before you deploy, because they are binding even though they live at separate URLs
- Save a dated copy of the version in force when you sign up, and bookmark the archive URL so you can prove what you agreed to
- If you are signing on behalf of an employer, confirm you actually have authority, because the terms make you warrant that you do
User Accounts
Registration, suspension, and termination
Paid Accounts get real due process: Fastly must email a Service Notice describing the problem and asking you to fix it, and can only suspend after you fail to act, with termination reserved for a ten day failure or repeat offenses. Termination for material breach requires 30 days written notice and a chance to cure, and that right runs both ways. Free Accounts get the opposite treatment, since they can be killed at any time for no reason with your configurations and data permanently lost. The document also gives Fastly sole discretion over suspensions and disclaims any liability for terminating your account, and it says nothing about exporting or retrieving your data after termination.
Key findings
- Free Accounts can be suspended, terminated, or discontinued at any time and for any reason or no reason at all
- Data and configurations in a Free Account may be permanently lost with no liability on Fastly's side
- Paid Accounts get an email Service Notice and a request to fix the problem before any suspension happens
- Termination for cause after a Service Notice requires a ten day failure to act or two failures in a rolling twelve months
- Either party can terminate for material breach on 30 days written notice with a cure period, which is a mutual and fair mechanic
- There is no data export, retrieval window, or appeal process described anywhere in the document
Evidence from the document
FREE ACCOUNTS MAY BE SUSPENDED, TERMINATED, OR
MAY BE PERMANENTLY LOST IF THE FREE ACCOUNT IS SUSPENDED, TERMINATED, OR DISCONTINUED.
If Fastly becomes aware that Subscriber may violate Subscriber’s obligations under this Section 4 (Subscriber’s Obligations), Fastly will notify the Abuse Contact by email
All limitations of access, suspensions, and terminations for cause shall be made in Fastly’s sole discretion
Subscriber or Fastly may terminate the entire Agreement for cause upon 30 days’ written notice to the other of a material breach if the breach remains uncured at the expiration of the notice period.
Recommendations
- Do not put anything you cannot afford to lose in a Free Account, because the terms let Fastly delete it without warning or liability
- Set the Abuse Contact email to a monitored inbox, because Service Notices and third party Reports go there and the clocks are short
- Keep your own backups of configurations and logs, since the terms promise you no export path after termination
- Cross the paid threshold before relying on Fastly for production traffic, because the protections in Section 4.6 only meaningfully help Paid Accounts
Intellectual Property & UGC
Content ownership and licensing
This is the strongest part of the agreement. You keep ownership of everything you push through the service, and the license you grant Fastly is narrow: non-exclusive, revocable, limited to processing and transmitting your data, and it lasts only during the term. The terms state outright that Fastly acquires no right or interest in your data and will not sell or disclose it. The only notable giveaway is the feedback clause, which hands Fastly a perpetual and irrevocable right to any suggestions you send, and the fact that Fastly keeps ownership of professional services deliverables while giving you only an internal-use license.
Key findings
- Your license to Fastly is worldwide but non-exclusive, revocable, limited, and expires with the term
- Fastly expressly acquires no right, title, or interest in your data
- Fastly commits not to sell or disclose your data, and not to disclose performance Data Insights in a way that identifies you
- Feedback you send is licensed to Fastly perpetually, irrevocably, and royalty-free with no compensation
- Fastly keeps ownership of Deliverables from professional services, and you get only a perpetual internal business use license
- You must delete Fastly software from your environment when a Service Order ends, and that obligation survives termination
Evidence from the document
Subscriber grants Fastly a worldwide, non-exclusive, revocable, and limited license during the term of Subscriber’s use of the Services to process, transmit, and store Subscriber Data
Subscriber grants to Fastly a worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free permission to use and incorporate into the Services any suggestion, enhancement request, recommendation, correction, or other feedback provided by Subscriber.
Subject to Subscriber’s ownership of its proprietary and Confidential Information disclosed to Fastly under Section 8 (Confidentiality) Fastly shall retain all ownership rights to the Deliverables.
Fastly shall not sell nor disclose any Subscriber Data. Fastly shall not disclose any Data Insights in a manner that identifies Subscriber.
