Vercel
Weighted across nine legal categories. Lower is worse.
Executive summary
Vercel's terms are written for a developer hosting service and lean heavily in the company's favor. If you use the free Hobby plan, Vercel can train AI models on your content and share it with third parties, and it can delete your projects at any time without notice. Vercel's own financial responsibility is capped at one hundred dollars or six months of fees, while your obligations to Vercel are not capped. Terms can change with immediate effect, and disputes go to binding arbitration with a class action waiver, though you get a real 30 day window to opt out of arbitration and you keep small claims court access.
Category breakdown
Acceptance of Terms & Scope
Contract formation and service boundaries
You accept these terms simply by using the service, with no separate signature or checkbox described, and the scope covers any product Vercel or its affiliates offer, plus several extra policies pulled in by reference. On the positive side, the arbitration clause is flagged in capital letters right at the top, definitions are clear, and open source software is expressly carved out.
Key findings
- Use of the service alone counts as acceptance of the agreement
- Scope is broad: it covers any product or service made available by Vercel or its affiliates
- Multiple extra documents are incorporated by reference, including the Acceptable Use Policy, DPA, and Schedule I addenda
- The arbitration and class action waiver is prominently disclosed at the start of the document
- You must be at least 16 years old to use the service
Evidence from the document
By using or accessing the Services, you acknowledge that you have read, understand, and agree to be bound by this Agreement.
means, collectively, any products or services made available by Vercel or its affiliates
PLEASE REVIEW THE MUTUAL ARBITRATION CLAUSE AND CLASS ACTION WAIVER SET FORTH BELOW CAREFULLY
Recommendations
- Read the incorporated documents, especially the Acceptable Use Policy and the AI Product Terms, since they bind you too
- Remember that simply deploying a project means you have accepted everything in this agreement
- If you sign up for a company, confirm you actually have authority to bind it
User Accounts
Registration, suspension, and termination
Vercel keeps very broad termination powers: 30 days notice for no reason at all, 10 days for breach, 2 days for nonpayment, immediate termination if you exceed usage limits, and free Hobby projects can be shut down without any notice for any reason. All of your content may be permanently deleted on termination and there is no appeal process, though Vercel does refund unused prepaid amounts if it cancels you without cause.
Key findings
- Hobby plan projects can be terminated without notice for any reason or no reason
- All of your content may be permanently deleted upon any account termination
- No appeal or review process is offered for account terminations
- Your own cancellation only takes effect at the start of the next renewal period
- A Team owner can claim control and ownership of projects you create under a work email
- Pro-rated refund is promised if Vercel terminates you without cause
Evidence from the document
We may shut down and terminate projects or deployments using the Hobby plan without notice for any reason or no reason.
All of Your Content on the Services (if any) may be permanently deleted by Vercel upon any termination of your account.
to manage your Project, including to claim control and ownership of any Project you create
provided that such termination will be effective at the start of the next renewal period
Recommendations
- Keep independent backups of everything you deploy, since content can be permanently deleted on termination
- Avoid hosting anything important on the free Hobby plan, which can be shut down without notice
- Be careful signing up with a work email, because the company Team can take over your projects
- Cancel well before your renewal date, since cancellation is not immediate
Intellectual Property & UGC
Content ownership and licensing
You keep ownership of your content, but you grant Vercel a sublicensable and transferable license to copy, modify, and make derivatives of it, and the stated purposes include developing new products, which goes beyond just running the service. The biggest issue is AI training: on the free Hobby plan and Pro trials, Vercel may train AI models on your content and share it with third parties for their own model training. Feedback you give becomes a perpetual, irrevocable license, and Vercel can remove your content at any time for any reason.
Key findings
- You grant a worldwide, sublicensable, transferable license covering copying, modification, and derivative works
- Hobby and trial Pro content may be used to train Vercel's AI models and shared with third parties for their models
- Paid Pro plans have AI training off by default, and you can opt out at any time in settings
- Feedback is licensed to Vercel perpetually and irrevocably for any purpose
- Vercel may remove or disable your content at any time for any reason, with extra protections only for EEA users
- Vercel gets a license to use your name and logo in its marketing while you are a customer
Evidence from the document
you grant Vercel a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, fully paid, sublicensable and transferable license to use, copy, modify, adapt, reproduce, distribute, display, publish, store, perform, and create derivatives of Your Content
if you are on a Hobby plan or trial Pro plan, you agree that we may use Your Content to train our artificial intelligence
you hereby grant Vercel a perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive, royalty-free, fully-paid-up, fully transferable, worldwide license
You may opt-out of Model Training at any time by adjusting your Team account settings or by upgrading to an Enterprise plan.
