Terms of Service

1. Acceptance of Terms

By accessing or using ChopURL ("the Service"), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

2. Description of Service

ChopURL provides URL shortening, link analytics, QR code generation, and related tools. The Service is available via a web application and a REST API.

3. Account Registration

Some features require an account. You agree to provide accurate information and keep your credentials secure. You are responsible for all activity under your account.

4. Acceptable Use

You agree not to use the Service to:

• Distribute malware, phishing links, or malicious content
• Engage in spam or unsolicited bulk messaging
• Violate any applicable laws or regulations
• Infringe on intellectual property rights of others
• Circumvent rate limits or abuse the API
• Impersonate another person or entity
• Interfere with or disrupt the Service

5. Link Content

You are solely responsible for the content of the URLs you shorten. We reserve the right to disable or remove any short URL that violates these terms or applicable law, without prior notice.

6. Anonymous URL Expiration

Short URLs created without a registered account ("anonymous URLs") are subject to automatic expiration after 14 days from the date of creation. Once expired, the short URL and all associated data (click statistics, QR codes) will be permanently deleted and cannot be recovered. To retain your short URLs beyond 14 days, you must create a free account and claim your links before they expire.

7. URL Removal and Content Moderation

ChopURL reserves the right to remove, disable, or modify any short URL — whether created by anonymous or registered users — at any time and without prior notice. Reasons for removal include, but are not limited to:

• Violation of these Terms of Service or applicable law
• Reports of abuse, spam, phishing, or malicious content
• System maintenance, storage management, or infrastructure changes
• Inactivity or low usage over an extended period
• Any other reason at ChopURL's sole discretion

ChopURL is not obligated to provide advance notice, justification, or compensation for the removal of any URL. Users are advised to maintain their own records of original URLs and not rely on the Service as a sole reference.

8. API Usage

API access is subject to rate limits defined by your plan and API key configuration. Exceeding rate limits will result in temporary request rejection (HTTP 429). Persistent abuse may result in key revocation or account suspension.

9. Intellectual Property

The Service, its design, code, and documentation are owned by ChopURL. You retain ownership of the content you submit (URLs, custom aliases). We do not claim ownership of your content.

10. Service Availability

We strive for high availability but do not guarantee uninterrupted service. We may perform maintenance, updates, or modifications that temporarily affect availability. Enterprise plans include specific SLA commitments.

11. Limitation of Liability

The Service is provided "as is" without warranties of any kind. To the fullest extent permitted by law, ChopURL is not liable for indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages arising from your use of the Service.

12. Account Termination

You may close your account at any time through your account settings. We may suspend or terminate your access to the Service, with or without notice, for violation of these terms, suspected fraud, abuse, or non-payment. Upon account termination, your data will be handled according to our Privacy Policy.

13. Service Discontinuation

We may modify, suspend, or permanently discontinue the Service — in whole or in part — at any time. We reserve this right even if the Service has been available for extended periods, and regardless of the plan you are on.

In the event of a permanent discontinuation of the Service, we will make commercially reasonable efforts to:

• Notify registered users at least 30 days in advance via the email address associated with their account.
• Keep the data export feature (account export, REST API) available during the notice period so that users can retrieve their URLs, analytics, and settings.
• Provide a prorated refund for the unused portion of the current billing period for active paid subscriptions. No refund will be issued for the Free plan or for periods already consumed.

On and after the discontinuation date:

• All short URLs will cease to redirect and will return an error or a standard "service unavailable" response.
• All user data, analytics, and associated records will be permanently deleted from our production systems within a reasonable period, subject to any legal retention obligations.
• Custom domains pointing to the Service may stop resolving and should be reconfigured by the user.

We may also discontinue specific features, plans, regions, or API endpoints without discontinuing the entire Service. Deprecated features will be announced in advance where practical, and affected users will be migrated to comparable alternatives where feasible.

Except for the prorated refund described above, ChopURL is not liable for any loss, damages, or consequences — including but not limited to lost traffic, lost revenue, or broken third-party integrations — arising from the discontinuation of the Service.

14. Changes to Terms

We may update these terms from time to time. Material changes will be communicated via email to registered users. Continued use of the Service after changes constitutes acceptance of the revised terms.

15. Governing Law

These terms are governed by applicable law. Any disputes arising from these terms or the Service will be resolved through binding arbitration, except where prohibited by law.

16. Contact

For questions about these terms, email us at [email protected].