Recommendations
- Do not send Fastly product ideas you intend to commercialize yourself, because the feedback license is perpetual and irrevocable
- If you are paying for professional services and need to own the output, negotiate ownership of Deliverables in the Service Order rather than relying on the default
- Note that your license to Fastly is revocable, so ending the term genuinely ends Fastly's right to process your data
Data Privacy
Data collection, usage, and protection
Fastly treats your data as yours: it promises not to sell or disclose it, commits to maintaining security measures consistent with industry standard practices, and warrants that the effectiveness of those measures will not be decreased during your term. Personal data handling is pushed out to separate Data Processing Terms that sit above everything else in the order of precedence, which is a good sign, but it means the substance is not in this document. What is missing here is any breach notification commitment, any retention or deletion schedule, and any statement of your rights under GDPR or CCPA. Free Account users get no data protection commitments at all, since liability for their data is expressly disclaimed.
Key findings
- Fastly promises it will not sell nor disclose your data, a stronger statement than most providers make
- Personal data is governed by separate Data Processing Terms that rank first in the order of precedence over the main agreement
- Security Measures must stay consistent with industry standard practices, and a warranty says their overall effectiveness will not be decreased
- Fastly warrants its services will not transmit viruses, worms, time bombs, or other malicious code
- There is no breach notification promise, no data retention period, and no deletion commitment in this document
- Liability for data in a Free Account is fully disclaimed, including any obligation with respect to your data
Evidence from the document
Fastly will process, transmit and store personal data present in Subscriber Data in accordance with the Data Processing Terms available at
Fastly will maintain the Security Measures consistent with industry standard practices and as described in the Documentation.
(c) the overall effectiveness of the Security Measures will not be decreased;
FASTLY DISCLAIMS ALL OBLIGATION AND LIABILITY UNDER THE AGREEMENT (INCLUDING LIABILITY OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR UNDER SECTION 13 (LIMITATION OF LIABILITY)) FOR ANY HARM OR DAMAGE ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH A FREE ACCOUNT
Recommendations
- Read the separate Data Processing Terms at the linked URL, because that is where the GDPR and CCPA substance actually lives
- Confirm breach notification timelines in the Data Processing Terms or your Service Order, since this contract makes no such promise
- Check the Documentation for the current certifications and compliance programs, because the terms only promise they will be listed there
- Subscribe to the Significant Updates feed so you are told when Security Measures change
Payment & Subscriptions
Billing and subscription management
The billing terms are transparent but firmly on Fastly's side. Minimum commitments are non-cancelable, cannot be reduced mid-term, and nothing you pay is refundable, so if you over-commit you eat the difference. Service Orders auto-renew and the only escape is giving notice at least one month before the term ends, with no renewal reminder promised anywhere in the document. On the positive side, Fastly cannot suspend you or charge late fees while you dispute a bill in good faith, must give at least ten days notice before suspending an overdue Paid Account, and refunds prepaid fees if you terminate because Fastly breached.
Key findings
- Minimum commitments are non-cancelable, cannot be decreased during the term, and fees paid are not refundable
- Service Orders renew automatically unless you give at least one month's notice of nonrenewal
- No renewal reminder is promised, so the burden of tracking the notice deadline is entirely yours
- Giving Fastly a credit card authorizes charges for the Service Order and any renewal subscription
- Overdue amounts accrue 1.5 percent monthly interest and can trigger acceleration of all unpaid fees
- Good faith billing disputes freeze suspension, late charges, and acceleration while the parties work it out
- You get a refund of prepaid fees covering the remaining term if you terminate for Fastly's uncured material breach
Evidence from the document
Minimum commitments in Service Orders are (a) based on Services purchased and not actual usage; (b) non-cancelable; and (c) cannot be decreased during the specified term. Fees paid for minimum commitments and actual usage are not refundable.
Service Orders shall renew for successive terms, unless (a) Subscriber is in breach of this Agreement or (b) Subscriber gives Fastly at least one (1) month’s notice of nonrenewal at the end of the applicable term.
The provision of credit card information to Fastly authorizes Fastly to charge the credit card for all Services specified in a Service Order, and any renewal subscription.
Fastly will not exercise any rights to suspend Services, accelerate payments, impose late charges or change payment terms
those charges may accrue late interest at the rate of 1.5% of the outstanding balance per
Recommendations
- Put a calendar reminder at least six weeks before each term ends, because the one month nonrenewal window is the only exit and no reminder is promised
- Size minimum commitments conservatively, since they are non-cancelable, cannot be reduced, and are never refunded
- Dispute questionable invoices in writing and in good faith before the due date, because that expressly stops suspension and late charges
- Watch the fifty dollar usage threshold, because crossing it converts a Free Account into a Paid Account with payment obligations
Limitation of Liability
Risk allocation and legal protection
The liability cap is mutual, which is rarer than it should be: either party's total exposure is capped at what you paid Fastly in the twelve months before the incident, and the consequential damages exclusion applies to both sides equally. Indemnification obligations and your payment obligations sit outside the cap, so the biggest risks are not artificially shrunk. The weaknesses are that all implied warranties are disclaimed, your remedies for a warranty breach are limited to repair, SLA credits, or walking away with a refund, and there is no carve-out for gross negligence or willful misconduct. Free Account and Beta Service users get no protection at all, since liability for those is disclaimed outright.