Recommendations
- Do not host code or data you consider confidential on the Hobby plan or a Pro trial unless you accept AI training use
- If you are on paid Pro, check your Team settings to confirm Model Training is off
- Do not share product ideas with Vercel that you want to keep rights over, since Feedback is licensed forever
- Ask Vercel to remove your logo from marketing if you do not want to appear as a customer
Data Privacy
Data collection, usage, and protection
The terms defer most privacy detail to a separate Privacy Policy and Data Processing Addendum, but what is here is mixed. You own your account information and Vercel commits to reasonable security safeguards, which is good. However, Vercel claims full ownership of system data such as logs and telemetry and may use it for any business purpose in its sole discretion, and free-tier content can be shared with third parties for AI development.
Key findings
- You own and retain all rights in your Account Information
- Vercel commits to reasonable technical, administrative, and physical security safeguards
- Vercel owns System Data (telemetry, logs, usage statistics) and may use it for any business purpose at its sole discretion
- Hobby and trial content may be shared with third parties to improve their products and AI models
- A DPA and Privacy Policy are incorporated by reference but their substance is not in this document
- You carry the burden of configuring projects so personal data is not exposed
Evidence from the document
You own and retain all right, title and interest in and to Account Information.
use System Data for any business purposes in its sole discretion
we may share Your Content with third parties for the purpose of developing and improving their products, including training and improving their AI and machine learning models
Vercel will implement and maintain reasonable information security policies and processes
Recommendations
- Read Vercel's Privacy Policy and DPA before hosting projects that process personal data
- Assume operational data about your usage belongs to Vercel and is used for its business
- Opt out of Model Training or upgrade plans if your deployments contain sensitive material
- Do not host health data covered by HIPAA without Vercel's prior written approval
Payment & Subscriptions
Billing and subscription management
Subscriptions auto-renew and Vercel auto-charges your card in advance, in arrears for usage, and even immediately if it decides your usage looks anomalous, judged at its sole discretion. All fees are non-refundable except where the agreement says otherwise, and your cancellation only takes effect at the next renewal. Fairer points: price changes only apply from the next billing period with written notice, and Vercel refunds unused prepaid amounts if it terminates you without cause.
Key findings
- Automatic renewal and automatic charging of your saved payment method for subscriptions and usage
- Vercel can charge accrued fees immediately if it detects anomalous usage, in its sole discretion
- All fees are non-refundable except as expressly stated
- Cancellation requires a request to support and only takes effect at the next renewal date
- Price changes take effect at the next payment period with written notice, and continued use means acceptance
- Tax gross-up clause makes you cover any withholding so Vercel receives full payment
Evidence from the document
You acknowledge and agree that Vercel will automatically charge your credit card or other payment method on record with Vercel
All fees are non-refundable, except as expressly stated otherwise in this Agreement.
Vercel's sole discretion, Vercel may automatically charge your payment method for the then accrued fees
provided that such termination will be effective at the start of the next renewal period
Recommendations
- Set spend limits and usage alerts, since usage-based charges hit your card automatically
- Cancel before the renewal date because refunds are not given for the current period
- Watch email notices about fee changes, since staying subscribed means accepting the new price
- Keep your billing details current to avoid suspension for failed payments
Limitation of Liability
Risk allocation and legal protection
The service is provided as is with all warranties disclaimed, and Vercel's total liability is capped at the greater of one hundred dollars or the fees you paid in the past six months, with all indirect and consequential damages excluded, including data loss. The carve-outs from the cap only cover your obligations (usage restrictions, confidentiality, payment, warranties, indemnity), so your exposure is unlimited while Vercel's is tightly capped. There is no exception for gross negligence or willful misconduct, only a savings clause for states that ban such limits.
Key findings
- As is service with all express and implied warranties disclaimed
- Liability cap of one hundred dollars or six months of fees, whichever is greater
- Loss or corruption of data and all consequential damages are excluded
- Cap exceptions apply only to your breaches, making the clause one-sided against you
- No carve-out for gross negligence or willful misconduct
- State law savings clause preserves rights only where the law forbids these limits
Evidence from the document
THE SERVICES AND SUPPORT SERVICES ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND VERCEL DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED
EXCEED THE GREATER OF ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS AND THE FEES PAID BY YOU TO VERCEL FOR THE SERVICES UNDER THIS AGREEMENT IN THE 6 MONTHS PRIOR TO THE ACT THAT GAVE RISE TO THE LIABILITY
(B) FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES
Recommendations
- Maintain your own backups, since Vercel disclaims liability for data loss and the terms require you to keep backups
- Do not rely on Vercel for uptime-critical revenue without separate insurance or an Enterprise SLA
- Understand that even a serious outage will likely be compensated at no more than six months of your fees
- Check whether your state limits these disclaimers, since the terms yield where law requires
Indemnification
Legal responsibility allocation
You must indemnify Vercel for a broad range of situations: any breach of the agreement, any infringement claim arising from your websites or content, and even your use or misuse of the services generally, including Vercel's legal and accounting fees. Vercel gives you no indemnity in return. The clause does include procedural fairness: Vercel must notify you promptly, you may take sole control of the defense, and you are not on the hook for settlements you did not approve.
Key findings
- One-way indemnity: you protect Vercel, Vercel does not protect you
- Scope covers breach, infringement claims from your content, and your access or use of the services
- You pay Vercel's reasonable legal and accounting fees for covered claims
- You get notice, the right to control the defense, and a veto over settlements you have not approved
Evidence from the document
You will indemnify and hold harmless Vercel against any claims, actions or demands, including without limitation reasonable legal and accounting fees, arising or resulting from your breach of this Agreement
you will not be responsible for any settlement you do not approve, such approval not to be unreasonably withheld or delayed
Recommendations
- Make sure you have rights to all code, media, and data you deploy, since infringement claims land on you
- Consider business liability insurance if you run commercial projects on Vercel
- If a claim arises, use your contractual right to take control of the defense and approve any settlement
Modification of Terms
How agreements can be changed
Vercel can change the agreement at any time, and notice can be as little as posting on its website rather than emailing you. Changes take effect immediately after posting or notice, continued use counts as acceptance, and your only stated remedy is to stop using the service and cancel. There is no advance notice period for non-price changes, though fee changes at least wait until your next payment period.
Key findings
- Terms can change with notice given by email or just a posting at vercel.com
- Revised terms are effective immediately after posting or notice
- Continued use constitutes acceptance of the new terms
- Your only remedy for unacceptable changes is to stop using the service and cancel
- Fee changes are more protective: they apply from the next payment period with written notice
Evidence from the document
The revised Agreement will become effective immediately after Vercel posts or sends you notice of such changes, and if you use the Services after that date, your use will constitute acceptance of the revised Agreement.
If any change to this Agreement is not acceptable to you, your only remedy is to stop using the Services
Recommendations
- Recheck vercel.com/legal/terms periodically, since posting alone can be your only notice
- If a change is unacceptable, cancel promptly, because continued use locks you into the new terms
- Track the Last Updated date at the top of the terms page
Governing Law & Disputes
Jurisdiction and conflict resolution
Disputes are governed by California law and must go through binding JAMS arbitration in San Francisco after a 60 day informal resolution period, with a jury trial waiver and a class action waiver. Those are classic consumer red flags, but Vercel softens them meaningfully: you can opt out of arbitration entirely within 30 days by email, small claims court and injunctive relief claims are excluded, public injunctive relief is preserved, and Vercel says it will not seek attorneys' fees in arbitration unless your claim is frivolous. A separate clause still awards attorneys' fees to the prevailing party in court actions.
Key findings
- Binding individual arbitration through JAMS with a class action and jury trial waiver
- 30 day arbitration opt-out by email is available and clearly described
- Small claims court, injunctive-relief-only claims, and IP disputes stay in court
- Mandatory 60 day informal negotiation before arbitration
- Venue is San Francisco, California under California law, which may be far from you
- Prevailing party attorneys' fees clause in court proceedings creates cost risk
Evidence from the document
any Claim will be settled by final and binding arbitration, using the English language, administered by JAMS
YOU AND VERCEL AGREE TO WAIVE THE RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY CLASS ACTION.
You have the right to opt-out and not be bound by the arbitration provisions set forth above
Claims within the jurisdiction of a small claims court
Recommendations
- Send the arbitration opt-out email to legalnotices@vercel.com within 30 days of first use if you want to keep court options
- Use the small claims exception for modest billing disputes
- Start with the informal notice process, since it is required and free
- Factor in California venue costs before pursuing a larger claim
Ex-TerCo provides automated analysis of legal documents for informational purposes. This is not legal advice. Terms can change at any time.