Key findings
- The aggregate liability cap is mutual and set at fees paid in the twelve months before the first incident
- The exclusion of lost profits and other indirect damages applies to both parties, not just to Fastly
- Indemnification obligations and your payment obligations are carved out of the cap, preserving real exposure where it matters
- There is no express carve-out for gross negligence, willful misconduct, or fraud
- All implied warranties including merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose are disclaimed
- Express warranties are meaningful: services will perform as documented and features and security will not be materially decreased
- Remedies for a warranty breach are exclusive and limited to repair or replacement, SLA credits, or termination with a prepaid fee refund
- Free Accounts and Beta Services are provided as is with all obligation and liability disclaimed
Evidence from the document
A PARTY'S AGGREGATE LIABILITY ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THE AGREEMENT WILL NOT EXCEED THE AMOUNT PAID BY SUBSCRIBER HEREUNDER IN THE 12 MONTHS PRECEDING THE FIRST INCIDENT OUT OF WHICH THE LIABILITY AROSE.
IN NO EVENT WILL A PARTY HAVE ANY LIABILITY TO ANY OTHER PARTY FOR ANY LOST PROFITS, LOST OPPORTUNITIES, OR INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, COVER, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES
EXCEPT AS EXPRESSLY PROVIDED IN THIS SECTION 15, NEITHER PARTY MAKES ANY WARRANTY OR GUARANTY OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, STATUTORY, OR OTHERWISE
ALL BETA SERVICES ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY OF ANY KIND.
(b) the features, functionality and performance of the Services will not be materially decreased;
Recommendations
- Understand that your maximum recovery is roughly one year of what you paid Fastly, so size your dependency on the service accordingly
- Check the SLA in the Documentation, because service credits are one of your only remedies for performance failures
- Carry your own insurance or redundancy for outage-driven business interruption, since those damages are expressly excluded on both sides
- Never run production workloads on Beta Services, because liability for them is disclaimed entirely
Indemnification
Legal responsibility allocation
Indemnification runs in both directions, which puts this document well ahead of the industry norm. Fastly defends you against third party claims that its services infringe intellectual property rights, and if that happens it must fix the service, license it, or refund your prepaid fees. Your side of the bargain covers third party claims arising from your data or your use of the service in breach of the agreement, and it expressly does not apply where the claim results from Fastly's own service or breach. Attorney fees are qualified as reasonable on both sides, and the indemnified party lists are symmetrical. The main soft spot is that your data is an indemnity trigger without any fault requirement, and you must reimburse Fastly's costs for answering third party or government information requests about your traffic.
Key findings
- Fastly indemnifies you against third party intellectual property infringement claims arising from the services
- If an infringement claim lands, Fastly must modify the service, license it, or terminate and refund your prepaid fees
- Your indemnity is triggered by your data or your use of the service in breach of the agreement, which is largely fault-based
- Your indemnity expressly does not apply to claims resulting in whole or in part from the services or Fastly's own breach
- Attorney fees on both sides carry a reasonableness qualifier rather than being open-ended
- The indemnified party lists are mirrored, covering each side's affiliates, officers, directors, and employees
- You must reimburse Fastly's costs for responding to third party or governmental information requests about your data or use
- Fastly's indemnity does not apply to Free Accounts at all
Evidence from the document
Fastly will indemnify and defend Subscriber against any and all third party claims, demands, suits or proceedings (each a
and all related judgments, liabilities, awards, damages, costs, including reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses, arising out of or in connection with (i) Subscriber Data, or (ii) Subscriber’s use of the Services in breach of the Agreement
Except with respect to a dispute between Subscriber and Fastly, Subscriber will reimburse Fastly for all costs and reasonable attorneys’ fees for responding to third party or governmental requests for information
FASTLY’S INDEMNITY OBLIGATIONS UNDER SECTION 16 (INDEMNIFICATION) DO NOT APPLY TO FREE ACCOUNTS.
Recommendations
- Remember that your data alone can trigger the indemnity, so vet what you serve through the platform even when you have done nothing wrong
- Budget for the reimbursement obligation on subpoenas and government information requests, which is separate from the indemnity itself
- If you are on a Free Account, note that Fastly's intellectual property indemnity does not protect you
- Give prompt written notice of any claim, because the indemnity is conditioned on it
Modification of Terms
How agreements can be changed
Fastly gives up the unilateral rewrite power that almost every other provider keeps. Changes to the agreement require a signed writing from the party being held to them, so Fastly cannot quietly change the deal and call your continued use consent. Updates to the Documentation and the Acceptable Use Policy are handled separately and are published to a change feed you can follow by email or RSS, with a dedicated feed for Significant Updates that reduce features or change security measures. Acceptable Use Policy changes take effect only 30 days after posting, and a warranty protects you from updates that materially increase your obligations. The remaining gap is that Documentation updates take effect immediately on posting, though your existing warranty protections are preserved.
Key findings
- No unilateral modification right: changes need a signed writing from the party being bound
- Prior versions of the terms are publicly archived, and the document carries a clear last-updated date
- Documentation and Acceptable Use Policy updates are posted to a change feed you can follow by email or RSS
- Significant Updates, meaning reduced features, security changes, or a big increase in your obligations, get their own subscribable notice channel
- Acceptable Use Policy changes take effect 30 days after posting, which is the industry best practice window
- A warranty promises your obligations will not be materially increased by an update to the Documentation or the AUP
- Documentation updates are effective immediately upon posting, though they cannot cut back warranties in force when your term started
- Assignment on merger or acquisition is allowed without consent, but a competitor acquisition triggers a termination right with a prepaid fee refund
Evidence from the document
No modification, amendment, or waiver of any provision of the Agreement will be effective unless
Updates to the Documentation will be effective upon posting
Updates to the AUP will be effective thirty (30) days after posting.
(e) Subscriber’s obligations will not be materially increased as a result of an update to the Documentation or the AUP.
THESE TERMS WERE LAST UPDATED ON NOVEMBER 4, 2025. PRIOR VERSIONS OF FASTLY’S TERMS OF SERVICE ARE AVAILABLE AT
Recommendations
- Subscribe to the Significant Updates email or RSS feed, because that is where feature reductions and security changes show up
- Diff the archived prior versions when you renew, since the archive makes this genuinely easy
- Note that Acceptable Use Policy changes bind you 30 days after posting even though you never signed anything, so review the feed
Governing Law & Disputes
Jurisdiction and conflict resolution
There is no forced arbitration clause, no class action waiver, and no jury trial waiver anywhere in this document, which removes the single biggest barrier to recourse in modern contracts. Nothing shortens the statutory deadline for bringing a claim, and there is no loser-pays fee shifting. The cost is that all lawsuits must be filed in federal or state court in San Francisco under California law, with no savings clause preserving mandatory local protections for customers outside the United States. That venue requirement is mutual and normal for a business agreement, but it makes small claims impractical for anyone far from the Bay Area. Standard export control and anti-corruption recitals appear and are legally required boilerplate rather than consumer harms.
Key findings
- No mandatory arbitration clause anywhere in the document
- No class action waiver and no jury trial waiver
- No shortened claim deadline and no loser-pays fee shifting against you
- Exclusive jurisdiction sits with federal or state courts in San Francisco, California, and the requirement binds both parties
- California law governs, with no savings clause for mandatory consumer or local law outside the United States
- Export control language names embargoed countries and requires you to confirm you are not on a denied-party list
- There are no third-party beneficiaries, so licensors cannot sue you directly under these terms
- Indemnification is stated as the exclusive remedy for the claims it covers
Evidence from the document
The governing law of California and controlling United States federal law will apply in any lawsuit arising out of or in connection with the Agreement
the Federal or state courts located in San Francisco, California, USA have exclusive jurisdiction over any such lawsuit.
Each party represents that it is not named on any U.S. government denied-party list.
There are no third-party beneficiaries under the Agreement, AUP
This Section 16 states the indemnifying party’s sole liability to, and the indemnified party’s exclusive remedy against, the other party for any type of claim described in this Section 16.
Recommendations
- Factor the cost of litigating in San Francisco into any dispute, because that forum is exclusive and there is no small claims carve-out
- If you are outside the United States, get local law advice before relying on the California choice of law, since no savings clause protects your home rights
- Escalate billing disputes through the good faith dispute mechanism first, because that path is cheaper than court and stops suspension while it runs
- Confirm you and your end users are not in an embargoed country, since you carry that export compliance obligation
Ex-TerCo provides automated analysis of legal documents for informational purposes. This is not legal advice. Terms can change at any time.